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Chop Suey is also not genuinely
Asian, but it's still very good: The Forbidden
Kingdom
by Christian De Matteo
Super
I'm currently reading a very
interesting book by Jennifer 8 Lee, a writer for the
New York Times who's middle name denotes prosperity
in Chinese culture. The book is called The
Fortune Cookie Chronicles and it's a travelogue
meets food writing piece that also serves as light
sociological reading about how Chinese food in
America is not at all really Chinese cuisine, but is
still excellent. The reason I bring this us up
is because tonight I saw The Forbidden Kingdom which
is not really a Chinese movie but is still really
good. While a lot of the movie was filmed in
China, and the mythology involved is very centered
on Chinese-style mythology, it has been crafted to
meet American palates. More than being really
Chinese, it's Chinese enough for Americans to
identify with it and like it. In fact, on it's
first weekend in release, it was number one at the
box office, an impressive feat.
Often, this style of work is called
"Selling out". I don't see it that way.
I see it as good salesmanship to market a very
good product and perhaps, eventually lead people to
the real thing. If it does, excellent.
And if it doesn't but people find something new in
it that they will continue to enjoy, also good.
This is how we got Chinese food here.
As you've noted already, the top of
this review says, Super. I struggled with that
rating for a while, because, as the opening to this
review suggests, it's not authentically Chinese.
It's very much made for Americans. I decided,
that it was still very good. But Super?
Was the film itself Super? That took even more
thought. Eventually, however, I decided, yes,
in a way, Super was the only possible rating.
It is however, not at all perfect. Therefore I
will start with the negatives. Consider this
the "Caveat Emptor" section.
(Caveat Emptor is a Latin phrase
meaning Buyer Beware. It has been co-opted
into legal jargon, particularly used in situations
of real estate property purchasing. The idea
is basically that you ought to know what you're
getting into.)
The Negatives: The film starts
and ends with a framing device that is corny enough
to have been lifted directly from the 1980s.
It almost could be lifted directly from the original
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, which I happen
to love in that way I love sugary snacks that I know
have no inherent nutritional value. The plot
also has logical holes in it you could fly a plane
through (an expression I last used angrily to
discuss A Beautiful Mind many years ago). If
you really sit down after the film and look at how
it all panned out, you will see that it doesn't
really make very much sense. Was it time
travel or alternate universes? The movie seems
to claim both, though each would lead to a very
different set of implications, neither of which are
particularly dealt with at all.
The film is almost a Chop Fuey
version of The Never Ending Story.
So those are the negatives. By
themselves, they are actually all pretty damning.
And yet, again, we see I gave this movie a Super.
Occasionally, I am fraught with this dilemma.
And here's how I always solve it: Did I have a
good time? If yes, then, Did I have a VERY
good time?
Yes.
The Forbidden Kingdom (the title of
which I still really don't understand) is a damn
good time. It's a salute to the magic and
majesty of Asian mythology and the magic of martial
arts film. To have both Jackie Chan and Jet Li
in a film is cool enough, but to actually give them
two distinct cool characters, with different
fighting styles and put a young man between them who
needs to be trained? Brilliance. The
young man is the audience. He is us loving
growing up getting to see men fly for ten minutes
through the air before delivering a devastating
kick to the face. He is us growing up watching
beautiful, exotic, Asian women deal out death with
frightening surety and wanting them even though we
know they could kill us. He is years of
watching good characters learn how to best avenge
their loved ones on evil characters, and learning
some fighting philosophy in the meantime. He
is a fanboy, a movie lover, and a dreamer who gets
to make good in the format he loves.
The fight scenes we are treated to in
the movie are extremely cool. Different styles
of fighting are used in a way that allows the
audience who knows to call out which one it is, or
simply whisper it to his lovely wife to impress her
with his knowledge, even though he knows she'll just
think it's cute, and frankly that's good enough for
him. (That was me, by the way, whispering to
Heather about Drunken style fighting.) The
plot is straightforward good on a quest to stop
ancient evil, without ever taking itself too
seriously to be silly or too lightly to not matter.
The movie is truly a good time.
I could say more, explain the plot,
how it works, what happens what's really good, but
that would only lessen your viewing experience.
If you saw the previews (or watch it now at the top
of this page) and thought to yourself, "Hey, if
that's well done, it could be a good time" know that
it is on both counts. If you saw that preview
and thought to yourself, "Great more people kicking
each other and flying around on wires I may or may
not be able to see" don't bother. If the last
movie like this you saw was The Promise, don't
worry, it's a lot more interesting, makes a lot more
sense, and is not at all pretentious like The
Promise. The Forbidden Kingdom is a couple of
great characters getting to know each other on a
small quest of great import with excellent martial
arts battles frequenting the story. Don't pick
it apart, don't over think it. Enjoy watching
Jet Li and Jackie Chan fight each other and side by
side and along side "Will Stronghold" (Michael
Angarano in Sky High), laugh at Jet Li's take on
rain, and get caught up in the struggle of good vs.
evil. The movie is absolutely worth it.
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