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.

DVD
 

(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.