One of the more entertaining movies we’ve seen in recent months.
4 Comments
04/21/08
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The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)
65
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:26
Fresh:17
Rotten:9
Average Rating:5.7/10
Consensus: This hotly-anticipated pairing of martial arts legends Jackie Chan and Jet Li features dazzling fight scenes but is weighed down by too much filler.
Theatrical Release:2008
Box Office: $25,040,293
Synopsis: East meets West and kung-fu legends collide as Jackie Chan and Jet Li square off in the fists-a-flying, family-friendly FORBIDDEN KINGDOM. Based on the classical Chinese novel JOURNEY TO THE WEST,... [More]
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Reviews for The Forbidden Kingdom
Top CriticIt's difficult to resist, especially if you're a 12-year-old boy whose parents won't let you rent Once Upon a Time in China or the Kill Bill movies.
04/18/08
Top CriticWhen Chan and Li match wits, each celebrates the other's presence. This isn't just a martial-arts display; it's generosity and camaraderie in motion.
04/18/08
Top CriticThanks to the two stars' disparate styles - the laser-like focus of Li and the whirlwind whimsy of Chan - The Forbidden Kingdom makes up for its flaws with plenty of eye-popping moments.
04/18/08
Top CriticChan seems to be having fun in a comic part that, unlike his Rush Hour paydays, doesn't make him the butt of ethnic jokes. Li is as stalwart as ever.
04/18/08
Top CriticForbidden Kingdom is chop-socky bordering on chop-schlocky, but it's good-natured myth-making cut into kid-size pieces.
04/18/08
Top CriticWhile the script is corny and the direction uneven, [Chan and Li] never falter.
04/18/08
Top CriticUnfailingly lighthearted, the film's fight scenes are stylized, soaring wire work and gravity-defying digital sorcery rather than blood-and-bruises beatdowns.
04/18/08
Top CriticThe filmmakers come off like their protagonist, wide-eyed tourists in an exotic realm. If you've been looking for a martial arts film to take granny and the kids to, this might be the one, but a Jackie Chan-Jet Li collaboration deserves better than that.
04/18/08
Top CriticForbidden Kingdom is a faithful and disarmingly earnest attempt to honor some venerable and popular Chinese cinematic traditions.
04/18/08
Top CriticA sufficiently entertaining diversion.
04/18/08
Top CriticThe Forbidden Kingdom...offers the first-ever on-screen pairing of martial-arts legends Jackie Chan and Jet Li, but it's a bit of a bait-and-switch. Both stars get plenty of screen time, yet their fight scenes feel routine.
04/18/08
Top CriticIf you want to break the kids in easy to the whole martial arts thing, this may be the way to go. After all, clean fu never killed anyone.
04/18/08
Top CriticA number of Forbidden Kingdom sequences deliver muscular slaptick. A fight in which Lu Yan uses Jason as one more weapon in his arsenal of defensive moves is vintage Chan.
04/18/08
Top CriticIt's a long, eye-rolling haul...hampered by lurching exposition and hammy setup.
04/18/08
Top CriticPairing Jackie Chan and Jet Li would seem like a slam dunk, but this big-budget martial arts drama, which borrows liberally from The Wizard of Oz, is something of a disappointment.
04/18/08
Top CriticThis is the long-awaited teaming of superstars Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and it's an occasion to applaud for those who like a few yuks with their kicks.
04/18/08
Top CriticPart of the charm, yes, is the goofiness of it all -- but the film would have been better if it were more cohesive, streamlined, and focused.
04/17/08
Top CriticThe Forbidden Kingdom is for those who like plenty of kung fu action with an epic fantasy setting and a little humor thrown in. When all is said and done, the dream team combination of Chan and Li is just a nice bonus.
04/17/08
Top CriticYou know you're in a fantasy movie when the central character has to traverse time in search of the 'Monkey King.' If only you were in a good movie.
04/17/08
Top CriticLatest News for The Forbidden Kingdom
September 09, 2008:
Kung fu fever and fluff mix it up with hordes of floating knights in shining armor with bad attitude, and just a little heavy on the dressing, courtesy of the costume department. 
More...
May 01, 2008:
Box Office Preview: Iron Man Launches Summer Movie Season
A hero flies into North American multiplexes aiming to kickstart what should be an explosive summer movie season. Paramount's Iron Man is first up to bat this year and is ready... More...
April 24, 2008:
Box Office Guru Preview: Odd Couples Invade Multiplexes
Two new buddy comedies enter the marketplace during the final weekend of the spring box office hoping to cash in on what business is left in the last week before Iron Man flies... More...
April 20, 2008:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Chan and Li Rule Box Office Kingdom
Audiences were fired up for the first-ever showdown between martial arts legends Jackie Chan and Jet Li as their new fantasy actioner The Forbidden Kingdom opened at number one... More...
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