Forbidden Kindgon and the Monkey King!

briana
April 23, 2008, 08:45 AM posted in General Discussion

I just watched the Forbidden Kingdom the other night. Jackie Chan is amazing and Jet Li is pretty good too! I loved the references to other typical Chinese shows/movies!! The first fight scene between Jackie Chan and Jet Li is a little long, but still very good! ^_^ I really miss learning gong fu & wu shu!!! ='(

One interesting thing is that they don't translate ALL the chinese! (little things such as "have some tea" or "where is this money from/what kind of money is this?") Then general idea is obvious to viewers, but I was just wondering what was going through all the minds of non-chinese speakers at that point!

 Now with that said...I'm about to listen to that old c-pod episode MONKEY KING!! hehehe...

Profile picture
RJ
April 23, 2008, 09:39 AM

Briana, I have been wondering about this movie. I havent seen it yet but it is described as a martial arts fantasy and since it has Jackie Chan in it I was wondering, is it a comedy or not? It does seem to involve some rather bizzare concepts such as time travel. I guess what Im asking is, is it worth seeing? How would you describe it and is there more value to it than just the language references? Has anyone else seen the movie? RJ

Profile picture
tvan
June 22, 2008, 04:09 AM

This seems to be a case of "pandering" to Chinese sensitivities?

Profile picture
mandomikey
April 23, 2008, 11:58 PM

I happened to see this (Forbidden Kingdom) and would say that it's wildly entertaining. Action/kung-fu pics normally are not my thing, but I walked away content since there were so many other aspects of the film that rounded it out real nicely... I wouldn't call it a comedy but there were some real funny bits. Some real nice scenery and cinematograpny as well. Check it out.

Profile picture
RJ
April 24, 2008, 12:23 AM

Thanks Mike, Good gong fu 功夫 is very important :-) I like watching Jet Li and well, how can you dislike Jackie Chan but he is not really my thing. Sounds like it might be fun to watch but not real deep. Ill give it a shot.

Profile picture
lostinasia
April 24, 2008, 02:52 PM

The commercials have a woman with long white hair, and she swings it around to knock people out--it appears to be her special gong fu skill. I lost interest in the movie at about that point in the commercial, although perhaps I'll look out for the DVD. And why oh why have Jackie Chan speak English... he's improved a lot, but he just sounds so much better in Chinese.

Profile picture
John
April 25, 2008, 05:02 AM

This movie was at the top of the box office in the USA last week. My wife picked up a copy on the street, but it was a horrible camcorder version. I'll have to wait until the real thing comes out on DVD to give it a proper viewing.

Profile picture
henning
April 25, 2008, 05:18 AM

Both user rating and critics seem to be at least OK: http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/forbidden_kingdom/ http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/forbidden_kingdom/ Although I am sceptical as there is a US kid in the main role...

Profile picture
cassielin
April 23, 2008, 02:20 PM

Robert, The chinese version of this movie's name is功夫之王. It is a latest movie and I have not see it yet! I am going to watch it soon! I like Jackie Chan and Jet Li and both of them are my favorite Kungfu Stars功夫明星. briana, "have some tea" 请喝茶。 "where is this money from?"这些钱是从哪来的? "what kind of money is this?" 这些是什么钱?

Profile picture
briana
May 19, 2008, 12:57 AM

ah! sorry for following up with my own thread! >.< everyone's answers seemed to have been answered, so thank you to those who commented! oh yes..i understood what was being said in chinese, i was just commenting on how interesting it was to have some chinese parts not translated b/c i wondered what it must have been like for non-speaking-chinese people to watch. but thank you anyway casie! =)

Profile picture
songyian
May 19, 2008, 01:38 AM

So the Chinese title is King of Gongfu? I saw the film the second week it came out. It wasn't as bad as I expected, and I thought Jet Li was a great Sun Wukong, although I've only seen this and Chinese Odyssey with Zhou Xingchi.

Profile picture
henning
June 21, 2008, 05:08 PM

Just saw it yesterday. What can I say?

The story was ridiculous, the acting was overdone, the plot was predictable, the CGI were not convincing, the musical score was enerving...

 

I totally loved that movie.

It was awsome.  

Go see it!

Profile picture
tvan
June 21, 2008, 11:21 PM

Henning, bottom line you're right.  Still, I would qualify the "Go see it!" by adding "at the Saturday matinee".  (Do they have discount matinees in Germany?) 

Good triumphs over evil, boy gets the girl, kung fu up the 阴阳, etc.  Nothing wrong per se, just so long as it's not full price!

Profile picture
changye
June 22, 2008, 01:03 AM

Guys, it seems that “Kung Fu Panda” has a trouble in China. What a shame!

Chinese 'artist' calls for
Pandaland boycott of Kung Fu Panda
http://www.china.org.cn/culture/2008-06/20/content_15863889.htm

Chinese call for Kung Fu Panda ban
after Steven Spielberg pulls out of Olympics
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/2164009/Chinese-call-for-Kung-Fu-Panda-ban-after-Steven-Spielberg-pulls-out-of-Olympics.html

'Kung Fu Panda' delayed in quake-hit part of China
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hoW_bWZYYV9KojjqYyHtpZkUI0Ig


Profile picture
mandomikey
April 25, 2008, 11:11 PM

The teenage kid is in there strictly to increase appeal to the western audience, and to keep English in the forefront. Don't confuse this as a pure "foreign" film. However, I think it's still a good introduction to some Chinese themes and legends, and has some value other than the fight sequences.