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Simply A Masterpiece

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Seldom does a film come along that one can just view with utter enjoyment. Combining two of the most fluid martial artists in the world with Jackie Chan and Jet Li is martial arts gold. The film transitions comedic dialogue with fluid movements of kung fu styles. The plot itself is a fantasy driven story of a teen from America who has an infatuation with everything Kung Fu. He comes across a magical Staff and is catapulted into another realm to find it's original owner. Along the way he learns about morality, fighting from within and being true to his inner self.The film has signs of brilliance in it's stunt choreography as well as Chinese culture. It's fantasy mixed with comedy and action/adventure. A welcome surprise to many a violent film. Think of Big Trouble In Little China and this will become a cult classic. 7/10

Regarding the fantastic art of Kung-fu movies, 2008's 'The Forbidden Kingdom' is no exception as it's story, elements and convincingly historical sets make it one of today's best. A masterful approach.Jackie Chan and Jet Li star alongside a talented cast who make their parts their own as their journey through Ancient China, which brings thrills and surprises as the encounter allies and enemies along the way.There's very little downsides to expect in this movie as the story progresses in decent format and the choreography of the action scenes offers great entertainment. If you're looking for a decent action flick to watch, this may be just the movie for you!

Other reviewers have covered the fact that you have two of the top martial artists of all time in this extraordinary film, and that's fine, bit OMG what a story! You will have to look very long and very hard to find another script this well structured -- from the opening where the bullying is established in present time; to the introduction of the mysterious artifact; to the time travel; ancient grudge; aligning of the good vs bad forces; subplot on the immortals; subplot on hero learning to fight, taught by the best; possible romantic arc but with impediment -- well,you get the point, this story keeps you glued to the screen for its entire length and not even LORD OF THE RINGS could pull that off. I especially love the ending, because, against all odds it ties together a bunch of loose ends that seemed impossible to clean up (return to the present time; dealing with the bullies; the "impossible" romance that may not actually be impossible). IMDb tells me that Fusco was a high school dropout. If so, this raises series doubts about the value of high school? I looked at his other work trying to see anything that came close to this, and all I found was CROSSROADS (1986) which had some really nice elements but nothing as powerful as this script. WOW. Nothing less than a 10 and you can find another film like it anywhere I will eat the DVD cover.

Sometimes it's just great to see two actors sharing a screen together. Sometimes entire films are built around this concept. Like so with this film, I believe, as it is the first film to start both Jackie Chan and Jet Li, who are both amazing martial art actors. And, for what it is, it really works. Forget the lame protagonist, played by Michael Angarano. Forget the silly, yet admittedly entertaining, storyline about a monkey king. If you're going to see this film, see it for these two and for the scenes they share together.That being said, while I do think that this film is way too silly to be taken seriously, I also think that it's that way on purpose. I do wish that they had left out the banal protagonist hailing from our reality, because while usually a decent storytelling device and a way to insert in an audience surrogate, in this case it drags, a lot. Not only has Angarano almost no screen presence whatsoever, he's also stealing the spotlight from the main attractions of this particular film, Chan and Li. Give me a movie with just them, and perhaps that chick sidekick, anytime over this film.Still, if you're able to deal with the fact that you won't get as much Chan and Li as you probably would like to have, it's a fun film to watch. The fight scenes are entertaining, the cinematography and art design are colourful and fit the tone, and all in all it's a good way to spend a couple of hours. Could it have been better? Easily. But it could have a been a lot worse as well. Now it's "merely" a fun kind of average.