Forbidden Kingdom, Redux!

So several things. I know it's been a bit of a while since I updated last. My main issue is that my job at the hospital, while not particularly exciting or helpful, is extremely exhausting and I often find myself collapsing into bed upon my arrival at home. With my energy so low, it's difficult to induce myself to get anything done at all!

But hey there, I have managed to enjoy myself a little. Today I headed out to see "Forbidden Kingdom" which I had earlier been raving about going to see. I can recommend it to you all now. Although there are some plot holes, it doesn't stop the movie from being enjoyable and Jackie Chan is downright lovable. The main character, played by Michael Angarano is uh... well, he's a hottie.

There. I've said it. I always loved him in Will&Grace as Jack's son, and he's definitely grown up. Although according to his profile on IMDB he's 20, he plays a fairly believable highschool student overwhelmed by a sudden bout of destiny.

(Quick note here: his profile places him in some of my favorite shows and movies, including Will&Grace, The Pretender, Sky High, Almost Famous... There's a training montage in Forbidden Kingdom where he's shirtless. It's awesome. My attempts to recreate the event for you all by scouring the internet have failed, however, and you're either just going to have to see the movie or use your imagination to get the full effect.)

The movie also nicely features a solid jibe at the disconnect between staged martial arts movies of the 60s and 70s and the actual process of learning the martial arts. Though, it's still highly romanticized here.

Really, there's a lot to recommend here, even though the plot is not particularly sophisticated. Here's a thought though; Jet Li has the dorkiest laugh ever, and I don't think anyone's ever really seen Jet Li laugh until this movie.

Go because: Jet Li laughing, Jackie Chan drunk, Michael Angarano shirtless, hair whips, pretty pretty special effects, gang retribution, sweeping landscapes.

Avoid if: You hate monkeys, you dislike montages, martial arts aren't your thing, you dislike the concept of someone getting their throat cut with their own sword.

Upcoming Film: Forbidden Kingdom

I'd like to do a a little post on movies now and then. Close friends of mine know that movies have always enthralled me and i love seeing the newest releases on the big screen and often plan out part of my budget to allow for me to bring them home when they come out on DVD (not so much, now that I don't have a working DVD player of my own -- my PS2 has been acting up lately).

My father has always been a movie junkie, particularly old-school sci-fi and adventure flicks and we spent many a Saturday morning and afternoon watching MST3K and StarWars movies, or Star Trek or Indiana Jones. We love an epic adventure story. We love good vs. evil. And even more, we LOVE a great movie we can watch over and over again and never get bored.

While it's certainly true that many many stories have been retold in movies (sometimes several times over -- think of all the variations available on Peter Pan!), a truly classic tale can be exciting nevermind that you've heard it a billion times before. Which is why I was so incredibly excited the first time I saw this:

Oh Jackie Chan. How I love you so.
Is there anything you can't do?

While I knew nothing of the movie when I first saw the poster, I was immediately reminded of the classic tale of Journey to the West. So I guess it was pretty fitting, since a search of Moviefone pretty much concluded that that was exactly the case.

Journey to the West has inspired a lot of other media. Well, it's an old story, older than Shakespeare, and as prevalent to the asian culture and media as the bible is to Christian cultures. The basics of the plot are that the monkey king is journeying west and destroys demons and rids the land of evil, meeting fellow travelers along the way and becoming enlightened.

Two different animated versions of Journey to the West.
Saiyuki likes to pretend it's not about man-love,
and DBZ likes to pretend that it has a real, honest-to-goodness plot. Pffft.

So really, it wasn't terribly surprising that I positively choked on my tongue when I saw there was a version of JttW coming out with Jackie Chan as a main character. AND Jet Li. For real. Here, feast on this tasty morsel of a trailer!

You can find out more about Journey to the West at the Wikipedia page. To see more about the Forbidden Kingdom movie, go to the Moviefone Page