The Forbidden Kingdom

The Forbidden Kingdom

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Rob Minkoff
Produced by Casey Silver
Screenplay by John Fusco
Story by Wu Cheng'en
Starring Jackie Chan
Jet Li
Juana Collignon
Collin Chou
Liu Yifei
Li Bingbing
Michael Angarano
Music by David Buckley
Cinematography Peter Pau
Edited by Eric Strand
Production
company
Distributed by Lionsgate
The Weinstein Company
Release dates
  • 18 April 2008 (2008-04-18) (United States)
  • 24 April 2008 (2008-04-24) (Hong Kong)
Running time
 104 minutes
Country United States
China[1][2]
Language English
Mandarin
Cantonese
Budget $55 million[3]
Box office $127,906,624 [4]

The Forbidden Kingdom (Chinese: 功夫之王: Gong Fu Zhi Wang (Mandarin) or Gung Fu Ji Wong (Cantonese) and translated King of Kung Fu (English); Working title: The J & J Project[5]) is a 2008 Chinese-American martial arts film written by John Fusco, and directed by Rob Minkoff, and starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The film is loosely based on the novel Journey to the West, it is the first film to star together two of the best known names in the martial arts film genre. The action sequences were choreographed by Yuen Woo-ping.

The film is distributed in the United States through The Weinstein Company and Lionsgate Films,[6] and through The Huayi Brothers Film & Taihe Investment Company in China. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the USA and Hong Kong on 9 September 2008 and the United Kingdom on 17 November 2008.

Plot summary

South Boston teenager Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano) is a fan of martial arts films and he awakens from a dream of a battle between the Monkey King (Jet Li) and celestial soldiers in the clouds. He visits a pawn shop in Chinatown to buy Wuxia DVDs and discovers a golden staff. On his way home, Jason is harassed by some hooligans, whose leader Lupo attempts to use him to help them rob the shop-owner Hop. Hop tries to fight the thieves with the staff, but is shot and wounded by Lupo. He tells Jason to deliver the staff to its rightful owner and Jason flees with the staff. He is cornered on the rooftop by the hooligans and almost shot too, but he is pulled off the roof by the staff and falls backwards onto the asphalt.

When Jason regains consciousness, he finds himself in a village in ancient China that is under attack by armored soldiers. The soldiers see his staff and attempt to seize it. He is saved by the inebriated traveling scholar Lu Yan (Jackie Chan), a supposed "immortal," who remains alert and agile even when drunk. Lu brings Jason to a teahouse and tells him the story of the rivalry between the Monkey King and the Jade Warlord. The Jade Warlord tricked the Monkey King into setting aside his magic staff Ruyi Jingu Bang and transformed the immortal into a stone statue, but the Monkey King cast his staff far away before the transformation. Lu ends the tale with a prophecy about someone, a "Seeker", who will find the staff and free the Monkey King. Just then, they are attacked by the Jade Warlord's men again but manage to escape with the help of Golden Sparrow, a young girl who refers to herself in the third person. She reveals that her family was murdered by the Jade Warlord, against whom she has therefore sworn revenge.

Meanwhile, the Jade Warlord (Collin Chou), upon learning that the staff has been sighted, sends the White-Haired Witch Ni-Chang to help him retrieve it in exchange for the elixir of immortality. Jason, Lu Yan and Golden Sparrow meet a strange man dressed in white, also played by Jet Li, who takes the staff away from them. Lu Yan fights with the man (later revealed to be the Silent Monk) for the staff until the latter realizes that Jason is the prophesied Seeker, and he joins them in their quest to free the Monkey King. As the four travel to Five Elements Mountain, Lu Yan and the Silent Monk teach Jason kung fu along the way. After crossing a desert, they encounter Ni-Chang and her henchmen and a battle ensues, in which Lu Yan is mortally wounded by Ni-Chang's arrow. The protagonists take refuge in a monastery, where they learn that Lu is actually not an immortal as he failed the test to become one. Only the Jade Warlord's elixir can save his life. In desperation, Jason goes to the Warlord's palace alone to exchange the staff for the elixir.

In the palace, the Jade Warlord asks Jason to fight with Ni-Chang to the death, because he had promised to give the elixir to only one of them. Jason is defeated by Ni-Chang and the Warlord taunts him for his foolishness, and is about to decapitate him when the other protagonists and monks from the monastery arrive to join in the battle. Jason manages to grab the elixir and he tosses it to Lu Yan, who drinks it and recovers. The Silent Monk is wounded by the Jade Warlord's guandao during the fight and he passes the staff to Jason, who uses it to smash the Monkey King's statue. The Monkey King is freed and the Silent Monk is revealed to be actually one of the Monkey's clones. Lu Yan battles Ni-Chang and kills her by throwing her off the cliff hundreds of feet below. After another long battle between the Monkey King and the Jade Warlord, the Warlord is eventually stabbed by Jason and falls into a lava pit to his death. However, Golden Sparrow has been seriously injured by the Warlord and she dies in Jason's arms, thanking him in the first person before dying. By then, the Jade Emperor has returned from his meditation and he praises Jason for fulfilling the prophecy and allows him for one wish, which he asked is to return home.

Jason finds himself back in 21st century Boston after passing through a magical portal at the exact moment and location of his earlier fall. He defeats Lupo easily by using the kung fu moves he was taught and drives the other hooligans away. He alerts the police and calls an ambulance for Hop, who survives from the gunshot wound and brushes off Jason's concerns, claiming that he is immortal (hinting that he is actually Lu Yan; a fact which also would have been hinted by the name of the pawn shop as seen in the beginning: "Lu Yan's Pawn Shop"). Before the film ends, Jason is delighted to see a girl who resembles Golden Sparrow and speaks to her briefly, before she heads back to her shop, called "Golden Sparrow Chinese Merchandise". The final scene shows Jason on a rooftop at night practicing his staffwork and continuing to hone his kung fu skills while Lu Yan narrates the Monkey King travels to the west in search of truth (Referring Journey to the West) while Jason walk the path of the warrior and find his own truth. The film ends as Lu Yan states: "As one tale ends, so another begins".

Cast

Production details

Pre-production

While the character Sun Wukong came from Wu Cheng'en's famous classical novel Journey to the West,[9] in an interview with Screen Power magazine, actor Collin Chou denied that the plotline would be related to the novel. The details of the plot were devised by screenwriter John Fusco along with actor Jet Li. Li explains,

“ The screenwriter is a good friend of mine and we have been sparring partners for the past three years. I was among the first to get hold of the story and later we were joined by Jackie and others. The screenwriter and I discussed how to turn the story into a fantasy and dream-like film. He is a superb screenwriter and has been learning Chinese martial arts for more than 10 years. He has roughly put across in the film some of my basic understanding of martial arts and principles of Buddhism.[10] ”

In a behind the scenes article he wrote for Kung Fu Magazine, screenwriter John Fusco also stated he derived the surname for the Jason Tripitikas character from "the wandering monk, Tripitaka, from Journey to the West".[7]

The Golden Sparrow character was inspired by Cheng Pei-pei's character Golden Swallow from the Shaw Brothers film Come Drink with Me. Before trying to kill the Jade Warlord, Golden Sparrow refers to the 1966 film, telling him to "Come drink with" her.

Production

Production began in early 1 May 2007 in the area around the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.[11] Before filming began, the entire cast did a costume fitting and a script read through, certain dialogues were altered to suit the different actors' English speaking abilities; this was due to the majority of the cast having English as their second language. Chan described the first day of shooting as "very relaxing" because the shots only required drama and walking, with no action.[12] When the two martial arts veterans (Chan and Li) did film action scenes together for the first time, they both expressed how easy it was to work with one another. Chan explained:

“ I have not worked with someone whom I’m comfortable with, in terms of movements, rhythm and natural reactions, in the last 10 years. I have done many fight scenes with others but there were usually more than 10 takes, which is a waste of time as the person may forget his moves and unnecessary injuries. When I fought with Jet, our actions were quick. We also didn’t have to do the same stunt over 20 times.[13] ”

Filming finished on August 24, 2007, and the film went into post-production on September 29, 2007.

Soundtrack

Critical reception

The response to The Forbidden Kingdom, by both critics and audiences, was mixed to positive. As of 1 May 2008, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 65% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 121 reviews — with the consensus being "Great fight scenes, but too much filler".[14] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 57 out of 100, based on 26 reviews — indicating mixed or average reviews.[15]

The Chinese press, however, responded to the movie less positively. Perry Lam wrote in Muse magazine, "As a Hollywood blockbuster, The Forbidden Kingdom offers no apologies for its American-Centrism. In fact, it wears it with pride like a badge of honor".[16]

Home media

The Forbidden Kingdom was released on DVD and Blu-ray 9 September 2008. It sold about 1,199,593 units which translated to revenue of $22,921,609, bringing its worldwide total to $151,758,670.[17]

It is sold on single disc and two-disc special editions. The single disc edition has no extras but contains widescreen and full screen presentations of the film. The special edition includes a commentary by director Rob Minkoff, deleted scenes with commentary, featurettes (The Kung Fu Dream Team, Dangerous Beauty, Discovering China, Filming in Chinawood, and Monkey King and the Eight Immortals), a "Previsualization Featurette" with commentary by writer Fusco and director Minkoff, and a blooper reel. In addition to these extras, the Blu-ray release contains a digital copy.

Box office performance

The Forbidden Kingdom grossed a total of $127,906,624 worldwide — $52,075,270 in the United States and $75,831,354 in other territories.[18] In its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, the film grossed $21,401,121 in 3,151 theaters, ranking No. 1 at the box office opening weekend and averaging $6,792 per theater.[19][20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Forbidden Kingdom". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  2. ↑ "The Forbidden Kingdom". British Film Institute. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  3. ↑ Frater, Patrick (April 11, 2008). "'Forbidden Kingdom' a global affair". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved October 8, 2011.
  4. ↑ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/boxoffice/news/e3i6b913c786b0131f95f744b25f284b20b
  5. ↑ Yan, Seto Kit (April 22, 2008). "Yin and yang". The Star. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  6. ↑ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3ib191236ae685199ee357b2613f8f2228
  7. 1 2 John Fusco. "FORBIDDEN FIST: The Making of THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM". Ezine.kungfumagazine.com. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  8. ↑
  9. ↑ http://www.monkeypeaches.com/0608M.html#03C
  10. ↑ "star-ecentral.com". star-ecentral.com. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  11. ↑
  12. ↑
  13. ↑ "star-ecentral.com". star-ecentral.com. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  14. ↑ "The Forbidden Kingdom Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  15. ↑ "Forbidden Kingdom, The (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  16. ↑ Lam, Perry (June 2008). "Not just a movie". Muse Magazine (17): 98.
  17. ↑ "The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) - Financial Information". The-numbers.com. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  18. ↑ "The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
  19. ↑ "The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  20. ↑ "'Forbidden Kingdom' lands No. 1 at box office". Google. Associated Press. 2008-04-21. Archived from the original on April 22, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-23.

External links

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