The plot centers on teenager Jack Bronson, who is immersed in the virtual world of computer games, in which he is an invincible warrior. In reality, he represents the other extreme: he does his homework, reports to his mother and has problems with some peers whom he avoids. And in his free time from school, Jack works part-time in a local antique shop, run by a strange Chinese man. One day he gives Jack one of the souvenirs in the form of some old vessel, from which one night, with their problems, Princess Su Lin and her imperial guard Zhou from the era of ancient China crawl out (speaking, of course, in English). From this moment, the main storyline begins to develop, the adventures of the main character, new responsibilities to uninvited guests and funny situations that he is forced to resolve. The second storyline is related to his marital situation, which he finds himself in with his mother, who is not aware of the appearance of ancient Chinese guests in the house, which creates the occasion for a sitcom.
We have another production project ahead of us Luc Besson filmed Matthias Höhne ("Cockneys vs. Zombies") from a screenplay by Luke himself. Those who follow Luke's projects out of the corner of their eye can assume and are no longer mistaken about the form and content of his conveyor-belt, mathematically verified entertainment content, which does not burden the viewer to sometimes turn on his mind. It would be strange to expect from his production activities something more “eternal” in terms of cinematic value, something that could be safely added to one’s film collection. Although, there are some. But, for the most part, this is a fairly passable and disposable product. As in this case. On the other hand, if you tune in to the film correctly, then you can get some pleasure from it. And this doesn’t require much - just turn off your brain for an hour and a half and don’t forget to turn it back on.
Briefly about all aspects.
There’s no point in talking about the acting and, especially, the plot, everything is extremely standard and ordinary. No one here shined with their play. Only the minor cast can be noted, but not in terms of acting, but in terms of the presence of some celebrities in the form of the princess's guard, played by Mark Chao ("Black and White", "Young Detective Di"), Princess Su Lin herself, played by No no ("Flowers of War"), the main villain played by the omnipresent, but always effective Dave Bautista, which needs no introduction, Ron Smoorenburg, who at one time fought with Jackie Chan in "Who Am I?" on the roof of the building, but who does not show his face here, because he plays the “Black Knight”. There is also a famous one in Hong Kong cinema Francis Eng, playing that same strange Chinese wizard from the antique shop ("Future Police", "The Last Tycoon", "Double Castling 2" and many others). A legend of Hong Kong fighting cinema is also present Kara Hui (“My Lucky Stars 2”, “Best Squad 2”, “Swordsmen”, the series “Master of Tai Chi”, “Kung Fu Wing Chun” “Legendary Assassin”), who has already promised to leave combat cinema after “Mrs.” K" (2016). True, I didn’t notice it when I first watched it. "Warriors' Gate"
But, unfortunately, all the names listed do not save the film, but simply decorate, like Christmas tree decorations, a cut-down and dried-out Christmas tree. And the main character is a teenager with the appearance of Daenerys Stormborn (Uriah Shelton) is a little annoying with its cuteness and averageness. Seeing, hearing, and watching him is not interesting. And God bless her, with her appearance, the main thing is the inner content and his development as a person throughout the film. It was not to be - just as he appeared in the frame as a teenage gamer, he remained that way in character and intellect. True, he still, unbeknownst to the viewer, somehow learned kung fu, asking guard Zhou casually to “show a few tricks,” which was ultimately enough to repel armed ancient warriors in armor and defeat Dave Bautista in battle one on one. Hey, martial arts prodigy! It would be nice if he did it beautifully...
In terms of acting, the main character is a complete dummy, he doesn’t evoke any sympathy, he smiles equally stupidly whether he’s hanging out with a princess, eating ice cream, or standing on the scaffold with a noose around his neck. He doesn’t want to empathize at all, in comparison with the kid from “The Neverending Story,” for example, who also finds himself in a world that is alien to him. Yes, it’s cool, of course, standing on the scaffold with a noose around his neck, making jokes a la Bruce Willis in “ The Last Boy Scout, but as played by Jack Bronson, this is more like a manifestation of his low IQ, not realizing the seriousness of the situation. Before Die Hard, he had not yet grown nuts, it was too early for him to joke while in tricky situations.
And somehow he quickly got used to the fantastic nature of what was happening, was a little surprised at the camera and immediately got used to it. But a teenager’s arrival in ancient China provides rich soil for many different interesting situations. In general, I didn’t really like the main character and his stay in ancient China, and he spends about half of the film there.
The formation of a positive assessment of the film is greatly aggravated by the eerie cliché of the plot, which at the same time resembles all similar films at once and to a greater extent "Forbidden Kingdom", but you can also catch the similarities with many other youth entertainment films, where the focus is on a typical teenager with problems typical for his age, who eventually becomes a “cool guy.” You could even nominate the film as the "Most Clichéd Film" of the decade.
The visuals here are standard for modern entertainment, that is: a beautiful picture with editing for the sake of editing, with tasteless camera work, which nullifies the efforts of the action directors, which is already so-so, and in which plans change every 1- 2-3 seconds. The combination of editing and camera work had a bad impact on the overall assessment of the film, although there was something to show: locations, costumes and scenery, special effects, Chinese landscapes, not to mention the choreography.
The main component for fans of martial arts in cinema is staged here rather poorly. Not a single scene is memorable, but perhaps precisely because of the mediocre visual presentation in the form of camera work and editing - one of the main problems of combat cinema.
Verdict:
Rating 3/5. Where did the 3 points come from? Well, you can watch it once... you can. There are funny moments, dialogues, Chinese landscapes, special effects, the princess is also okay, and sometimes the stupidity of the film is also as entertaining as the smart one. But, nevertheless, the ending leaves a positive mood and aftertaste; we didn’t go wrong here. Positivity is good. You have to be able to put a point. For any film, the most important thing is to start right and end right.
Teenagers may like this film, especially those who have not absorbed the best years of combat cinema and have no examples for comparison. The film was 15-20 years late for its release. When watching, I did without beer, popcorn and other ingredients for a more positive perception. But for those who haven’t watched it, I don’t recommend getting acquainted with this product in such an extreme way.
Compare "Warriors' Gate" с "Forbidden Kingdom" possible only in context: how not to do it and how to do it.
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Tags: The Warriors Gate, Dave Batista, Kara Hui, Luc Besson, Mark Chao, No no, Ron Smoorenburg, Uriah Shelton, Francis Ng
Tags: The Warriors Gate, Dave Batista, Kara Hui, Luc Besson, Mark Chao, No no, Ron Smoorenburg, Uriah Shelton, Francis Ng
"Bushwick" with Batista on torrents. The film is never a hand-to-hand action movie. And in general, it’s absolutely not spectacular (but very realistic) in terms of action. The acting is of high quality, but not at all outstanding (the genre is not the same). The script is strong, but not compelling. There is a lot of dirt, but they didn’t savor it, they simply showed the dirt of the civil war. The ending... It turned out to be a little unexpected for me. Not in terms of “this is the twist,” but in terms of how they decided to end the film.
He looks more like Justin Bieber.
It doesn’t make any difference, it’s like comparing shit that stinks with shit that doesn’t stink - it’s done a little better, but you still regret watching it.
Anton Clemens,
Anton, yes, he really does look like Bieber, but in any case this is not a compliment))
But what didn’t you like about “The Forbidden Kingdom”?
Well, for example, the fight between Jet and Jackie:
1) The choreography is mediocre, not a single interesting movement.
2) Sound effects to express animal styles are a moronic technique.
3) The characters wear baggy clothes, which prevent you from enjoying their movements.
4) What makes a good fight is the high stakes - will anything bad happen if the good guys lose? But here there is no tension between the characters, they simply exchange blows.
And little things:
1) Moronic humor - Jet Li pissing in Jackie Chan's mouth, how fucking funny.
2) The characters are not developed, they are all just walking templates.
3) Drama doesn't work, you don't worry about anyone.
4) The plot is a typical fantasy about the path and transformation of the hero; there is no unique context in the story.
Jury, my personal impression: Jackie Chan’s last film from the “Must See” category was released in 2004. By the time “The Forbidden Kingdom” was released, I had not yet lost hope that Jackie Chan would still rock. And in addition, the film starred Jet Li, who had also recently left the “Must See” category in 2005, but I had not yet lost hope for him. Accordingly, my anticipation for The Forbidden Kingdom went through the roof. Two stars of this magnitude in one film! But it turned out... In short, I watched it once, for show. I won’t say that it was bad, but due to the fact that I never wanted to watch it again since then, I was terribly disappointed.
And now I don’t remember what the film was about. I remember that Jackie played a drunken ex-fighter, and Jet... No, I don’t remember. They didn't share some kid there, or what? Well, like, the guy, like in this movie, fell into the past?
Something like this. This is not the mark of a great film, in my humble opinion.
Anton wrote that anyway, comparing shit that stinks with shit that doesn’t stink is done a little better, but you still regret watching it.
The Forbidden Kingdom is a very good film and a pleasure to watch, but this one can already be seen from the trailer that it will be complete garbage.