The Forbidden Kingdom

So sue me, I like Jackie Chan movies. Thus it happens that I really enjoyed The Forbidden Kingdom. It's more of a guilty pleasure than great cinema, but I thought it was a fun time. A bit predictable, but still fun.

The story of the Monkey King and the Journey to the West is a classic of Chinese literature. This American-Chinese production seems to fuse many elements from the classic story with plot devices from The Wizard of Oz, -- an American teenager mysteriously journeys to a magical place and has to journey with strange companions to defeat an evil ruler, before he can be sent home. And it works pretty well, as long as you don't think too hard and enjoy the ride.

Jet Li gives every appearance of gleefully portraying the Monkey King, but things kick up a notch when Jet Li and Jackie Chan are fighting together. Jackie seems to be reprising his Drunken Master character. This sure seemed like classic Saturday matinee fare, updated with 21st century FX and martial arts wire work. I was waiting for the double feature -- would it be Tarzan or Roy Rogers?

All things considered, the Monkey King has fared worse. The graphic novel American Born Chinese may have done the legend better justice, but as screen adaptations go, this is a durn sight better than Dragonball Z!

Classic quickies: The Seven Samurai

This is my favorite film, but I'm not very successful in persuading people to watch it. Maybe the idea of spending over three hours reading subtitles for what sounds like a martial arts film is daunting. I'll admit the first time or two I watched it, I was not all that impressed. But it's really important to watch the full-length version, not one of the shorter cuts extant. The film is full of richly developed characters and little vignettes that make it rich.

Although it seems like a war story, and its definitely a men's movie, Akira Kurosawa's theme is social change and progress. There is humor and pathos in plenty for the patient viewer. The two stars, Takeshi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune absolutely light up the screen among many fine supporting performances. Shimura's strength and confidence nicely plays off Mifune's over-the-top scenery chewing, even as the director plays off the tropes of John Ford westerns against those of historic Japanese samurai stories.