The Forbidden Kingdom

Went to watch the movie that's hyped as the first collaboration between Jet Li and Jackie Chan. Participants include Benjamin, Edwin, Wei Long and Geraint. (Thanks Zhi Wei for 2 free tickets)

Been very long since I last watched a movie. Er... to be exactly, been very long since I last watched a movie at the cinema. Well anyway, about the movie itself.

I think the Forbidden Kingdom's story and characters is not as good as the Kay Kingdom is pretty awesome. In fact, personally I'll give it 4 out of 5 stars.

But then again, I can totally understand why some would go as far as to give it 1 out of 5. Many portions are extremely cheesy, or what I would like to call "lame".

It'll make you (ok, make me) express something along the lines of "Simi sai!", "What the hell!!!", etc...

But the lameness & randomness is what makes it so humorous and fun to watch. If you can take these "faults" as 笑点 (points to laugh at) rather than "faults", you will definitely enjoy the show. Another point is that pure English speakers may not really get to appreciate the whole movie, as there are numerous language related jokes. Of course, knowledge of the Chinese culture and legends like the Monkey God will add to the enjoyment of the movie.

The movie speaks about an American boy that traveled through time, back into ancient china in order to complete a mission - to return the "Golden Staff" to Sun Wu Kong the Monkey God. The whole journey is filled with lots of fighting and hilarious scenes - like the one where the Drunken Immortal prays for rain.

I like the designs of the characters a lot, especially the White Hair Demoness. From her eyes, her hair, her costume and her whip weapon, to the way she fights. All damn "stylo". Liu Yi Fei looks outstanding too, when she's playing the instrument.

Almost every fight scene is mesmerizing and fun to watch, especially the epic finale battle.

Everyone was like "Ahhhhh~ put the pole on the statue~!!".

I like the twist in the end where they reveal the identity of Jet Li. It's something that was planted very very early in the movie to the audience, but only revealed at the end.

Some portions were disappointing thought, like the death of the White Hair Demon (not epic enough, although it sure is funny). I was wishing for a better final fight between Sun Wukong & the Warlord (he didn't use his "Sucking Skill"!). The ending was also quite... unsatisfactory to say the least.

Neverthless, I enjoyed the movie a lot.

P.S: If Benji didn't keep mumbling about crappy stuffs through the show... -_-

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After the movie, went to KBuffet with Edwin, Benji, Choo and later joined by Joseph. First time been to a KBuffet and I think it's quite "wu hua". The food alone is worth about $15 to $20 depending on how much you can eat. ^_^

Quite an enjoyable session. Eating ice cream while listening to Andy Lau perform for you, and of course we couldn't resist doing some "lyric changes" here and there. Hahaha.

And guess what's our ending (and craziest) song that night?

...

Yeah.

Sun Wu Kong. -_-

...

Is this coincidence or what?