The martial arts extravaganza The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) is now wrapping up its theatrical run, and won’t appear on DVD until September. So why the hell am I writing about it now?
Um. Er... because I wanna. So there.
Forbidden Kingdom is, of course, the first film to feature both Jet Li and Jackie Chan. It is an American production, in English, but is steeped in Chinese culture, and might be one of the most “Chinese” Hollywood movies ever produced. To make the story more accessible to Western audiences, it is told from the point of view of an American teenaged boy (Michael Angarano) who finds himself transported to ancient China, where he has a series of adventures. At first, the lad is unable to communicate with the people he encounters, but the language barrier simply disappears after a minute or two, when the cast suddenly starts speaking in English. (Hey, why not? This is a fantasy film, not a language lesson.)
The film contains several iconic Chinese characters and situations, thrown together into a sort of “best-of” compilation. It's like a kung fu mix tape. Here's what we've got:
• The Monkey King — one of two characters played by Jet Li, this guy has a tail, a hairy face, a playfully flippant attitude, magical powers and nigh-invincible kung fu prowess. The character first appeared in the Ming dynasty novel Journey to the West, and has been popping up in popular media ever since. In the book, he was born asexually by springing out of a stone, gained immortality, defeated an army of 100,000 “heavenly soldiers” and was eventually encased in stone for 500 years. The Monkey King carried a magical staff that could telescope to an enormous length, and he could often be seen flying around on a cloud.
There have been plenty of stage productions, movies and TV shows featuring the Monkey King, including the Shaw brothers’ films Monkey goes West (1966) and Cave of the Silken Web (1967). The Japanese animated series Dragon Ball is also loosely based on the Monkey King, sharing an invincible tailed protagonist who flies atop a cloud.
• The Drunken Master — there have been several “drunken” kung fu masters in Hong Kong cinema. One of the most famous of these was Wong Fei Hung, as portrayed by Jackie Chan in Drunken Master (1978). In that film, Jackie learned the art of drunken boxing, a potent fighting style in which the fighter mimics the lurching, unsteady stance of a drunk in order to defeat opponents seemingly by accident. It is a real kung fu style, difficult to learn and amazing to watch.
• Golden Sparrow — the love interest in Forbidden Kingdom is a bitter female fighter named Golden Sparrow. She is clearly modelled on the title character from Shaw brothers’ Golden Swallow (1968), originally played by Cheng Pei Pei. Why the name change? Well, I'm guessing that the producers didn't want adolescent moviegoers chuckling like Beavis and Butthead over a girl named Swallow. Sparrow has custom-made bird-shaped darts, which figured heavily in the plot of Golden Swallow. She also says “Come drink with me” at one point, a reference to Come Drink With Me (1966), the first film in which the character appeared.
• The White-Haired Villainess — any Hong Kong film fanatic who sees this white-haired antagonist will immediately think of Brigitte Lin in The Bride with White Hair (1993). In that film, she is a tragic figure, driven mad by the mistaken belief that her lover has betrayed her. Her hair turns white in an instant, and she dismembers scores of enemy soldiers with her whip and her whip-like hair, which lashes out like gleaming tentacles.
There you go. Your homework assignment is to watch all of these shows so that you'll understand what’s going on in The Forbidden Kingdom. (Just kidding. The film is straightforward and entertaining all on its own.)
