The Forbidden Kingdom
October 2008 Reviewed by: Rad Bennett Format: Blu-ray	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Having spent a delightful two days with this movie and disc, I cannot imagine why it did not do better at the box office. I missed it there; it was seemingly here one day and gone the next. Perhaps kung fu aficionados felt it was too juvenile and non-fans were afraid it would be too kung fu because of its lead players. At any rate, what it turns out to be is a charming Eastern fairytale spiced with dynamic and thrilling action sequences.

After a brief prologue that shows the legendary Monkey King fighting off villains on a mythical mountaintop, the story begins in the West, where we meet Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano), a city teen who immerses himself in kung fu movies obtained at old Hop’s pawn shop. Hop (Jackie Chan) is a mysterious guy and keeps a museum-like room to the side of his shop. There, Jason discovers an ornate bow staff, which he has seen in his dreams. After being beaten up by a local gang of teens and forced to help burglarize Hop’s shop, Jason finds the staff in his hands, and faster than you can say kung fu he is transported back to the ancient land and time of the Monkey King. He has been turned into stone and to free him a hero must return his staff. Guess whose staff Jason has? Yep, the Monkey King’s.

Jason starts a journey to find the owner of the staff and along the way meets Lu Yan (Jackie Chan), one of the immortals who must drink perpetually to keep himself immortal. Of course, this makes him very drunk as well, and Chan gets to play a variation of the drunken master he has played before. Lu Yan explains the setup to Jason and lets him know that the staff must be returned to the Monkey King before he can return home to his own time. They meet the Silent Monk (Jet Li) and acquire Golden Sparrow (Liu Yifi), a beautiful young woman versed in kung fu combat and bent on revenge. The band of four set out to find the Monkey King and vanquish the villains who imprisoned him.

With Chan and Jet Li onboard, one is assured of some great action sequences, and the two veterans do not disappoint. Guided by the revered action choreographer-director Woo-Ping Yuen, Chan and Li provide some memorable fights. These are, however, integrated thoroughly into the story, for which we have to thank director Rob Minkoff.

The Blu-ray Disc looks and sounds as good as any I have seen. Whether it is for a landscape or an intricate Eastern costume, the detail constantly amazes. The colors are rich and vibrant yet never seem artificial, with exemplary skin tones. The sound mix is exceptionally imaginative. The soundfield is absolutely clear, and though the surround and side channels are on much of the time, their use is never gratuitous or distracting. Rather, they contribute just the right touch to make one appreciate better the action up front.

Much has been made of the different "profiles" of Blu-ray players. The notes on the back of the package make it very clear what you get in the way of extras, based on what player you have. All profiles will play the movie, and the making-of featurettes, of which there are many. If you have a profile-1.1 player, you can turn on a picture-in-picture running commentary for the entire movie. And, say the notes, if you have a profile-2.0 player you can invoke a feature called MoLog, which allows you to insert and animate shapes and sounds right into the film. Moreover you can share these with other MoLog users.

Anyway you look at it, and using any profile, this is a highly entertaining adventure movie that you will want to show to friends when they come over and want to know what Blu-ray is all about.

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