TNMC Recent Reviews

Tonight, we saw Rob Minkoff’s “The Forbidden Kingdom” (Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and a buncha other Chinamen).  I’m a huge fan of Jackie Chan movies, and I’m afraid that I was a bit disappointed by this one.

The story was well written and executed, and the cinemetography was absolutely beautiful.  But the story was told in a sort of Disney-esque style that totally left me underwhelmed.  I was hoping for more excitement, more pizzaz, more sizzle, especially given the first screen pairing of Jackie Chan and Jet Li!  But no such luck.  Just a nice, pleasant, but ultimately forgettable movie.

The story itself was kind of nteresting, though.  A modern-day Boston teenage Kung-Fu movie afficianado finds himself zapped back to ancient China, and on a mission to return an ancient fighting stick to its rightful owner.  Only then can he get back home.  Along the way, he meets up with a rag-tag group of martial-artsing misfits, who help him on his quest.  The comparisons to “The Wizard of Oz” are unavoidable!  During the final scene, I almost expected him to hug Jackie Chan and say, “I think I’ll miss you most of all, Scarecrow!”

Anyway, it was lighthearted fun, and I recommend it on that level.  But if you want awesome martial arts breathtaking action, you need to look elsewhere (like most any other Jackie Chan movie)……Jake

P.S. - I was especially disappointed at the lack of outtakes during the credits, like you get with all other Jackie Chan movies.

Tonight, we saw David Ayer’s “Street Kings” starring Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans, and Cedric the Entertainer.

This was an unholy mess of a badly written movie that I cannot recommend to anyone. UNLESS… they are people like me, who really, really love really bad movies! I enjoyed it a lot.

Basically, it was a throwback to the standard 1970s “loner cop” type flicks, that usually starred tough guys like Stallone, Clint, Bruce Willis, Steven Seagal, etc., and were produced by Golan and Globus and the Canon group. If those names ring a comforting bell, you might just enjoy this little throwback of a flick.

Basically, it was set in the LAPD, where every cop is a criminal, and all the sinners saints. You can’t trust anyone. Keanu is nominally the hero, although he is no less corrupt than all the rest. A complicated plot (which may or may not make sense, if you bother to parse it, which I didn’t) leads to all sorts of macho dick-jousting, shooting, bleeding, and dying.

One of the highlights was seeing TV’s Hugh Laurie (famous for “House” if that name doesn’t ring a bell) playing a hilarious, crotchety, double-dealing internal affairs cop.

That’s it! If that sounds like your cup of tea, go see it. If not, wait for the next Jane Austin adaptation. You’re on your own……Jake