Some thoughts on THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM, but first, a couple of housekeeping notes:

Apologies for the gap in between posts, I overextended myself a little bit with the HKFA preview blog post series. Plus, I’m a lazy, lazy man.

Apologies also to the HKFA Prediction Contest entrants. I’m sorry that it’s taken almost as long to announce a winner as it has for Zimbabwe to announce the winner of its presidential election. Without further ado, the winner of the contest is:

Robert Mugabe of Harare, Zimbabwe

For his prize, Mr. Mugabe selected a TWINS EFFECT lanyard from the House Where Words Gather prize vault … Just kidding. The winner be announced in the next blog post.

… And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming …

THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM
Official Site: http://www.forbiddenkingdommovie.com/
Director: Rob Minkoff
Cast: Jackie Chan (Lu Yan/Old Hop), Jet Li (The Silent Monk/The Monkey King), Michael Angarano (Jason Tripitikas), Crystal Liu Yifei (Golden Sparrow), Collin Chou (The Jade Warlord), Li Bingbing (Ni Chang)

Synopsis (from the official site): A 21st Century American teenager takes a spellbinding, dangerous journey into martial arts legend in the new action/adventure epic FORBIDDEN KINGDOM. Shot on location in China, THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM marks the historic first-ever onscreen pairing of martial arts superstars Jackie Chan (RUSH HOUR, DRUNKEN MASTER) and Jet Li (FEARLESS, ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA), and features the awe-inspiring action choreography of Yuen Wo Ping (THE MATRIX, CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON). While hunting down bootleg kung-fu DVDs in a Chinatown pawnshop, Jason (played by Michael Angarano - “24″, “Will and Grace”, LORDS OF DOGTOWN, SEABISCUIT) makes an extraordinary discovery that sends him hurtling back in time to ancient China. There, Jason is charged with a monumental task: he must free the fabled warrior the Monkey King, who has been imprisoned by the evil Jade Warlord. Jason is joined in his quest by wise kung fu master Lu Yan (Jackie Chan) and a band of misfit warriors including Silent Monk (Jet Li). But only by learning the true precepts of kung fu can Jason hope to succeed - and find a way to get back home.

PRE-CONCEIVED NOTIONS: I hate to admit this but beyond loyalty to my people and a slight fascination with Crystal Liu Yifei, there weren’t too many compelling reasons for me to plop down $11 to see THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM. Yes, it is the first major collaboration between Jackie Chan and Jet Li but the plot synopsis brought flashbacks of that awful THUNDERBIRDS movie from a few years back — where a cool idea was turned into a steaming pile of poo by corporate thinking concerned more with making a marketable commercial product than a good movie.

In fact, had I gone to the theatre on opening weekend, I probably would have seen FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL instead of THE FORGOTTEN KINGDOM. FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL got a glowing review on AT THE MOVIES WITH EBERT & ROEPER and SUPERBAD was the most fun I had at the movies in 2007. However, snow and freezing rain kept me from the theatre and — in the days that passed — my interest in seeing FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL waned as tepid feedback emerged from opening weekend moviegoers. Moreover, I figured that going to THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM was something I could do with the Old Man (my Dad, not Bill Adama) that didn’t involve some form of dim sum.

AFTER THE MOVIE: When a movie combines bending of the space-time continuum with a “rat teaches the art of the ninja to four turtles” type premise, the only way you can measure it effectively is to ask: Is it enjoyable? Fortunately, for the cause of Chinese talent in Hollywood, the answer is mostly yes as Jackie Chan and Jet Li deliver likeable performances that generate enough affection and goodwill to overcome the clumsy plot, clunky dialogue and two cheesy modern-day segments that bookend the film.

Fans of Big Brother Jackie and Jet Li should come away satisfied but kung fu cinema aficionados may feel a twinge of disappointment as they leave the theatre. A kung fu film collaboration between Jackie Chan and Jet Li should have been better than THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM. It shouldn’t have been saddled with the goofy “teenager from Boston has to save ancient China from a despot” story. It’s sort of like Al Pacino and Robert De Niro finally agreeing to collaborate on a mafia film only to see them end up playing crime bosses who settle their differences after becoming friends while coaching their respective daughters through some Lamaze classes. THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM is well-produced, pleasant, mildly enjoyable entertainment but you can’t help but wonder what might have been.

MORE THOUGHTS (WARNING: contains minor spoilers): A film of THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM’s ilk doesn’t lend itself to penetrating analysis so I’ll simply share some of the things I liked about the film and some of the things I didn’t like about it. I liked:

- The way Jackie Chan and Jet Li were billed equally. Kudos to the person who came up with the idea.

- The opening title sequence — which featured poster images of kung fu film icons like Bruce Lee, Gordon Liu, Chen Kuan-Tai, Lau Kar-Leung, Cheng Pei-Pei and the “Five Venoms” among others. Not only is it a nice tribute, I think it serves as a signal to kung fu film fans that the filmmakers recognize the rich heritage of kung fu cinema.

- The affable performances by Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Taking on the divergent dual roles of The Monkey King and The Silent Monk, Jet Li shows flashes of his HKFA Best Actor skills by being playfully puckish while as The Monkey King and stern but warm-hearted while as The Silent Monk. Jackie Chan, meanwhile, gives an energetic effort that brings back fond memories of his Lunar New Year film glory days and serves to highlight how lethargic his performance was in RUSH HOUR 3.

Things I didn’t like include:

- The modern-day South Boston segments that bookend the film. Since I am a sap, the only thing I liked about it was the appearance of 21st Century Golden Sparrow. The rest of the modern-day stuff was painfully cheesy. The street gang — complete with horribly-done Southie accents — is so cliche, the guys in WEST SIDE STORY snapping their fingers and singing “when you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the way” end up having more “street cred”. To make matters worse, the gang leader (played by Morgan Benoit) is so over-the-top, it’s hard to take anything that happens seriously. I’m not sure if the fault lies with Mr. Benoit or with production. If I had to pick one, I’d go with the latter because even 1980s movie bully William Zabka in his prime would have looked bad in the cornball modern-day sequences.

- The way the film had Lu Yan do the basal exposition. Lu Yan, Jackie Chan’s character, is given the responsibility of explaining the situation in ancient China to Jason (the Boston teenager created to expand the marketable demographics) and, by extension, the audience. As is widely known from the DVD extras of past Jackie Chan films, Big Brother Jackie learns most of his lines phonetically so his delivery is shaky at best. Combined with the clunky “the naughty Monkey King thrice repelled the Jade Warlord” type dialogue, some audience members may have difficultly getting into an already far-fetched story.

MISCELLANEA:

- For the sake of my fellow ham sup lo, I feel obligated to say a few words about twenty-one year-old Crystal Liu Yifei. Known primarily to Chinese audiences as a TV actress, Liu spent part of her childhood in New York City before returning to China to study at the Bejing Film Academy in 2002. She burst onto the scene in 2003 with a captivating performance as Wong Yu-Yin (王語嫣) in HEAVEN DRAGON THE EIGHTH EPISODE (CCTV’s adaptation of Louis Cha’s DEMI-GODS AND SEMI-DEVILS). In 2006, she cemented her status as a rising star after she received much acclaim for taking on the role of “Little Dragon Girl” (小龍女) in THE RETURN OF THE CONDOR HEROES (another CCTV adaptation of a Louis Cha novel). Both series received high ratings and allowed her to expand her career with opportunities in music and film.

Playing Golden Sparrow, Liu gives a solid performance in THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM but prospects for further opportunities in Hollywood appear doubtful. While it was the top earner in North America on its opening weekend, THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM did not catch fire like CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. In addition, there’s been very little buzz about Liu. When he reviewed THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM for AT THE MOVIES WITH EBERT AND ROEPER, Richard Roeper did not fawn over Liu or co-star Li Bingbing like he does normally with the likes of Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi. Instead, he referred to them generically by praising them for their “fabulous kung fu babe-ery”.

Liu, however, does have the ability to be a crossover talent. She has screen presence and she speaks English adequately (there’s even a slight hint of “Valley Girl” in her English). It will be interesting to see if Liu or Isabella Leong Lok-Si (who has a role in the upcoming THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR) make a dent in Hollywood. My guess is that neither will make a significant splash but it will be something to track over the next few years.

To those who’ve seen Liu in both HEAVEN DRAGON THE EIGHTH EPISODE and THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM, is it my imagination or does Liu seem younger in THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM even though she is five years older? I remember being intrigued then horrified after watching Liu in the CCTV drama. Intrigued because she looked fabulous as Wong Yu-Yin then horrified when I learned she was only 15 when she shot the show. To this day, just making eye contact with her stills from HEAVEN DRAGON THE EIGHTH EPISODE makes me feel like a pedophile. Now that I’ve seen THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM, I can reassure myself by rationalizing that her costuming in the TV drama made her look like she was in her early-20s. Isn’t that right? Please, somebody, agree with me.

- Tired of getting hassled by bullies while on your way home from a DVD run to the local Chinatown video store? Avoid the perilous journey and shop online at YesAsia where you can get DVDs of titles from A-1 HEADLINES to ZU: WARRIORS FROM THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN. They even offer free shipping to anywhere in the world! YesAsia — providing refuge to bullied film geeks since 1998.

Image credits: Universal Pictures (FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL poster), The Weinstein Company (THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM poster, Crystal Liu), Columbia Pictures (William Zabka), CCTV (Crystal Liu)

Posted at 5:38 pm HKT

Previously:

• Best Film
• Best Actor
• Best Actress
• Best Supporting Actor
• Best Supporting Actress
• Best New Performer
• Best Director and Best Screenplay

With the strains of Bill Conti’s “The Final Bell” and thoughts of Sylvester Stallone yelling: “Yo Adrian, I did it!” running through my head, I close the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards preview series by offering my predictions for tonight’s awards:

Best Film: THE POSTMODERN LIFE OF MY AUNT
Best Director: Ann Hui On-Wah (THE POSTMODERN LIFE OF MY AUNT)
Best Screenplay: Li Qiang (THE POSTMODERN LIFE OF MY AUNT)
Best Actor: Jet Li (THE WARLORDS)
Best Actress: Siqin Gaowa (THE POSTMODERN LIFE OF MY AUNT)
Best Supporting Actor: Ronald Cheng Chung-Gei (MR. CINEMA)
Best Supporting Actress: Karen Mok Man-Wai (MR. CINEMA)
Best New Perfomer: Kate Tsui Tsz-Shan (EYE IN THE SKY)

TIE-BREAKER QUESTION: PROTEGE is nominated for 15 awards. How many awards will it win? 2

Also, here’s who I’ll be cheering for:

Best Film: EYE IN THE SKY
Best Director: Yau Nai-Hoi (EYE IN THE SKY)
Best Screenplay: Yau Nai-Hoi, Au Kin-Yee (EYE IN THE SKY)
Best Actor: Jet Li (THE WARLORDS)
Best Actress: Teresa Mo Shun-Kwun (MR. CINEMA)
Best Supporting Actor: Nick Cheung Ka-Fai (EXODUS)
Best Supporting Actress: Maggie Shiu Mei-Kei (EYE IN THE SKY)
Best New Performer: Kate Tsui Tsz-Shan (EYE IN THE SKY)

Previously:

• Best Film
• Best Actor
• Best Actress
• Best Supporting Actor
• Best Supporting Actress
• Best New Performer

Coming down the home stretch of the HKFA blog post series, it’s time to preview the Best Director and Best Screenplay categories. The nominees for Best Director are:

Peter Chan Ho-Sun (THE WARLORDS)
Derek Yee Tung-Sing (PROTEGE)
Ann Hui On-Wah (THE POSTMODERN LIFE OF MY AUNT)
Johnnie To Kei-Fung, Wai Ka-Fai (MAD DETECTIVE)
Yau Nai-Hoi (EYE IN THE SKY)

My understanding of the technical aspects of movie direction is very limited so I will defer to my contact “Martin” in this preview of the Best Director category. Martin, a pseudonym, actually makes a living in the Hong Kong film industry so he is keeping his identity a secret because he wants to express his honest opinions without having to worry that he is offending any past or potential colleagues.

Martin thinks that the front runners for the award are: Ann Hui, Derek Yee and Peter Chan. He believes Yau Nai-Hoi is a lock for the Best New Director award so Yau will not be a contender for Best Director. As for Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai, Martin contends that if you watch THE MAD DETECTIVE closely, you’ll notice that the film does not flow smoothly. He argues that To and Wai have done better work.

Handicapping the race between Derek Yee, Ann Hui and Peter Chan, Martin thinks that any one of the three directors could win because each demonstrate adept craftsmanship in their respective films. Derek Yee uses a variety of directorial techniques to shore up a mediocre screenplay while Peter Chan deftly manages a film that has an epic scope. If he had to pick a winner, however, it would be Ann Hui. Martin thinks that THE POSTMODERN LIFE OF MY AUNT is the most intricate film amongst the three front runners in that it shifts smartly and seamlessly through many layers and tones.

* * * * *

The nominees for Best Screenplay are:

Xu Lan, Chun Tin-Nam, Aubrey Lam Oi-Wah, Huang Jianxin, Ho Kei-Ping, Kwok Jun-Lap, Jojo Hui Yuet-Chun, James Yuen Sai-Sun (THE WARLORDS)
Derek Yee Tung-Sing, Chun Tin-Nam, Lung Man-Hung, Go Sun (PROTEGE)
Li Qiang (THE POSTMODERN LIFE OF MY AUNT)
Wai Ka-Fai, Au Kin-Yee (MAD DETECTIVE)
Yau Nai-Hoi, Au Kin-Yee (EYE IN THE SKY)

5. Xu Lan, Chun Tin-Nam, Aubrey Lam Oi-Wah, Huang Jianxin, Ho Kei-Ping, Kwok Jun-Lap, Jojo Hui Yuet-Chun, James Yuen Sai-Sun (THE WARLORDS)

As I stated in the preview of the Best Film category, THE WARLORDS suffers from significant storytelling problems. The fact that the film had an eight-person writing team practically screams “too many cooks spoil the broth”. This manifests itself in the way historical details were tossed into the screenplay but not explained or explored. The details were probably included to add extra gravitas to the film but they just ended up confusing viewers.

4. Yau Nai-Hoi, Au Kin-Yee (EYE IN THE SKY)

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, the first two-thirds of EYE IN THE SKY is absolutely riveting. The last third, however, relies too much on coincidence and keeps the screenplay for the film from serious consideration in this category. Moreover, the scope of the story is not as broad or as ambitious as the following three screenplays.

3. Wai Ka-Fai, Au Kin-Yee (MAD DETECTIVE)

The plot for MAD DETECTIVE offers a fascinating character (the titular mad detective) and an intriguing premise (the mad detective’s ability to see “inner personalities”). However, it doesn’t seem to fully capitalize on these ideas and fails to deliver a sensational conclusion to match the sensational opening. As a result, viewers are left, in the end, not with a feeling of sublime satisfaction but a feeling that an opportunity has been missed.

2. Derek Yee Tung-Sing, Chun Tin-Nam, Lung Man-Hung, Go Sun (PROTEGE)

For the most part, PROTEGE does an effective job of showing the Hong Kong drug trade from multiple perspectives. However, the resolution to the plot thread for Louis Koo’s character is a glaring miscue. It’s like that small stain on a white shirt. The shirt is still wearable and it may still look good but, once you’re aware of the stain, you can’t help but focus on it.

1. Li Qiang (THE POSTMODERN LIFE OF MY AUNT)

Though the movie doesn’t quite work, I think the screenplay for THE POSTMODERN LIFE OF MY AUNT is the most ambitious and wide-ranging of the nominees in this category. It touches on multiple themes and explores human nature from multiple angles. It didn’t translate effectively from page to screen but the high degree of difficulty is a mitigating consideration. The fact that the scope of the story was broader than any of the other nominees gives this screenplay a slight edge over the screenplay for PROTEGE.

I will end this preview of the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards as I began it by saying that, if it had qualified, LUST, CAUTION would probably have swept both the Best Director and Best Screenplay awards.

Previously:

• Best Film
• Best Actor
• Best Actress
• Best Supporting Actor
• Best Supporting Actress

The last of the acting categories, here are the nominees for Best New Performer:

Linda Chung Ka-Yan (LOVE IS NOT ALL AROUND)
Tsei Tsz-Tung (PROTEGE)
Wen Jun-Hui (THE PYE-DOG)
Wong Hau-Yan (THE BESIEGED CITY)
Kate Tsui Tsz-Shan (EYE IN THE SKY)

Not Ranked: Wong Hau-Yan (THE BESIEGED CITY)

THE BESIEGED CITY had a very limited qualifying theatrical run and is not yet available on DVD. I tried to obtain a screener of the film for this post but quickly learned that Mei Ah is not making any available. As a result, I am unable to rank Wong Hau-Yan’s performance. Not to be dismissive of Wong but — considering that there are two high-profile “TVB’s Next Top Diva”, er, TVB beauty pageant winners in the field — she probably only has an outside chance of winning.

4. Tsei Tsz-Tung (PROTEGE)

Every once in a while, the crop of new performers is so lean the field for this category has to be filled by any warm body that qualifies. Past examples of this phenomenon include the nominations of Baby Matthew Medvedev for ROB-B-HOOD and Edison Chen Kwoon-Hei for GEN-Y COPS. The nomination of Tsei Tsz-Tung — the kid who played the daughter of Zhang Jingchu’s junkie mother — appears to be one more example.

3. Wen Jun-Hui (THE PYE-DOG)

Another child actor, Wen Jun-Hui makes his debut in a feature film by playing the quiet son of a father who is an exiled gangster and a mother who is mentally-disturbed. He gives a solid performance but it isn’t as rich or as effective as the one delivered by last year’s winner Gouw Ian Iskander (Ng King-To).

2. Linda Chung Ka-Yan (LOVE IS NOT ALL AROUND)

Prior to her appearance in LOVE IS NOT ALL AROUND, fellow Canadian Linda Chung — the winner of the Miss Chinese International Pageant in 2004 — struggled against the heavy burden of high-expectations that come from winning a high-profile TVB beauty pageant. Together with her breakthrough performance in the hugely popular TVB series HEART OF GREED, Chung’s portrayal in LOVE IS NOT ALL AROUND of a young wife who gets cheated on has helped her shake off the “wooden beauty queen” label. While Chung gives a more realistic and grounded performance than lead actress Stephy Tang Lai-Yan, the role and the teen idol film are too slight to be a serious threat to …

1. Kate Tsui Tsz-Shan (EYE IN THE SKY)

As I mentioned in my review of the film, Kate Tsui delivers an impressive performance. The winner of the Miss Hong Kong Pageant in 2004, Tsui, like Linda Chung, has also had to carry the cross of being a TVB beauty queen. Her measured depiction of a rookie recruit who blossoms into a confident cop is the class of this field and it will be a shocking upset if she does not walk away with the top prize.

That said, had LUST, CAUTION qualified for this year’s Hong Kong Film Awards, Tsui’s outstanding performance in EYE IN THE SKY would definitely be playing second fiddle to Tang Wei’s extraordinary turn in the Ang Lee film.

Image credit: Xinhua

Previously:

• Best Film
• Best Actor
• Best Actress
• Best Supporting Actor

Moving forward with the HKFA preview series, the nominees in the Best Supporting Actress category are:

Karen Mok Man-Wai (MR. CINEMA)
Anita Yuen Wing-Yi (PROTEGE)
Vicki Zhao Wei (THE POSTMODERN LIFE OF MY AUNT)
Susan Shaw aka Siu Yam-Yam (THE PYE-DOG)
Maggie Shiu Mei-Kei (EYE IN THE SKY)

5. Anita Yuen Wing-Yi (PROTEGE)

Another puzzling nominee from PROTEGE, Anita Yuen herself “never thought” she would be nominated for her performance as a “mafia wife”. A two-time HKFA winner in the Best Actress category (for C’EST LA VIE MON CHERI and HE’S A WOMAN, SHE’S A MAN), Yuen’s nomination is questionable not because of her acting but because her role in PROTEGE is very brief and very generic. Her big scene was, I think, intended to be harrowing but her character was so underdeveloped, the moment was not as effective as it could have been. As is the case with the Louis Koo nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category, this spot should have been used to give recognition to another actress — one of the performances, perhaps, by the actresses from WHISPERS AND MOANS or, a certain nominee in the Best Supporting Actress category for the Republic of Sanneyistan Film Awards, Jo Koo’s memorably hilarious turn in SINGLE BLOG.

4. Susan Shaw aka Siu Yam-Yam (THE PYE-DOG)

One of 2007’s “diamond in the rough” surprises, THE PYE-DOG features a decent performance by Siu Yam-Yam as a grandmother whose eyes have seen the years and the slow parade of fears. Like the film, Siu brings forth a respectable effort that is eminently worthy of a nomination but the performance is notable mostly because it is being delivered by the controversial sexpot bombshell of the 1970s.

3. Vicki Zhao Wei (THE POSTMODERN LIFE OF MY AUNT)

Initially, I thought Vicki Zhao’s smoke break scene in THE POSTMODERN LIFE OF MY AUNT was superfluous to the film and was engineered primarily to get Vicki Zhao some acting nominations. In preparation for this series of blog posts, I watched the film again and, upon further reflection, I think that the “Vicki Zhao at work” sequence is being used to emphasize the selfishness of Ye Rutang. In stark contrast to her mother, she is toughing it out for her family instead of abandoning them for a cosmopolitan life in Shanghai.

The scenes are a fine showcase for Vicki Zhao’s acting skills but, like the film itself, they feel antiseptic. I would not be upset if Vicki Zhao won but I’m not exactly burning joss sticks to the Hong Kong Movie Gods for a Zhao victory either.

2. Maggie Shiu Mei-Kei (EYE IN THE SKY)

Like her counterpart Nick Cheung Ka-Fai in the Best Supporting Actor category, Maggie Shiu Mei-Kei delivers a wickedly profane supporting performance. Unlike Anita Yuen in PROTEGE, Shiu takes what could easily have been a generic role and makes an impact with a limited amount of screen time. She masterfully breathes life into her character by giving her a very distinct and very memorable personal habit. Shiu is my sentimental pick to win in this category but I’m afraid her part is not substantial enough to beat …

1. Karen Mok Man-Wai (MR. CINEMA)

As the childhood sweetheart of Ronald Cheng Chung-Gei’s Chong, Karen Mok gives a pitch-perfect performance and helps MR. CINEMA walk the fine line between touching and treacly. Mok’s understated portrayal of a Hong Kong woman who goes overseas for schooling and returns to Hong Kong to work reflects the quietly ambitious, restrained and hard-working aspects of Hong Kong life and perfectly complements Ronald Cheng’s reflection of Hong Kong’s passionate side. As a result, it is hard to argue against a Karen Mok victory but I’m still rooting for Maggie Shiu.

Image credit: Shaw Brothers Studio