Saw Forbidden Kingdom

[dvandom]

Liked it, a cute "Journey to the West" meets "Wizard of Oz" with a touch of the usual "schlub has problems at home, gets swept up in a Big Damn Hero thing, comes home and finds that he can wrap up his old problems trivially" quest motif. There was also a bit in there that I didn't catch until the credits, but was a real "d'oh" moment.

The protagonist is named Jason Tripitakas. D'oh. (In case you don't get it, while the name fits a dopey white boy from Boston, Tripitaka was the name of the monk leading the quest for Scriptures in Journey to the West.)

I was also quite pleased to recognize the clip of "Monkey Goes West" shown early in the movie. I saw most of that TV series on the International Channel back when I was in Michigan. I wonder if it's available in Region 1? Well, okay, far more likely it's available on a regionfree bootleg, being a Chinese TV show.

(Edit: Looks like "Monkey Goes West" wasn't the show I remember seeing, it's a movie. Similar makeup jobs, though.)

Comments

[dreadpirate.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed the movie too, though it sparked the following discussion: Which would you rather have as an offensive weapon -- really long sleeves or really long hair? So far, the majority seems to be siding with sleeves...

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

Easier to replace sleeves when they get cut off, and the body part that gets yanked towards the enemy isn't your HEAD. Sleeves all the way unless you have magical hair that can grow at will, plus magical "rooting" ability to prevent anyone pulling on your hair to yank your face onto a sword.