Spaghetti Western Meets Martial Arts

In “The Forbidden Kingdom,” martial arts stars Jackie Chan and Jet Li come together for the first time onscreen in this latest offering from animator-turned-director, Rob Minkoff. In this mythical tale, an American teen obsessed with Hong Kong cinema travels back in time to ancient China on a quest to free an imprisoned king with the help of three martial arts warriors. The film is a visual feast for adolescent fans of martial arts and modern video games no doubt, but for older audiences, “Kingdom” will at times seem inspired by everything from “The Wizard of Oz” to Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in the West.” The film begins with an inventive opening title sequence where classic martial arts film posters are interwoven with the film’s credits. We then find Michael Angarano as JASON a young Boston teen rummaging through a Chinatown pawnshop run by it’s ancient caretaker, Old Hop. In what is an obvious set-up of an “Oz“-like wrap-around story soon becomes a moment reminiscent of the first few minutes of 1984’s “Gremlins.” During a street fight with local thugs, Jason is somehow transported back in time to ancient China. He soon hooks up with drunken warrior Lu Yan played with great charm by the now 54 year-old Jackie Chan. Chan’s character seems very much inspired by Jason Robards’ Cheyenne, the coffee drinking gunslinger in Leone’s 1968 “Once Upon a Time in the West.” Only Chan’s Lu Yan has an addiction to wine rather than java this time around. As Lu Yan and Jason travel they meet up with Golden Sparrow, a Pipa (Chinese guitar) playing warrior who fills in for Charles Bronson’s Harmonica from the aforementioned “Once Upon a Time in the West.” By the time they are joined by Jet Li’s Silent Monk character, the “Oz”-inspired journey begins. The warriors then set out to find the castle of the Jade Warlord (think Henry Fonda’s assassin gang leader Frank again inspired by “Once Upon a Time in the West”) in hopes of freeing the imprisoned Monkey-King also played by Li. If all of this sounds too much to handle in one film, it is; but thanks to the charm of most of it’s performers their journey is somewhat entertaining if not tolerable most of the time. Chan’s self-proclaimed admiration for Buster Keaton is on display here, as he easily handles the lighter moments as well as he does his martial arts skills. His English is the best of all the Asian actors onscreen, where as others have trouble delivering understandable dialogue. My suspicions of the Sergio Leone inspired spaghetti western aspects to the story were confirmed when even the musical score at times reflected the distant electric guitar motif made famous by Ennio Morricone in 68’s “Once Upon a Time in The West.” Maybe my affection for that classic 60s western shows my age a bit too much, for I’m sure to the younger audiences the comparisons to “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “The Karate Kid” are more evident. But when preparing this review I soon discovered that the film’s screenwriter, John Fusco’s next project is a remake of the classic 1954 Japanese film, “The Seven Samurai.” How fitting! That film of course would later be re-made in 1960 as “The Magnificent Seven.” I guess all things mythical and adventurous stem from a few select ideas used time and time again. Whether it’s a journey to far off lands or warriors joining forces in noble quests, every generation seems to find something original about these time honored tales. But as in the case of “The Forbidden Kingdom”, the result is muddled at best.

Jackie Chan Movies

Jet Li Movies

Sergio Leone Movies

Charlton Heston's Ass

Charlton Heston who died last week at age 83 was a terrific actor. He won two Oscars, one for his title role in Ben Hur and one for his humanitarian work. In his cameo as the Player King in 1996's Hamlet he practically stole the film away from director & star Kenneth Branagh. Personally, I was always grateful for an interview Heston gave in 1985 following the death of his friend and colleague, Orson Welles. All of the accolades were pouring in for Welles the day after he died and naturally they turned to Heston for some thoughts on his legendary friend and costar. Heston, who never minced words pointed out how hypocritical certain modern-day director/producers were to be saying such wonderful things about Welles and his influence on them, when in truth they wouldn't go near the legendary director when he came looking for help. And Heston named names too! I won't be as brave as he. But it gave me a newfound respect for a man whose politics had started to turn me off. But mostly when I think of Charlton Heston I think of his sci-fi films of the 1970s. When I first saw Planet of the Apes (1968) as a boy, I was captivated by the film and became an instant fan of the sequels and TV series. One scene in the film has Heston, as stranded astronaut Taylor hauled into a court of apes and stripped naked before them. The close-up of Heston's derriere in cinemascope was just the sort of thing that made a young kid giggle uncontrollably. I soon forgot about it, but then a few years later while watching Heston in another sci-fi film, Soylent Green (1973), it happened again. This time it was through a glass shower door as Heston was nude with his young female costar. Okay, it wasn't as funny this time around, I was older of course and it was probably just a product of the times. This was the 1970s after all and films were getting edgier. Some years later I was watching Heston in a film on cable TV late at night called The Mountain Men. Heston made the film in 1980 when he was 56. There was a scene outside a tent where once again Heston's naked backside was focused upon. Now a teen it had finally dawned on me that this must be something intentional on the part of Heston. He's always been a physical actor and has showed off his chiseled features in many films throughout his career. I don't think it ever really interfered with his performances. Being an attractive man it certainly didn't hurt his appeal with female fans. For me I never really thought of it again until 1997, when I was in a packed movie theater watching The Devil's Advocate, starring Keanu Reeves. In one scene, Reeves and a female costar begin to make love on a hard wood floor. As they slowly undress, the camera pans down to reveal a huge panavision close-up of Keanu Reeves' ass. The audience shrieked in disgust. Even the women did. It was not flattering. All the memories of Heston's rump in so many films started to flood my memory. And it was then that I finally reached a shocking conclusion. Charlton Heston, even in his fifties had a better ass than Keanu Reeves!

Charlton Heston Movies

The Crucifixion of Barack Obama

With the public crucifixion of Barack Obama this weekend on cable TV and talk radio, I couldn’t help but think of my favorite movie ever made about the Christ. Let me say at the beginning that I am in no way comparing Senator Obama to Jesus Christ. But with all the false outrage filling the airwaves and online concerning the overblown reaction to the comments by Obama’s pastor, I just can’t help but see a disturbing trend and comparison.
Made in 1979 and directed by Franco Zeffirelli, Jesus of Nazareth was an all-star mini-series offering a reverent depiction of the Christ story using stories from the Gospel. With a lush score by Maurice Jarre, and featuring a hypnotic performance by British actor, Robert Powell in the title role, Jesus of Nazareth was one of the best films to tell the Christ story. But what made me think about the film in reference to Barack Obama, was the film’s focus on the political and religious hierarchy, as well as the social and economic state of the Jewish and Roman citizens of the time. The depiction of outrage spurred on by religious zealots on both sides in bringing down this upstart who dared to preach about what was only prophecy in the minds of many and dangerous political rhetoric to others has a familiar ring this weekend. And I don’t mean because it’s Easter.
Obama’s speech on Tuesday was one for the record books. Does anyone remember George W. Bush or Bill Clinton ever being so honest and forthright in a major address before? I certainly don’t. While watching and then reading the speech again online, I couldn’t help but think about some of the scenes in Zeffirelli’s film. The ones depicting Christ’s dealings with doubters and hypocrites and the honesty in which he was depicted in doing so. And then following the speech came the expected reaction by professional media pundits whose cynicism and denial of any inspiration gained from the address seemed all-too planned-in-advance. But what truly amazed me was the increase in vitriol for the Senator by those in the media who are determined to not only destroy this upstart who dares us to talk about such taboo topics as race but who also threatens an establishment who would rather lead out of fear than with intelligence. Many of the scenes of Christ appearing before the Sanhedrin or Pontius Pilate in the film could be played along side cable news or talk radio clips dealing with the Obama speech and one would think you were watching the same movie.
I believe that Senator Obama has the possibility of being a rare gem in a chorus of duds who make up our politics today. He is a flawed man just like the rest of us. But his calm, cool, thoughtful way of dealing with the issues ahead of this country as well as his unique understanding of what divides and joins us together as a people is as inspiring to me as that British actor portraying Christ on TV almost 30 years ago.