The Forbidden Kingdom Review

Jet Li and Jackie Chan are legends of the martial arts genre, and fans have been clamoring for a film to feature them both for years. Its amazing its taken this long, but The Forbidden Kingdom finally sees these two famous action stars meet. And while Chan and Li are undoubtedly the biggest draw to the Forbidden Kingdom, there's a lot more going on in this film then just them.

The plot of the Forbidden Kingdom starts off with South Boston teenager Jason who has an almost seemingly unhealthy obsession with martial arts films. During one of his visits to the pawnshop in Chinatown to buy Wuxia DVD's, he comes across an ancient staff (go figure) that happens to open a portal into ancient China (of course), shortly after awakening he discovers he fits the description of a prophecy foretelling of a "seeker" that would return the staff to its rightful owner (obviously). In order to complete this task he convinces Lu Yan (Chan), expert of the Drunken Master style, to train him in the art of Kung Fu. Shortly after his training begins, they encounter a Silent Monk (Li) who upon realizing Jason is the prophesied "seeker" decides to help with his training.

"Okay guys, heroic pose, and, DRAMATIC STARE!"

 The entire plot in The Forbidden Kingdom is fairly unoriginal and forgettable. Its told at a rather choppy pace and each scene just seems like an excuse to get to the next fight scene, which are the highlights of the film, but we'll get to that later. My biggest problem with the story in the Forbidden Kingdom is the underdeveloped characters. Every attempt at character development feels forced, and their back stories are rather cliched. This is especially true when it comes to the fourth main hero in the story, a young orphan girl that goes by Golden Sparrow and refers to herself in the third person. She, of course, is also the love interest of Jason, and their whole relationship feels forced and awkward. Think Anakin and Padme in Attack of The Clones, only with less talking, more awkward silence and almost as much uncomfortable staring. Another character that plays heavily into the plot is the legendary Monkey King. While I have never read Journey to The West, the Monkey King's arrogance seems to be portrayed much sillier and just plain goofier than it should. In the end, I never really cared about any of the characters or their fates. Jackie Chan however does a great job at being the likable comedic relief.

What the Forbidden Kingdom lacks in storytelling and character development, it mostly makes up for in the film's fantastic fight scenes. Chan and Li's scene is particularly memorable, and arguably the best part of the movie, and it should be really, as this is the scene that most people wanted to see anyway. By far the longest and most complex fight scene in the movie, its obvious fanservice, but what glorious fanservice it is. The rest of the action is well done, and the choreography is very impressive, especially considering that some of the actors are newcomers to the genre.

Jet Li shows off his break dancing skills.

 The storyline may be generic and cliche ridden, the characters are underdeveloped and uninteresting, and some purists will likely dislike how much of the film has been Westernized in specific areas, but The Forbidden Kingdom is a worthwhile watch for fans of martial arts films, especially for those that are also fans of Chan and Li, as well as anyone interested in a good mindless action flick.

3/5

Metroid: Other M Review

A common complain brought up against Nintendo is that they don't take any risks with their franchises. That they have a "if it isn't broke don't fix it" mentality, and they stick to the same tried-and-true formula while making little to no significant changes. The Metroid franchise however, proves otherwise. The first big change to the franchise came with Retro Studios Metroid Prime, which brought Samus into the third dimension for the first time from a first-person perspective. Despite much skepticism, it was released to critical acclaim and commercial success, and spawned two successful sequels as well. Now that the Prime trilogy has ended, Nintendo has turned to Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive developer Team Ninja, for a story-driven, combat heavy new Metroid experience. And Samus talks! Is Team Ninja's strange hybrid of 2D, 3D, and first-person gameplay a success, or is it a failed experiment?

Metroid: Other M is played holding the Wii remote sideways, NES style. This works both to its advantage, and disadvantage. When playing through the 2D sections, the controls feel great, and it feels like the closest thing to the classic Metroid style gameplay on a home console. This is also where the auto-targeting truly shines, as you can easily run through a hallway blasting away enemies with ease, in most cases without stopping. When you step into the third-dimension however, that's when things start to get iffy. First of all, the auto-targeting isn't nearly as precise, and often times has difficulty tracking enemy movement. Sometimes, you'll shoot at something completely different from where you were aiming, and sometimes you'll just shoot at nothing at all. Plus being only able to move in eight directions in a 360-degree space feel clunky and limiting. The third gameplay type present is the first-person perspective, which is mainly used to fire missiles or charged shots at weak points on enemies or clearing obstructions. Pointing the Wii remote at the screen brings up the perspective, but you can't move while in it. What's particularly annoying about this is there are many times when you are required to jump in and out of this perspective, but its not quite responsive enough to register the quick movement, which can lead to some pretty frustrating moments. One of the highlights in Other M's gameplay however is the fantastic boss battles, true to franchise history some are massive in scale, challenging, and very fun.

"Falcon kick!" Oh, wait...

Other M is a pretty game to look at most of the time. Character models look great, especially Samus as well as Adam and his Squad. Creature designs are top-notch, some featuring impressive particle effects. Character animations are pretty stellar as well. Some of the environments look very pretty and feature impressive environmental effects, but there's also many areas that feature very muddy looking low-res textures. Its one of the better looking Wii games out there, but certainly not the best. Other M also stays true to the atmospheric audio design of the franchise. The soundtrack is appropriately moody or intense when it needs to be, and the orchestral pieces in the cutscenes are beautiful.

The story in Other M starts off pretty slow, but after a few hours it actually gets legitimately interesting. As the story continues to build up steam toward the end, there's some genuinely surprising plot twists and revelations, its a good story, but its not without its quirks. The transition between the gorgeous CG cinematics and in-game engine is a bit off-putting, and there's a pretty big plot hole left unanswered. But it does a good job at adding to the Metroid universe and its mythology, and there's some pretty great fan-service thrown in for good measure. The voice-acting is pretty well done, for the most part. Unfortunately none of the characters are very well developed, or all that likable either.

Rain. Its back.

The biggest problem with the story however, is how Samus is portrayed. I have to give credit to Team Ninja and Nintendo for trying to develop Samus as a character, but unfortunately, it backfired. This is not the Samus we know and love, granted, we didn't actually know that much about her up to this point, but what little we did know, has been practically shattered. One of the few things we do know about Samus is that she doesn't like taking orders, but in Other M she blindly follows the orders of her former commanding officer Adam despite no longer having any affiliation with the Galactic Federation. She follows these orders to the point where it doesn't even make sense, often putting herself at unnecessary risk. At one point Samus runs through a deadly hot environment burning herself alive because Adam hasn't "authorized" the use of her varia suit yet. Why Samus would put herself at this unnecessary risk or why Adam who supposedly cares about her would either is nonsensical. There's plenty of more situations like this where Samus is put at unnecessary risk or kept from progressing further because she hasn't been "authorized" the use of her suit's various abilities. Another thing we know about Samus is this, she's fearless and keeps her emotions in check. But Other M would have you believe that Samus is an emotional wreck with Daddy issues and at one point actually freezes with fear upon encountering a familiar enemy. The delivery of Samus' dialogue is also pretty dull and emotionless most of the time, which would make more sense if she wasn't such an emotional wreck. Oh and remember that thumbs down thing Samus did during mission briefings that we saw in the trailers? Yeah, that still doesn't make any sense either.

In the end, Metroid: Other M has an "almost, but not quite" feel to it. The gameplay was almost great, the 2D sections are fun and enjoyable and makes you wish the entire game was in 2D, but the 3D and first-person gameplay can feel clunky and limiting at times, and there's a number of small issues like Samus failing to grab onto ledges and some iffy auto-targeting. The story almost came together but a major plot hole and Samus' portrayal leave much to be desired. Series vets will also likely miss finding new powerups on their own, and will have to settle for scavenging for missile and energy tanks. Other M also would've benefited from at least having the option for another control scheme that used an analog stick. But overall Other M is still a tight package that should please series veterans and newcomers alike.

8.25/10