Fred Said . . .

This is really a very exciting unprecedented star combination for a movie: Jackie Chan and Jet Li! Wow! And the poster is really very attractive and eye-catching. There was no question in my mind that I simply had to watch this movie. Unfortunately, when I saw Entertainment Weekly rated this a D, that sort of tamed my expectations. In fact, it was only becausethe showing of "Iron Man" has already started by the time I reached the box office, that was why I went to watch FK instead today.

I was so prepared not to like it. The cheesy starting sequence with the Monkey King fighting on very fake sets that were supposed to be mountaintops was not very encouraging. I also did not like the pop art style of the opening credits, which for me did not suit my imagined plot of this film. I also did not really like the "Karate Kid"-like story which began the movie proper. I totally did not expect an American kid to figure in this!

However, by the time this American kid named Jason got transported into ancient China, and meets Jackie Chan and Jet Li, the story gets going and you are drawn in. The interaction between the two Chinese stars was fantastic, as was their fight sequence, and their comedy. The two featured female martial artists were also very good, as they are attractive. There was the good Yifei Liu (as the Sparrow) and the evil Bing Bing Li (as Ni Chang). Hope to see them both in future American films.

Overall, I am only rating this a 3 star movie now. The role of Jason never really sunk in with me. I find his character awkward and forced into the story as a bookend for American audiences. But there is no doubt that we are going to buy a DVD and enjoy watching the beautifully choreographed martial arts action sequences over and over at home.