Such faint praise however is also premised on little expectation at the start, which is a prerequisite for any manner of enjoyment. And yet, if you're willing to put aside the obvious similarities, you're likely to find this reiteration more entertaining than you're expecting it to be. And last but not least, like the latter, it lets its modern-day Caucasian male protagonist fall in love with a steely yet gentle female from that era, the inter-ethnic coupling not only to pander to the teenage demographic but also to ensure its appeal to audiences on both sides of the continent. Like the latter, its humour is based on self-aware anachronism and its action of the traditional 'wushu' variety.
Like the latter, it sends an American teenager back to ancient China where he learns to summon the warrior inside of him and teams up with a noble companion to save a kingdom from the clutches of an evil warlord. It may wear its tag of being the first significant 'French-Chinese co-production' proudly on its sleeve, but 'The Warrior's Gate' is really no more than a rehash of another East-meets-West action comedy that you may remember from about a decade ago called 'The Forbidden Kingdom'. Unless you see the original, you will never know what you are missing. However, it suffers from the "curse" common to all knock-offs. HIM.") Bottom Line: One hour and 45 minutes of reasonable entertainment. This script contains a number of attempts to mimic that sort of dialog, my favorite being - "KILL HIM! - slashing noise - "NO, NOT HIM. (For example - if you are film buff, you will remember fondly the famous tag line from Airplane 1980 - "Don't call me Shirley" which became a sort of iconic inside joke for years afterwards. A lot of effort was put into the humor aspect (as explained above) and this does keep things moving along. Which is not to say it is not worth a watch. This film lacks those features as well and, on its best day in its best suit, comes across more as "Forbidden Kingdom Lite," or perhaps even a Disney knockoff of the original. Also, Forbidden Kingdom had a certain edge of malice and unpredictability in the script which, oddly, only increased its impact and its fan base. The production team clearly thought they would "improve" on FK by adding more "teen humor." Presumably they also felt this would more than compensate for the film's considerably lighter "feel" and the awkward void formed by not having ANY famous film martial artists at all. Some reviewers, including this one, think it is one of the best of its kind ever done.) Let's start with what Warriors Gate was intended to be, and work from that. FK has humble beginnings, features two of the greatest cinematic martial artists of all time - Jackie Chan and Jet Li - a killer script, great scenery, and solid performances. (Word to the wise, if you have not already seen FK, and you like MMA and/or Wushu and/or Fantasy and/or Adventure, check it out. The word on the street was that this was a riff on one of my all-time favorite films, Forbidden Kingdom 2008, so I could not resist checking it out.
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