The Forbidden Kingdom

-by Kim Yonick

Jackie Chan and Jet Li are on the big screen together. The actors use their fast paced fighting techniques and tell the story of an ancient Chinese story in "The Forbidden Kingdom."

"The Forbidden Kingdom" tells the story of an American teenager who is highly educated in the art of martial arts. Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano) gets a hold of a magical staff that travels him back to ancient China. Jason learns of how the Monkey King (Jet Li) was turned into stone and by returning the staff it will break the spell. Jason meets different characters on his way to the Monkey King.

The cast mastered the art of kung fu in the movie. Li and Chan's technique was fast and high speed. These two characters worked well together on the screen. The characters also mastered the interchanging of languages throughout the movie.

Rob Minkoff directed "The Forbidden Kingdom." Minkoff's movie genres are based off children stories. He directed "The Haunted Manson", "Stuart Little", "Stuart Little 2" and "The Lion King." Minkoff stepped out of his box and attempted to create a martial arts movie. However, Minkoff did stretch out the fighting scenes between Li and Chan, making them too long.

"The Forbidden Kingdom" is recommended for martial art and Jet Li/Jackie Chan fans.

The Mist

-by Kim Yonick

Just another Stephan King novel made into a movie. "The Mist" has twists and turns, horrible looking creatures and a society looking to save themselves.

The story starts off with a terrible rain storm that causes incredible damage and a massive power outage in the neighborhood. David Drayton (Thomas Jane) and his son, Billy Drayton (Nathan Gamble) head to the super market for supplies, but David notices a strange mist coming in off the water. The mist follows the Draytons to the super market where all the chaos begins. The movie follows the storyline of the people stuck in the super market trying to survive.

The cast for the movie consisted of newer actors and actresses. At points in the movie, the acting seemed cheesy and seemed to be forcing their lines. There was only one top actress in the movie, Marcia Gay Harden (Mrs. Carmody). Her acting was fluent and she didn't miss a step. The cast however, needed some more veteran actors to help improve the storyline.

Frank Darabont directed the movie. There were many shots that helped improve the movie's quality. David tries to make a phone call from the phone booth, and a low angle with the super market in the back was used. This shot normally shows power over the audience, but when the telephone won't work, the camera stays still as David walks toward the super market and shrinks in size. This shows that the telephone had more power over David and he is helpless. The workers at the super market wear aprons that say food house. This indicates the people have now dropped on the food chain. Lastly, when the actors and actresses walk out into the mist, it represents their lives are over because they fade away.

This is the second movie Darabont has done on King's novels. He first directed "The Green Mile." He has also directed "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Frankenstein" based off Mary Shelly's novel. Darabont also directs television shows such as "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles." He also just announced the making of "Fahrenheit 451" which is expected to be done in 2010.

"The Mist" was full of twists and turns with a surprise ending, but the viewer has to be patient. There are some scenes that are not appropriate for a younger viewing audience, but the movie keeps the viewer guessing. I would recommend this to anyone who likes Stephan King novels or suspenseful movies.