+- Forums (http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomForum)
+-- Forum: Doom Arts (http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomForum/forumdisplay.php?fid=6)
+--- Forum: Doom Movies (http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomForum/forumdisplay.php?fid=14)
+---- Forum: Martial Arts (http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomForum/forumdisplay.php?fid=33)
+---- Thread: The Forbidden City (2025) (/showthread.php?tid=8848)
The Forbidden City (2025) - Drunk Monk - 04-20-2026
(03-11-2026, 11:12 AM)Drunk Monk Wrote:(02-05-2026, 01:50 PM)Drunk Monk Wrote: La Città Proibita
AKA The Forbidden City
This is getting some good buzz
This is something special - an Italian-made mash up of Kung Fu and romance, set in the magnificent city of Rome. Xiao Mei is searching for her sister who was trafficked by Chinese gangsters who run a restaurant called The Forbidden City. She follows a lead to a restaurant looking for Alfredo and crosses path with his abandoned son. From there, the plot thickens for a wild ride of passion, food, gangsters and ultravi.
What makes this film extra special is the new Kung Fu diva in the lead role - Liu Yaxi. She was the villainess in Second Life ( https://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomForum/showthread.php?tid=8814 ) and the stunt double in Disney's disappointing live-action Covid c casualty Mulan ( https://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomForum/showthread.php?tid=5332) . She's a revelation, the next Kung Fu queen, and she's even got decent acting chops. The fights are brutal. It opens with a staircase fight. A kitchen fight (so many great weapons in a kitchen - pots, pans, hot oil, stove tops, knives, graters). Lone gal against a gang of thugs in a restaurant. There's a random warehouse showdown. Sure, those are all cliche but Liu delivers. She can move convincingly and sell those punches. Great stuff. I was transfixed with the ultravi and I'm crushing on Liu.
There's a quick nod to Return of the Dragon, which was also set in a restaurant in Rome. There's the beauty of Rome, aching romantic music and passion over lost loves, so very Italian. It's also all in Italian or Mandarin, but only the Italian is subtitled. The characters all have decent development, even the villains, much more than usual for a martial arts flick.
It's a long flick - 2+ hours - and there's a denouement that drags out for an extra 20 mins, but it's an important closure (slightly predictable which is perhaps why it dragged so much for me) and up until that point, the fights escalate progressively which is all I ask of any martial arts flick.
The director's first film was They Call Me Jeeg ( https://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomForum/showthread.php?tid=6583 ) which I must now seek out.
Top D00M recommendations.