The Keepers of the 5 Kingdoms

Kuang (Bai Ling) sends two bounty hunters to retrieve a magical box. Instead, Patsy Lee (Michelle Mao) finds it and uses it to open a portal. She, her grandfather Chuck Lee (James Hong), and friends fall into that other world.

Thirty years ago, this James Hong story would be praised for representation. He has obviously incorporated a lot of Hollywood material into a Chinese-American story. The Pork Chop Express says it all. It is a Little China and a mish mash of other stuff. I'm not too picky about any of that.

The computer special effects are lower quality. Some of the designs are interesting but the execution is less good. I like Trader Joe. I really don't like the Blue Brothers duo. I get the comedic attempt. It's just not good. I don't know these guys. One of them was probably cast for looking like a rooster. The rat guy look for the Chinese guy brings up all kinds of stereotype problems. They need to be two well established comedians with chemistry. They are not that.

There is a good quest movie here. It works some of the time. When it doesn't work, it's really grating. I love James Hong. He may not be a good writer or maybe he needs to partner up with someone more skilled. There are some fun ideas here but it's a bit too messy.