The Forbidden City Fantasia Review — An Enjoyable Blend of Martial Arts Action Flick and Crime Thriller

Italian filmmaker Gabriele Mainetti has made a name for himself among genre cinephiles with his throwback action flicks They Call Me Jeeg Robot and Freaks Out. His third feature, the incredibly ambitious martial arts epic The Forbidden City, seems poised to bring him to even greater recognition with its fun, genre-bending action.

The Forbidden City Review

The Forbidden City follows two unexpected allies — a restaurant worker whose father disappeared and the sister of the younger woman who vanished alongside him — as they team up in an attempt to uncover the conspiracy behind their loved ones’ mutual disappearance. Mainetti’s film clearly has a love for both classic Italian and Asian cinema, and its attempts to blend those influences yield mixed results.

The first thirty minutes of the film really nail the balance of action and comedy in a way that is consistently enjoyable and fun. However, at two hours and 18 minutes long, Mainetti’s film is too long for the simplicity of its story. It gets weighed down by a melodramatic (and somehow underdeveloped) romantic subplot and needless misdirects that lead to dead ends. Much of this convolution seems as if it was in an attempt to explain the intertwining fates of these two characters.

Ultimately, The Forbidden City falls back on the familiar tropes of the crime dramas from both countries that inspired Mainetti. At this point, American crime cinema has seen the Chinese Triads and the Italian Mafias intersect so many times that it’s not exactly new or refreshing to have this blend of influence. And since the script, written by Mainetti alongside Stefano Bises and Davide Serino, hits such familiar beats, it ends up feeling mostly predictable.

That being said, despite the fact that audiences will know exactly where this story is going to end, they will be willing to go along for the ride because it’s easy to get invested in these characters. Mainetti and co. have given the audience not one but two incredibly lovable underdogs, making it virtually impossible not to root for them and their happiness.

A lot of this ineffable charm can probably be attributed to its two leads — Enrico Borello and Yaxi Liu — performers who probably aren’t well-known to Western audiences. Borello is wonderful as the more comedic of the duo but also has this everyman approachability that is necessary for the film’s emotional core. Liu, having a background in stunts, including working as a lead stunt double on the live-action Mulan, handles the action scenes with ease but also has a great, subtle chemistry with Borello.

Since the lead actress has a background in stunt work, it should come as no surprise that the action sequences in The Forbidden City are incredible. Admittedly, the film peaks early, with its best fights being in the first and second acts, but fans of martial arts cinema will be delighted to see the fluid cinematography and impressive choreography these scenes have to offer.

Beyond these sequences, Mainetti does a great job of making the film look stunning. Of course, the setting of Rome is incredibly picturesque, lending itself to a beautiful canvas for cinematographer Paolo Carnera. The editing and score are sometimes a bit on the overbearing side, occasionally being used as a crutch to elicit an emotional reaction from the audience, but considering that The Forbidden City is firmly an homage to movies that used the same technique, it can be forgiven.

Is The Forbidden City worth watching?

Indeed, thanks to strong technical elements and characters that are easy to genuinely care about, The Forbidden City is able to overcome its bloated runtime and narrative issues. Filmmaker Gabriele Mainetti’s obvious love for the crime and martial arts dramas is infectious, making this an enjoyable watch for anyone who shares that love.

The Forbidden City screened at the 2025 Fantasia International Film Festival, which runs July 16 to August 3 in Montreal, Canada.