The Forbidden Kingdom

The Forbidden Kingdom is one of the most anticipated films for martial arts fans everywhere, boasting the first-ever on-screen pairing of Chinese legends Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Despite indisputably being the two biggest martial arts stars in Asian cinema of the last 20 years or so, these two have never appeared in a film together until now. And all it took was an American film to do it. The film opens in modern day Boston, where teenage geek and kung fu enthusiast Jason (Michael Angarano, TV's Will and Grace) frequents his favorite pawn shop in Chinatown, run by old Chinese man Hop (Jackie Chan). There Jason finds an old staff, which magically transports him back to ancient China. It turns out the staff belongs to the great warrior the Monkey King (Jet Li), who has been imprisoned in a statue and needs the staff returned so he can free himself and defeat the evil Jade Warlord (Collin Chou). Helping Jason in his quest to return the staff and against the Warlord's army is Lu Yan (also Jackie Chan), a seemingly goofy drunk who is much more skilled at combat than he seems. Along the way they are also joined by the Golden Sparrow (Yifei Liu), a deadly young lady out to avenge her family's murders, and the Silent Monk (also Jet Li), who has spent his life trying to find the staff and return it to the Monkey King. After an initial misunderstanding that leads to Lu and the Monk trading blows, they team up to help Jason as well as teaching him some martial arts, trading some good-natured barbs in their downtime.

The Forbidden Kingdom is an enjoyable action-comedy, with a light tone and wall-to-wall fight sequences efficiently staged by director Rob Minkoff (The Lion King) and legendary fight choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping, who has long been the go-to action guy of Asian cinema and lately, of the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix) and Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill). The real draw here though is, of course, the teaming of Chan and Li. It probably doesn't quite live up to the expectations of true martial arts buffs, but it also probably comes about 10-15 years later than it should have (Chan is now 54 years old, Li is 44). But Minkoff and Yuen wisely play to both of their strengths and mix in a good blend of CGI effects and wire choreography, making the fight scenes fast, crisp, and exciting (an extended fight scene pitting Chan against Li is the high point of the film). There's also a lot of broad comedy, making it more family-friendly and placing it more in Chan's comfort zone. Li is game for it though, playing along and seeming to enjoy himself. It can get pretty silly and ridiculous at times, and the plot borders on nonsensical (also Chan territory). But hey, we're here for the fights and the funny, and Chan and Li deliver the best they can. One has to wonder what kind of masterpiece they could have made together in their respective primes, but The Forbidden Kingdom is fun, action-filled entertainment, and worth seeing to see these two masters finally at work together.