For years, Jackie Chan and Jet Li have been the titans of Chinese martial arts films, consistently wowing audiences with stunning action scenes and impeccable stunt work. However, even with their worldwide success and fame, they have never been face-to-face on-screen, until now. These two living legends of Chinese cinema are paired together for the first time in The Forbidden Kingdom,"" creating a movie match-up that has martial arts fans drooling with anticipation. However, while the hype for ""Forbidden Kingdom"" reaches great heights, the same can't be said for the film's quality.
The story centers on Jason (Michael Angarano, ""Sky High""), a kung-fu obsessed American teenager who finds himself transported back in time to ancient China. There, he discovers he is destined to return a magical staff to the immortal Monkey King (Li), who has been imprisoned by an evil warlord. He is assisted in his quest by the drunken kung-fu master Lu Yan (Chan), as well as a mysterious unnamed monk (also played by Li).
Easily the biggest problem with ""Forbidden Kingdom"" is its focus on Jason as the hero, as opposed to Chan and Li's much more interesting characters, who the audience came to see in the first place. The less-than-stellar Angarano fails to turn his character into anything other than a shallow high school geek, and the fact that the movie puts the fate of China in the hands of a white American kid feels disingenuous.
However, even the action scenes where Chan and Li should have the opportunity to shine seem to fall flat. Chan in particular fails to impress and seems to have lost a step or two since his heyday in films such as the ""Drunken Master"" series, or even some of his more recent efforts like ""Rush Hour."" Li seems more than capable, but unfortunately in a number of fight scenes Director Rob Minkoff, whose previous experience lies mostly in animated fare such as ""The Lion King"" and ""Stuart Little,"" relies too much on special effects, which detract from the natural physical gifts Li possesses.
It is hard to fault ""Forbidden Kingdom"" for holding back on the fight scenes since it is intended to be a family film, but even as kid-friendly entertainment it never feels like anything more than a wannabe fantasy epic striving, in vain, to capture the majesty of ""Lord of the Rings."" Many scenes just go straight for cheap laughs and even then the result is usually mediocre.
Ultimately ""Forbidden Kingdom"" is an entirely forgettable experience. The numerous plot and acting shortcomings would be forgivable if the movie provided the mind-blowing stunts and visual flare of the martial arts classics that came before it. Unfortunately, everything the ""Forbidden Kingdom"" tries has been done before and done much better. One can only hope that any future pairings of Hong Kong's biggest stars will deliver the flare fans have come to expect.
