At the risk of sharing too much personal information, the
pairing of Jet Li and Jackie Chan is pretty much a wet dream for kung
fu fans. Granted, Chan hasn’t made a good movie in like a decade, and
Li’s attempts at American stardom have been super depressing. But
still: Jet Li and Jackie Chan, man! Together. How
cool is that?
To answer my own rhetorical question: The Forbidden Kingdom is pretty cool, even if, as a silly, family-friendly adventure flick,
it isn’t nearly as great as it could be. (For that, we’d have to go
back to a time when Chan did all of his own stunts, before Li thought
Lethal Weapon 4 was a good idea, and when it was inconceivable
that Rob Minkoff, the auteur behind Stuart Little 2 and The
Haunted Mansion, could helm a kung fu flick.) But times change, and
The Forbidden Kingdom is what we’ve got, and I’m just gonna roll
with it.
The story shamelessly steals from A Connecticut Yankee in King
Arthur’s Court, The Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the
Caribbean, The Karate Kid, The Wizard of Oz, Zu
Warriors, Spider-Man, and every kung fu epic ever: Jason
(Michael Angarano), a dorky white kid from Southie, transports to a
mythical version of ancient China, where he meets up with a funny
drunken boxer, Lu Yan (Chan), and a badass quiet monk named… uh, the
Silent Monk (Li). Soon enough, Jason’s doing kung fu training montages
and listening to cryptic proverbs while our crew treks through
picturesque scenery to take down some generic bad guy I can’t really
remember. Along the way: wholesome life lessons, about $20 million
worth of CG, and at least one awesome fight sequence where Li and Chan
kick the crap out of each other.
All the fights here are pretty cool, actually—Yuen Woo-ping
(The Matrix, Kill Bill), the best action choreographer in
the business, handles the action here, and while his presence isn’t
quite enough to overshadow the cheeseball direction of Minkoff, it
helps. The Forbidden Kingdom has moments where it’s genuinely
charming—largely thanks to Chan and Li—and throughout, it’s
goofily enjoyable. So yeah, even if, overall, it’s kinda crappy…
c’mon! Jet Li vs. Jackie Chan! COME ON!
