The Forbidden Kingdom (**)

Directed By: Rob Minkoff (The Haunted Mansion, Stuart Little 1&2, The Lion King)
Starring: Jackie Chan, Jet Li
Seen: May 22nd 2008

** Out of ****

When Jason, a young teenager obsessed with martial arts visits a local Chinese shop looking for more bootleg Chinese cinema, he can’t help his curiosity and steps into an area the old shopkeeper (Chan) does not really want the public to see. He asks him about a golden staff being held on one side, to which Old Hop replies that the rightful owner was supposed to have picked it up from the shop two generations ago, and now it’s simply part of the furniture.

Then the local bullies use Jason’s relationship with the old man to rob his shop, but Jason manages to grab the staff and run. When the bullies corner him on a rooftop the staff actually throws him over the edge, and he is transported to another world, ancient China. Here he learns that the staff belongs to the Monkey King (Li) from The Silent Monk (also Li). They also meet Lu Yan (a second Chan), a drunken kung fu master, and the vengeance seeking kung fu beauty Golden Sparrow.

They set off on a mission to free the Monkey King in order for him to defeat the evil Jade Warlord, by returning the staff to the Monkey King, its rightful owner. Along the way we see a lot of fighting as the band of heroes fend of Jade Warriors, Cult Killers, and even a White Haired Demoness. Along the road the Silent Monk and Lu Yan are in constant opposition as to who will train Jason best, and this even leads to one very impressive and excitingly lengthy fight scene between Li and Chan, together on the big screen for the first time ever.

Of course you know how things will end from the start, even upon Jason’s return to his home, suddenly able to kick ass against the local bullies, but that is not the only reason this film does not fully deliver. There’s just no sense of real urgency, everything just happens as the action plods along. Fun film, but no substance, and as such, I can only recommend it for teenage boys and men with an ever-present afternoon of mischief up their sleeves.