Let’s see. I’m not a big mathematical person, but I think I have this flick figured out. Okay. The Karate Kid + Neverending Story + Last Action Hero = The Forbidden Kingdom. And that’s not really a bad thing.
Going by the ads for this movie, you’d think this was a movie about Jet Li and Jackie Chan teaming up to save the world from the bad guys. Which it was. But the ads are also anglo-saxon free, and the movie is certainly not. The movie is getting a US-wide release, so of course we need a white character to make the film accessible, as well as very few subtitles. Now, going into the theater, I was almost totally clueless as to the film’s plot, which is usually my plan. (Frank Costanza: “I like to go in fresh!”) At the very least, the less I know about the film’s plot, the less I can get attached to the perfect plot in my head, and the chance of disappointment shrinks.
Now, anyway, our token white character is played by the awkward kid from Sky High, Michael Angarano, who’s managed to sprout chest hair. Despite his chest hair, we’re asked to believe his character, Jason, is a kung fu-obsessed kid. Despite the fact nobody under 30 watches kung fu, Jason spends all his time thinking/eating/breathing/pooping kung fu. Anyway, there are bullies (of course there are bullies) who push Jason into helping them rob the store where Jason buys all his kung fu movies. During the robbery, the store’s old shopkeeper is shot by the bullies, and Jason runs away, taking with him an old staff the old man kept. As the bullies chase Jason to the rooftop, our hero is magically(?) swept off the roof, and blacks out.
When he wakes up, Jason is in ancient China (the mystical part, with gods and people who can float in the air). There he meets a drunken master played by Jackie Chan, who fills him in on the magical backstory of the staff Jason’s found. The staff, apparently, belonged to the Monkey King (who looks like a really furry guy, not a monkey), who was defeated in battle via trickery by the evil Jade Warlord. Anyway, prophecy needs to be fulfilled, world needs to be saved, and you get the general idea. And the journey begins, etc., and they meet a young assassin girl, and a monk played by Jet Li. The RPG system is alive! Jet Li and Chan, of course, train Jason in kung fu, with a training montage, of course. And they go out to fight the bad guys and save the world, and I assume there’s a moral lesson in there somewhere.
I’ll stop here and let you figure out the rest of the movie for yourself. Only a jerk would give it away for free.
Now, as for the movie itself, it sounds paint-by-numbers, and it sounds goofy, and it even sounds a little deceitful when the commercials don’t even mention time travel or the appearance of Caucasians. And, yeah, it feels like a amalgamation of Last Action Hero, Neverending Story, and Karate Kid. But it makes those things work. It’s actually a pretty fun little kung fu movie, despite the inclusion of high wires, and despite the weak but necessary typical bully scenes. It’s certainly the prettiest ‘fu movie I’ve seen in a while, and it nicely pays homage to all the old movies. It definitely gets a thumbs up, and you’ll definitely enjoy it if you’re a kung fu fan, or just enjoy Jackie Chan and/or Jet Li.
Rating: 
Written by: Jon on Fri, Apr 18, 2008