Kingdom's Kung-Fu is strong

“The Forbidden Kingdom,” a film built around the simple idea that people want to see Jackie Chan fight Jet-Li, is a great homage to old-school martial arts movies, and not much else. It does a good job paying tribute to classic kung-fu flicks like Bruce Lee’s “Enter the Dragon” and more modern fare such as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” and true to form, it is loaded with inept bad guys, 20-minute action sequences and plenty of camp.

It is the universal tale of a young boy from south Boston who stumbles across an ancient Chinese staff while searching for bootleg kung-fu movies in an antiques store and is transported back in time to ancient China where he must return the staff to the imprisoned Monkey King, who will free the land from the tyranny of the Jade Warlord. What could be more natural? The boy, played by “Sky High”’s Michael Angarano meets up with an old drunk (Jackie Chan), a silent monk (Jet Li) and the requisite love interest (Liu Yifei) on his way to save the day and return home to his own time.

This movie does a fantastic job of knowing exactly what its audience expects and delivers on its promises of awesome fight scenes and a shallow propped-up story. Things that would torpedo another movie just serve to reinforce this film’s sense of happy-go-lucky popcorn fun. With Chan and Li on the screen, it seems almost reasonable that a boy with a week of martial arts training can defeat three well-armed and well-trained soldiers at once. The Monkey King is ridiculous and over-the-top, and his humor serves the film well, letting the audience know right away that it shouldn’t take this film too seriously.

The entire film can be set aside as another piece of fluff for the kids, with the exception of a jaw-dropping fight sequence between Chan and Li early on in the film. It is a rare treat to see two absolute masters of their craft compete in such a way. The rest of the movie just pales in comparison, but I don’t think anyone in the theater cared about much beyond this. Make no mistake: this fight is the core of the film.

If seeing Jackie Chan fight Jet Li sounds awesome, watch this incredibly cool (if somewhat silly) movie. If not, why are you bothering to read this review?