Movie review: 'Forbidden Kingdom' a kung fu kick

Fans of the martial arts genre will get a kick out of the long-awaited pairing.

By COLIN COVERT, Star Tribune

Last update: April 25, 2008 - 3:23 PM

"The Forbidden Kingdom," a Chinese-American co-production that offers the first matchup between Jackie Chan and Jet Li, is a martial arts voyage to Oz. Opening in grungy South Boston, it magically flips to a verdant Chinese Never Never Land where our young Beantown hero Jason (Michael Anganaro) lives out the fighting fantasies he devoured on kung-fu DVDs.

His guides are a drunken-style master (Chan), whose unsteady gait befuddles attackers, and an elegantly robed monk (Li), who bests his opponents with sweeping grace. The duo administer prolonged comic punishment as they train Jason in the skills he will need to defeat the evil Jade War Lord who wants them all dead, reunite China, and return home.

Unfailingly lighthearted, the film's fight scenes are stylized, soaring wire work and gravity-defying digital sorcery rather than blood-and-bruises beatdowns. That's appropriate for the mythological setting, and also for this advanced stage in the stars' careers. Chan and Li, no longer the superhuman athletes of years gone by, get a whirlwind of special effects help. There is a benefit to their age, though. They're more practiced actors, and there's a droll byplay between Chan's impish guzzler and Li's dignified holy man. Li shows a nice range in a second role as the legendary Monkey King, a benevolent spirit who grins his way through every fight, while Chan gets to play a crotchety old Boston pawnshop owner.

The story is peppered with in-joke name-dropping and references to classic martial arts movies that will delight fans of the genre. Some viewers might have hoped that the long-awaited collaboration by China's top action heroes would be a prestige production like "House of Flying Daggers" or "Crouching Tiger," but there's no shame in making a well-crafted kids movie. On those terms, "The Forbidden Kingdom" is truly a kick.

Colin Covert • 612-673-7186