“The Forbidden Kingdom” is a martial arts/fantasy story that finally unites two of the most prolific kung-fu actors (Jackie Chan and Jet Li) in one movie. The film is directed by Rob Minkoff, working from John Fusco’s script, and costars Michael Angarano (“Almost Famous”) and Collin Chou. Most of the film is filmed on-location in China, with Peter Pau’s cinematography and Yuen Woo Ping’s action choreography highlighting the slightly tame direction.
The story follows kung-fu obsessed Boston teen Jason Tripitikas (Angarano) as he discovers a mystical staff in the back room of a Chinatown pawn shop he frequents. Through a series of ludicrous and tragic events, Tripitikas is coerced into helping a street gang rob the shop. During a desperate rooftop getaway, Jason falls off of a building, clutching the staff he nabbed from the pawn shop. When he recovers from the fall, he finds himself in ancient China, and becomes embroiled in a plot to overthrow the evil Jade Warlord (Collin Chou), and free the imprisoned Monkey King (Jet Li). Aiding in his journey are The Silent Monk (Li, again), drunken scholar Lu Yan (Jackie Chan), and a host of other Asian fantasy archetypes.
“Forbidden Kingdom” is far from the epic martial arts showdown that it rightfully should have been. Rob Minkoff has a directing history chock-full of kid-friendly fare (“The Lion King”, “Stuart Little”) that, when translated to a kung-fu epic, really waters down the story and action. In an effort to Westernize elements of the story and the kung-fu universe, Minkoff throws in a mess of adolescent humor and annoying plot devices. It’s obvious from the start that this movie was made to appeal directly to the 16-and-under crowd. Highly-disciplined immortal monks make toilet jokes, one character only speaks in the third person, and the film contains some needless scenes of “bully vengeance”. Eye-rolling name drops and a few Shaw Brothers homages don’t do much to salvage the film’s lack of authenticity.
The framing of the movie – Tripitikas being whisked away into a magical land via a mysterious artifact – works against it as well, playing out like a third rate Gong-Fu Narnia (with its own ruleset of arbitrary magic and conventions).
Fortunately, Jet and Jackie play their roles to the hilt, credibly pulling off acrobatic martial artistry and obviously having fun with the material. Despite the fact that Minkoff riddles the film with CGI enhancements and wirework, Li and Chan obviously still have what it takes to battle armies of villains using an assortment of authentic fighting styles. Angarano, on the other hand, is about as convincing a fighter as Sean William Scott was in “Bulletproof Monk”. Don’t remember that movie? Well, you won’t remember this one, either, in a few years due to Angarano’s lack of physical prowess, grating voice, and sub par acting. His is the kind of role that would have been fresh in 1992 (the same goes for his haircut). Collin Chou plays the diabolical villain with glee, and his fight scenes with Jet Li are some of the best in the film. Nonetheless, it’s still a step down from his jaw-dropping clashes with Donnie Yen in last year’s “Flash Point”.
Minkoff’s rabid attempts to anglicize the source material (Chinese epic “Journey to the West” and an amalgamation of Eastern mythologies) are what will keep “Kingdom” from enjoying the artistic success that films such as “Hero” and “House of the Flying Daggers” have accrued. Still, if one young viewer is subsequently introduced to “Police Story” or “Fist of Legend”, than the production will have been worth it.
