Forbidden Kingdom: Movie Review (2008)

Directed by Rob Minkoff, written by John Fusco, 113 minutes, rated PG-13.

The new Rob Minkoff movie, “Forbidden Kingdom,” would be little without its superb martial arts sequences, so its good to report that the movie isn’t just filled with them, but that each fight was choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping.

Those in the know will know that Wo Ping is one of great martial arts fight choreographers. His resume includes such films as “Kill Bill: Vol 1,” “Kill Bill: Vol. 2,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” every one of the “Matrix” movies, and dozens of other films, most of which are reference guides as to how entertaining this genre can be when the fight scenes are conceived as ingeniously as they are here.

Wo Ping is the best in the business, and what he brings to “Kingdom” is a thrill that rises to the promise boasted in the film’s marquee names--Jackie Chan and Jet Li. For the first time in their careers, these two modern-day kings of martial arts cinema take to the screen together, and while the story and the script sometimes lets them down, that never is the case when Wo Ping designs for them one of his gravity-defying battles.

With its broad echoes of “The Karate Kid” and “The Wizard of Oz,” the movie begins on cluttered, shaky ground, with John Fusco’s script generating cringe-inducing dialogue in its strained opening moments. Since exploring the film’s ridiculously complex plot would essentially mean taking over the entire Lifestyle section, we’ll just strip it to its bare essentials.

The film follows Jason, a lonely Boston teen who finds solace in the kung-fu movies he purchases from the elderly shop owner, Old Hop (Chan, covered in waxy old-age make-up), who is in possession of a magical staff once used in ancient battle by the imprisoned Monkey King (Li). Jason doesn’t know how to fight himself, so when he’s knocked senseless by a group of thugs who order him to help them steal Hop’s cash, he’s bullied into doing so, with potentially tragic results.

And then something odd happens. While clutching the staff, Jason is punched through the “gate of no gate” and tumbles back to ancient China, where, like Dorothy before him, he is befriended by three people--in this case, the drunken Lu Yan (Chan), Silent Monk (Li, not so silent) and Golden Sparrow (Lie Yifei).

All want to help him get the staff back to the Monkey King so the king can break free from the voodoo that binds him. To do so, they must teach Jason how to fight, combat the evil Jade Warlord (Collin Chou) and the white-haired Ni Chang (Li Bing Bing), and protect one person’s right to immortality.

While none of this is new and the acting can be risible (those toughs Jason fights in Boston are over-the-top awful), the production values are excellent (the film was shot in China), the villains are sufficiently nasty, and Chan and Li share an extended, memorable fight scene that’s the movie at its best.

Grade: B-

View the trailer below: