You’ve heard of “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”? Well, here’s another Hollywood variation on author Mark Twain’s concept. Otherwise known as “Forbidden Kingdom,” today’s fantasy culture clash might just as well have been called “A Boston White Boy in Jackie Chan’s Feudal China.”
Whatever you decide to call it, the promotional hook is that this marks the first time martial arts icons Chan and Jet Li have ever been paired together. For fans of the genre, the even more exciting news is that Chan was not put in change of the choreography, as he usually is for his pictures. Thus, we get less of his trademark tongue-in-cheek stunt stylings and more gracefully hard-core kung-fu sequences, courtesy of the great Woo-Ping Yuen (“The Matrix,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”). Yuen takes charge of staging perpetual, gravity-defying action enhanced by sumptuous, transporting production design.
In order to have a vehicle to showcase the authentic action and pretty pictures, though, two non-Asian filmmakers — family film director Rob Minkoff (“Stuart Little,” “Lion King”) and western screenwriter John Fusco (“Young Guns,” “Hidalgo”) — exploit a uniquely Chinese legend. Supposedly based on a classic literary epic set in the Tang dynasty, it concerns a magic fighting stick that holds the key to the struggle for power in a mysterious kingdom between an immortal Monkey King (Li) and an evil warlord (Collin Chou).
Unfortunately, the filmmakers don’t serve the intricate myth straight up with its ethnic validity intact. Instead, for what would seem to be crass commercial considerations — to make this more accessible (read: dumbed down) for the rich movie markets of America and Europe — it is all told through the eyes of a nerdy contemporary Caucasian kid, Jason (Michael Angarano).
He relocates back in time to return the aforementioned weapon and learn the ancient butt-kicking secrets of the East from a sly alcoholic martial arts master (Chan) so that Jason can triumph over the bullies back in his own world.
But the filmmakers had a good thing without the unnecessary framing device. It distracts us out of a resonant Taoist journey through sun-dappled bamboo forests and puts us in a modern coming-of-age cliche. The overly long “Kingdom” would have done better to stay focused on its two charismatic members of kung fu royalty.
‘Forbidden Kingdom’
Three Stars
» Starring: Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Michael Angarano
» Director: Rob Minkoff
» Rated PG-13 for sequences of martial arts action and some violence
» Running time: 110 minutes
