The Forbidden Kingdom

As the first time that Jet Li and Jackie Chan (probably the two greatest living exponents of on screen kung fu) had ever shared the screen, The Forbidden Kingdom was bound to be greeted with a fair deal of excitement. It was almost as inevitable that it would, in some ways, fail to live up to expectations.

For the first 40 minutes or so, you'll wonder quite what you're watching. The look of the film resembles Hero or Crouching Tiger without really approaching the poetic beauty of those films. The tone is light without ever reaching the humour of Kung Fu Hustle or Shaolin Soccer. The script gets caught between the two, throwing a good deal of 70s Karate movies into the mix and has moments of inspiration, but is borderline dreadful despite Chan's best effort. It also borrows liberally from Karate Kid, Monkey and bizarrely Lord of the Rings. Sky High's Michael Angarano looks as lost in proceedings as his character. Admittedly there's some stunning scenery and a few nice fight scenes.

And then there's the moment where Chan and Li go face to face and fight each other. Its a sequence worthy of its stars and from that moment on the film lifts itself in the action sequences at least into something far more entertaining. There's also some nice interplay between the two after they join forces and make quite a good double act. The final showdown with the evil Jade Warlord and henchman is wonderfully inventive and entertaining. So much so that its almost a shame that we have to return to the States for the final coda which adds little except tying up loose ends.

Overall - 3/5 Its not the classic that was hoped for by any means, its a bit of a confused mess, but it looks good and when Chan and Li get together the action really kicks ass.