verbatim: Forbidden

The other night we watched "The Forbidden Kingdom," the long-awaited (read: long-overdue) movie featuring both Jet Li and Jackie Chan. It has nowhere near the oomph of "Hero" or "Fearless" or any of the other Jet Li movies of which I am so fond; this is more of a comic adventure aimed at Kung Fu–obsessed teens. And me, for some reason. I loved it.

It's got plenty of "Karate Kid," with both Li and Chan teaching young Michael Angarano the ropes. I defy you to watch the weed-whacking scene without shouting "Wax on! Wax off!" at the screen. There's even more "Wizard of Oz," with Angarano as Dorothy, and Li, Chan, and the lovely Liu Yifei as the Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man (although not necessarily in that order). It's especially obvious at the end (don't worry, there's no danger of a spoiler in such a formulaic movie as this), when Angarano tells the Jade Emperor he just wants to go home. But that's OK, because they're good stories to draw from. I also detected hat-tips to "The Princess Bride" and "Lord of the Rings," and there are undoubtedly dozens of homages to Hong Kong–style Kung Fu movies that I'm not familiar with.

If you like Jet Li and/or Jackie Chan and the fantasy fight scenes popularized by movies such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," then this is a must-see for you. I think the climactic Li-Chan fight scene is a decade or two overdue, but it's still fun and exciting to watch.