Forbidden Kingdom

The Forbidden Kingdom Okay, this is another of those kind-of-American-made (or paid for) Chinese-mythical-Kung-Fu-movies. Like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and others. Jackie Chan and Jet Li are the principals and this is the first time they have worked together. I was enthusiastic to see it and I’m glad I did. The story seems to be another in an unending supply of amazing tales of heroes and immortals from Chinese Mythology. But this one doesn’t quite live up to the promise—and genius—of some of the others. Having said that, I enjoyed it, over all. It has all the action any martial arts fanatic could want, the story is beautiful in that exotic, Asian way, and the stunts and special effects are . . . acceptable. I’m not sure where the weaknesses are, but they are there. The copy I saw had some editing problems, and I thought the acting wasn’t up to snuff. A lack of chemistry might have been a cause as well. There is no profanity, no sex or skin, and no gore. It is however, pretty much wall to wall fighting—albeit very stylized fighting. And a little flying. It is rated PG-13. Die-hard fans of the genre will like it, (a few people clapped when it was over) as well as people who aren’t really paying attention. (you know, high school kids.) If you are Gloria, or Howie, or Larry, or Terri, I don’t recommend it. Although . . . the mood Terri’s in lately, she might surprise me.