'Forbidden Kingdom' casts magical spell

(B+) Kung fu purists may scoff, but escapists with a sense of humor should romp through The Forbidden Kingdom. It teams Hong Kong superstars Jackie Chan and Jet Li for the first time in an American/Mandarin fantasy that showers affectionate irreverence on martial-arts classics as well as kitsch milestones like The Karate Kid.

In an irresistibly giddy story that plays mix and match with mythologies from Chinese legendry and Greek fable to pulp fiction, Michael Angarano plays a Greek-American boy from South Boston, Jason Tripitikas (as in Jason and the Argonauts). While scouring a Chinatown pawnshop for martial-arts DVDs, he stumbles on an antique staff that catapults him into a medieval Chinese-fantasy universe of soldier monks, witches and immortals.

In the set-up, Jason becomes the target of Beantown bullies who rob and attack the crusty comical pawnshop owner (Chan, in the first of his two roles). But even during this clumsy introduction, we know we're in good hands. The director, Rob Minkoff, and the writer, John Fusco, recognize that feelings of helplessness, not just mortification, fuel an adolescent's desire to acquire fighting strength; Angarano is a solid, sensitive young actor, able to convey Jason's queasiness at watching some South Boston thugs threaten and wound his old friend.

Once he winds up in fantasyland, he discovers that he is the seeker destined to return the staff to the Monkey King (Jet Li, in the first of his two roles). The dour Jade Warlord (Collin Chou) has turned the Monkey King, a threat to the Jade Empire's status quo, from an incorrigible trickster to a statue - the worst punishment imaginable for a character who thrives on improvisational movement.

When Jason learns this history from Taoist wanderer Lu Yan (Chan's second and major role), he becomes a ward to destiny and a comic foil - an apprentice to the master of the Drunken Fist, though Jason's not yet of drinking age himself. Before long, this dynamic duo becomes a fantastic four, with the addition of a righteous white-clad soldier monk (Li, in his second and major role) and the beauteous young Golden Sparrow (Yifei Liu), who seeks vengeance against the Jade Warlord.

Chan and Li are a delight: Performers of consummate skill and opposing temperaments, they both complement and compliment each other with every chop, kick or feint.

Chan is like a practiced old vaudevillian still adding tricks to his trade: He tops a strategy he seemed to perfect in Rush Hour 3 - exploiting a younger performer as a living weapon or a prop. Chan's got casual virtuosity: He rolls out his expertise with joy.

Li is a paragon of concentration, in two different modes. His Monkey King is an improbable figure of high-flying commedia dell'arte, a spell-caster as well as a spellbinder, who uses his hands with a stage magician's flair. His soldier monk is a brisk, inventive yet no-nonsense fighter - which makes him all the funnier when Chan's Lu Yan draws him into a hilarious menagerie of animal-named martial-arts stances, such as the Praying Mantis vs. the Tiger.

Despite her character's annoying trick of referring to everyone (including herself) in the third person, Yifei Liu succeeds in imbuing the film with a lighter version of Zhang Ziyi's youthful ardor. In a near-great teen-fantasy moment, the Golden Sparrow saves Jason from toppling down a sand hill - and her swaying hair parts to reveal a naked intensity in her eyes.

Under Minkoff's direction, the movie tiptoes between camp and comic-book adventure and rarely loses its balance: It's stirring and satirical that Jason masters both martial arts and that swiveling head move that signals in any kung fu film that our hero means business. Minkoff's animation background (he co-directed The Lion King) pays off in his unself-conscious melding of computer-generated imagery and wirework with flesh-and-blood action. (Peter Pau did the verdant cinematography and Woo-Ping Yuen the exhilarating fight choreography.)

The natural and invented settings are equally magical. The Monkey King is also a mountain king, and when he sends his antagonists swirling through the clouds you feel on top of the world.

>>>The Forbidden Kingdom (Lionsgate/Weinstein Co.) Starring Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Michael Angarano. Directed by Rob Minkoff. Rated PG-13 for some violence. Time 113 minutes.

michael.sragow@baltsun.com

Related topic galleries: Jackie Chan, Theft, Jet Li

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