Review of The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) by Tyler M — 31 Mar 2012

Jet Li came out of retirement to piss on Jackie Chan!

This movie was a let down on so many levels. Those wishing for a grand adventure or sweeping epic starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li should just keep on wishing. The humor is boring, the story goes nowhere fast, the acting is... Well it's really really bad. Jackie Chan gives a standard performance, Jet Li gives a substandard performance, and Michael Angarano does little more than look like a clone of a young James Vanderbeek... And I can't even fathom the thought of someone wanting to clone any version of James Vanderbeek. The script is poor, the dialogue cheesy, the moral of the story generic, the outcome predictable, the special effects are poor even for a low production value, the sets and costumes uninspired and possibly the only thing more generic than the story itself.

Sadly the only thing that could have saved this movie is if instead of wasting their money on standard and poor performances from Chan and Li, is if they'd used that money to get Shia LaBeouf instead of Angarano, and use the cash left over to get some lesser known martial artists and better visuals... But even than the film probably would have been a waste of my time and money... If you see this in theaters do yourself a favor and see the matinee instead of paying the nightly show price... And if you don't see it in theaters, rent it...

Seriously... Li came back for this?