Chopsockey fans who grew up with Black Belt Theater and bootlegs or imports of DRUNKEN MASTER 2 and ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA have long awaited the meeting of cinema’s kung fu kings Jackie Chan and Jet Li. And while they may not necessarily be in their physical prime, they’re finally tiger-fisting and wu shu-ing in the same movie, a fantasy fight flick called THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM.
While we won’t get to see it until next year, filming is wrapped and the movie is in post-production. Director Rob Minkoff (STUART LITTLE) isn’t necessarily the guy you might want capturing this legendary pairing, but fear not: the movie was shot by CROUCHING TIGER cinematographer Peter Pau, and veteran fight coordinator Woo Ping Yuen has provided “a host of ingenious fight sequences”.
The official synopsis for the movie: In THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM, American teenager Jason (Michael Angarano of SKY HIGH), who is obsessed with Hong Kong cinema and kungfu classics, finds an antique Chinese staff in a pawn shop: the legendary stick weapon of the Chinese sage and warrior, the Monkey King (Jet Li). With the lost relic in hand, Jason unexpectedly finds himself transported back to ancient China. There, he meets the drunken kungfu master, Lu Yan (Jackie Chan); an enigmatic and skillful Silent Monk (Jet Li); and a vengeance-bent kungfu beauty, Golden Sparrow (Crystal Liu Yi Fei), who lead him on his quest to return the staff to its rightful owner, the Monkey King – imprisoned in stone by the evil Jade Warlord (Collin Chou of THE MATRIX sequels) for five hundred years. Along the way, while attempting to outmaneuver scores of Jade Warriors, Cult Killers and the deadly White Hair Demoness, Ni Chang (Li Bing Bing), Jason learns about honor, loyalty and friendship, and the true meaning of kungfu, and thus frees himself.
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