If you love martial arts flicks as much as everyone involved in this production, you'll have a blast! Light-hearted in tone with every variety of kung fu and countless references to Hong Kong classics.

While the dialogue in the movie is cheesy at times this movie is definately entertaining.

I desperately looked forward to this and was thoroughly disappointed. The story was garbage, the kiddie lead annoying, and they didn't give Li or Chan enough quality fighting time.

This movie is so entertaining that I want to see it again. It is hilarious and doesn't take itself seriously. Beautiful cinematography and well done CG, with awesome kung fu. Simply put, I love it. It should've been marketed as summer blockbuster movie. I highly recommend it.

I wanted to like this movie -- I really, really did. Jackie Chan and Jet Li are (well, were) the best at martial arts action films, and the prospect of them as a kind of chop-socky Odd Couple was irresistible. I'd been looking forward to it for months, and went to see it on opening day. What I didn't realize was that this was neither a martial arts comedy (like Chan is known for) or an epic (like Li has done) but rather, at its core, a children's movie. It's like The Karate Kid meets The Neverending Story -- complete with training montages, "real world" bookends, and a gawky hero that was a little too aggressively banal to like. There are moments of excellence; Jet Li's exuberance as the trickster Monkey King is genuinely delightful, and both the good-girl and bad-girl characters are ridiculously attractive. In the end, though, all I could think about was how much I would've enjoyed the film if I were 11. To be fair, parents of 11-year-olds should definitely consider this one for a Saturday afternoon. The rest of us, however, should save our money.… Expand

What does John Lennon and "The Forbidden Kingdom" have in common? They both do the Oz; but they don't do God. Against the backdrop of a cerulean sky, Jason(Michael Angarano) envisions kung fu fighting on dreamscape mountaintops. The warriors fly around like substitute angels. Their staffs are malevolent harps. Later on, when Jason finds himself in a predicament that confirms the timelessness of Newton's Law, life doesn't flash before his eyes like a god-fearing man. Instead, he goes to the mythical China of celluloid reality, just like how a Yoda acolyte-wanna-be would jettison himself to a planet far, far away, in a heartbeat, if his heart stopped. Once there, Jason demonstrates his knowledge of chopsocky. The narrative is standard fare. He's not trying to reinvent the wheel, like Ang Lee("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), but the boy's narrative shows the influence of his own culture; popular culture(e.g. the preponderance of CGI effects). As the casting director of his own imagination, he uses a twilight Jackie Chan, and an equally white dwarf-ish Jet Li, to help him free the monkey king(Li as Bruce Lee in code. "Monkey Man" was a ska classic by The Specials. Bruce Lee was special. Jason could be a ska fan. An anagram for "ska" suggests Kansas: "Ka[n]s[as]".). To Jason's credit, in the film within a film, he learns kung fu, but not to an extent, in which he'd defeat an obviously superior opponent, mano-a-(wo)mano. The martial arts-neophyte needs help. He's subordinate to Lu Yan(Jackie Chan) and the Silent Monk(Jet Li). Jason doesn't colonize his daydream by upstaging the people indigenous to the films he loves. It respects the genre. Like Victor Fleming's "The Wizard of Oz", Jason populates the movie in his head, with people from his life. Aware of Pink Floyd's enthusiasm for "Oz" during the recording of "Dark Side of the Moon", "The Forbidden Kingdom" seems to draw from John Lennon's solo debut "Plastic Ono Band"("God", "Do the Oz"). The ex-Beatle believed in Yoko. Jason used to believe in "Enter the Dragon". But now that he's met Golden Sparrow(Yifei Liu), there's a good chance that the fantasy-addled boy, will enter the.… Expand

Jackie Chan and Jet Li give a magnificent performance. It's a shame the movie is not really about them. As has been said, it's a really a movie aimed for younger audiences. The fight scenes are impressive but the lead character is really quite obnoxious. I will give it a 7 because I got what I wanted out of this movie, and that is excellent fight choreography by 2 of my favorite film martial artists. I did my best to shut my eyes to the rest.… Expand

Those rating this movie above a 7 are, well, let

The perfect adventure movie! You'll like it and your kids will love it. Well, to tell the truth, I loved it too. But then I have a thing for beautiful fighting scenes, amazing scenery and feel-good-fantasy-stories.

This movie i think is great, its a modern twist to the original monkey king. (i advise you to watch or read about the original monkey king before you watch this movie or else you might think its corny or cheesy- like many people) = I liked the twist at the end when jet li turned into one of monkey king's hair, i just thought he was acting 2 parts in the beginning/ = would i recommend it? - yes.… Expand

This Movie is great despite reviews, you love martial arts, Jackie Chan and Jet Li. This Movie is for you. I love martial arts and this movie was awesome.

I liked Jackie Chan and Jet Li in one great kung fu fighting movie. I recommend it to everyone who love's this type of movie.

It's just one big love letter to kung fu movies, and a real tribute to its two amazing stars!

Though the storyline, as well as some choregraphy seem recycled from older movies, it's a breath of fresh air in the kung fu flick genre. It's great to see that Jackie and Jet are working together as well, and together, they made art in the style of martial arts. My only problem is the teenage boy who seems to ruin the movie at certain points.

I think it was absolutely brilliant. The style was a lot of fun to watch, and they handled a plot that could have been incredibly cheesy with a lot of finesse and believability. From a critical standpoint, they did a great job with this movie in the atmosphere they intended. In reviewing any movie, you have to consider what the intent of the movie was before you decide if it was good "for you". More critics (at least profession ones) need to learn to review from the point of view of the intended audience, not the reviewer him/herself, to decide whether the movie was good.… Expand

Great movie. I loved Jackie Chan and Jet Li together on the screen. The actress with the long white hair was really good. The teen actress was beautifull too. Loved it!

The romance is complete crap but the fighting and story are really good

It was not as good as I expected it be. You would thin that the two greatest martial artest would have been in a better. It was just not a good. I didn't understand anywhere it was coming from. The plot seem unreal. The only good thing that I like about the movie is that Jackiee Chan and Jet li was in it. It is about time that we saw a movie with the greatest Martial Art stars togther. It was a good movie but not the best.… Expand

Pretty good. The fighting was exciting, the dialogue was interesting, and the concept was excellent. Unfortunately the movie felt kind of rushed to me. It was too short and if it was to be really good it should have been lengthened to a trilogy.

Fricking amazing, can't believe didn't get an official box office release here in Oz (or did and I somehow missed it). I also kinda can't believe it got such a low score here on metacritic... Ah well I guess an ode to classic kung fu is not everyones idea of a great film... but Jet Li and Jackie Chan (especially without a bad Hollywood comedy script) was my idea of cinema gold.

This is the perfect escapist Far Eastern fantasy. For anyone (like myself) who has read lots of Eastern philosophy and mythology, this movie is an excellent blend of humour and fantasy. There are plenty of humorous references to Toaist and Zen Buddhism texts and legends. I loved when Jackie Chan mistaked a boy's stunned silence for complete understanding ("He speaks does not know, he who knows does not speak"). In this movie you will see characters and places from the Seven Taoist Masters, ancient Chinese folklore, and hear teachings from Zen Buddism. Its really alot of fun, with beautiful scenery, cool fight scenes, and plenty of comedy.… Expand

I love this movie, it's alot of fun for the whole family. Enjoy it for what it is a saturday morning kung fu flick on steroids.

Fighting is fine, but not a believable story. Don't take your watch with you, you'll be looking at it regularly.

The cast says it all and it lives up to every bit of it. If you like these movies you will get your moneys worth.

That's why American People dont appreciate asian cinemas, they do not know the real story of the Monkey King, well they have team up together the 2 martial arts superstars, and the story line is supperb, but they should not put an american actor in the film anyways.

I thought this movie was tremendous. I love martial arts flicks, and this one was funny, well-acted, and had lots of nods to fans of the two leads. I enjoyed the heck out of it!

A pleasant surprise, I am not at all into martial arts/kung fu films, but the production was excellent, great special effects and a good story. The cast was fine. Good plot and enjoyable, very entertaining.

The plot in this movie is bogus and the dialog is cheesy, it will scratch the Kung-Fu maniacs itch, there is a lot of reasons to love or hate this movie, I would recommend trying this for yourself.

Jet Li and Jackie Chan's combination of powerful performances combined with decent storytelling make this a decent action movie.

It was ok suprisingly. The action was good and it was great to finally see Chan and Li fight against each other in a film. The plot was alright but it was just a bit too stupid at times. Overall though it was entertaining and worth the watch.