This is a review I wrote after seeing the Forbidden Kingdom and submitted it to the school paper. Just in case you were interested.

Jet Li has always said that he wanted to make a movie with Jackie Chan before he retired from film. The Forbidden Kingdom, based loosely off a Chinese legend, finally brings the two martial arts legends together.
The movie has somewhat of a Never-Ending Story feel to it, as rather than focusing on Jet Li or Jackie Chan as one might expect, the film follows a young martial arts fan, a predictably nerdy boy named Jason, who is transported through time and space to a world set in a Chinese fairy tale. Jason is played by relative newcomer to film Michael Angarano, who seems to have been tapped as a cheaper alternative to Shia LeBuff. Jason must return a magical staff to the imprisoned monkey king; of course, along the way he has to learn Kung Fu to fight an elite army of villains. But most of the audience did not care about the plot and were just there to see Jackie Chan and Jet Li in the same movie. I was somewhat disappointed the movie even had a plot. It was marketed as a “kung fu explosion”, and at times it felt like I was watching a prettier version of The Karate Kid. There was even a training montage. Unfortunately, Jackie Chan did not show up until about twenty minutes into the movie, and Jet Li came about fifteen minutes after that. The movie was only an hour and fifty-three minutes long.
But silly plotlines aside, the real reason people were there was to see the martial arts, and they did not disappoint. Woo-ping Yuen, who also choreographed the martial arts for films such as The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, produced another excellent martial arts film. While the audience sometimes snickered at the silly plot and jokes, they were utterly silent for the fights which were truly a spectacle.
Besides that, the film had some pretty stunning visuals. While some of the settings were made with computer graphics, most of the film was shot in China with beautiful, colorful backdrops. It is a movie that takes full advantage of being shown on a large screen. Between the fight scenes, the sets and the scenery, the movie features some great eye candy.
This movie was made to bring two of the greatest masters kung fu together, and that is the reason people should see it. The movie certainly delivers in that respect, even though it is brief and falls short in certain aspects such as romance and comedy. One should see this movie for strictly the action aspect, and pay no attention to the plot. But the type of audience the film is marketed to already knows that.