It might take a Zen master to explain exactly what audience this is aimed at.
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04/18/08
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The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)
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Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:123
Fresh:79
Rotten:44
Average Rating:6.1/10
Consensus: This hotly-anticipated pairing of martial arts legends Jackie Chan and Jet Li features dazzling fight scenes but is weighed down by too much filler.
Theatrical Release:2008
Box Office: $25,040,293
Synopsis: East meets West and kung-fu legends collide as Jackie Chan and Jet Li square off in the fists-a-flying, family-friendly FORBIDDEN KINGDOM. Based on the classical Chinese novel JOURNEY TO THE WEST,... [More]
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Reviews for The Forbidden Kingdom
It's difficult to resist, especially if you're a 12-year-old boy whose parents won't let you rent Once Upon a Time in China or the Kill Bill movies.
04/18/08
When Chan and Li match wits, each celebrates the other's presence. This isn't just a martial-arts display; it's generosity and camaraderie in motion.
04/18/08
Top CriticAssigning Chan and Li to supporting status underscores how ordinary this would-be- extraordinary film turns out to be.
04/18/08
I could just hear the producers in the board room, cigar smoke swirling around their fat heads as they barked into their speakerphones: "Those Hong Kong guys are too old! We need an American in here to capture the Western markets
04/18/08
Thanks to the two stars' disparate styles - the laser-like focus of Li and the whirlwind whimsy of Chan - The Forbidden Kingdom makes up for its flaws with plenty of eye-popping moments.
04/18/08
Chan seems to be having fun in a comic part that, unlike his Rush Hour paydays, doesn't make him the butt of ethnic jokes. Li is as stalwart as ever.
04/18/08
Top CriticForbidden Kingdom is chop-socky bordering on chop-schlocky, but it's good-natured myth-making cut into kid-size pieces.
04/18/08
Top CriticWhile the script is corny and the direction uneven, [Chan and Li] never falter.
04/18/08
Seeing Jackie Chan and Jet Li in fist-frenzied combat feels like the kung-fu equivalent of watching Fred Astaire cut the rug with Ginger Rogers.
04/18/08
Unfailingly lighthearted, the film's fight scenes are stylized, soaring wire work and gravity-defying digital sorcery rather than blood-and-bruises beatdowns.
04/18/08
The first teaming of Chan and Li is a delightful, action-packed martial-arts fantasy. There's not an original idea in the whole thing, but this gorgeous Hollywood production presents all the surefire elements well.
04/18/08
The dependable Chan and Li keep the proceedings lively, even though it's all fairly predictable. What they lack in material, they more than make up for in onscreen charisma.
04/18/08
The Forbidden Kingdom may be nothing but disposable fun, but it is a great, heaping, overflowing helping of fun. If you're 10, it may also seem like Citizen Kane.
04/18/08
The filmmakers come off like their protagonist, wide-eyed tourists in an exotic realm. If you've been looking for a martial arts film to take granny and the kids to, this might be the one, but a Jackie Chan-Jet Li collaboration deserves better than that.
04/18/08
Top CriticWhat a waste. It's easy to see how Kingdom would have benefited from focusing on the interplay between its superstars. At times they're like kung-fu Ernie and Bert (minus the sexual tension).
04/18/08
Forbidden Kingdom is a faithful and disarmingly earnest attempt to honor some venerable and popular Chinese cinematic traditions.
04/18/08
Top CriticA sufficiently entertaining diversion.
04/18/08
Top CriticThe Forbidden Kingdom...offers the first-ever on-screen pairing of martial-arts legends Jackie Chan and Jet Li, but it's a bit of a bait-and-switch. Both stars get plenty of screen time, yet their fight scenes feel routine.
04/18/08
Top CriticIf you want to break the kids in easy to the whole martial arts thing, this may be the way to go. After all, clean fu never killed anyone.
04/18/08
Latest News for The Forbidden Kingdom
September 09, 2008:
Kung fu fever and fluff mix it up with hordes of floating knights in shining armor with bad attitude, and just a little heavy on the dressing, courtesy of the costume department. 
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May 01, 2008:
Box Office Preview: Iron Man Launches Summer Movie Season
A hero flies into North American multiplexes aiming to kickstart what should be an explosive summer movie season. Paramount's Iron Man is first up to bat this year and is ready... More...
April 24, 2008:
Box Office Guru Preview: Odd Couples Invade Multiplexes
Two new buddy comedies enter the marketplace during the final weekend of the spring box office hoping to cash in on what business is left in the last week before Iron Man flies... More...
April 20, 2008:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Chan and Li Rule Box Office Kingdom
Audiences were fired up for the first-ever showdown between martial arts legends Jackie Chan and Jet Li as their new fantasy actioner The Forbidden Kingdom opened at number one... More...
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