torstensonjohn Seldom does a film come along that one can just view with utter enjoyment. Combining two of the most fluid martial artists in the world with Jackie Chan and Jet Li is martial arts gold. The film transitions comedic dialogue with fluid movements of kung fu styles. The plot itself is a fantasy driven story of a teen from America who has an infatuation with everything Kung Fu. He comes across a magical Staff and is catapulted into another realm to find it's original owner. Along the way he learns about morality, fighting from within and being true to his inner self.The film has signs of brilliance in it's stunt choreography as well as Chinese culture. It's fantasy mixed with comedy and action/adventure. A welcome surprise to many a violent film. Think of Big Trouble In Little China and this will become a cult classic. 7/10

Adam Peters (58%) In 2012 "Man with the iron fists" hit cinema screens, and then really quickly afterwards it hit the inside of a DVD case where it has, from now until the end of time, been totally forgotten about. Most copies lie as abandoned trade-ins gathering dust inside bargain bins in second-hand shops covered in "reduced 25p" stickers. Forbidden kingdom on the other hand is a little different. This pays homage to old kung fu movies such as the Shaw brothers movies, Bruce Lee, and to a certain extent old Jackie Chan movies. But the writing here wasn't partly done by Eli Roth, so the plot makes at least some sort of sense and can be followed without ever wanting to stick a kabab skewer through your own hand to distract from the sheer awfulness. There are actual characters that have at least some substance, and it runs along at a fair old rate. The plot here is more or less a cross between "The never ending story" with action scenes very similar to those that take place in "Mortal Kombat" (more so the games than the so-so film), only much less violent. The action is maybe a bit too CGI heavy at times, but Jackie Chan and Jet Li do have a decent fight with each other, which is well worth a look for their many fans. This overall is a quality product, with good production values, and clearly a large budget backing it up every step. And even though it won't ever become a classic must-watch, it is still worth a look.

kluseba Just like the main character in this film, I am a big fan of martial arts cinema and have grown up with it. One of the genre's first milestones "Five Fingers Of Death" (1972), Bruce Lee's "Fist Of Fury" (1972), The Taiwanese "The Master And The Kid" (1978), the visually stunning "Shaolin Handlock" (1978), the brutal "The Master Strikes" (1980), the humorous "Mad Mission" (1984), the magical "A Chinese Ghost Story" (1987), the epic "Once Upon A Time In China" (1991), Jackie Chan's "Who Am I?" (1998) and recently the touching "Fearless" (2006) and the ambitious "Red Cliff" (2008) are the movies I would cite as my favourite ones of the genre.Many martial arts fans have been dreaming about a cinematic fight between Jackie Chan and Jet Li. This movie finally fulfils this dream. While their fight is entertaining in this film, I was expecting something more spectacular and I guess many fans think alike. What about the rest? Well, this movie is a strange mixture of a Hollywood teenie movie where a young guy who gets bullied by a gang that switches into a traditional Chinese adventure flick with many martial arts passages and a few elements of Chinese mythology where the young guy has to fulfil a prophecy in ancient China.I must admit that this mixture pretends to be original but it really didn't at all for me. A young white American who is wandering around in ancient China just feels weird. The fact that everybody seems to be able to speak English with him over there after a while is just as strange. What even disturbs me more are the numerous modern special effects in this movie that don't fit with the more traditional costumes, fights and landscapes. The mixture of an ancient and a contemporary world just doesn't fit in here. From that point of view, it's comparable to the failed experiment of the remake of "A Chinese Ghost Story" (2011). A movie where this mixture really works well is "The Neverending Story" (1984) but this movie here is not at all close to this kind of quality.There were a few more things I didn't like that much like the Monkey King that I just found plain stupid. On the other side, the villains incarnated by Li Bingbing and Collin Chou are much more addicting and pleased me a lot.Towards the middle of the movie, I was afraid that the film would turn into some sort of romantic story but it ultimately didn't. There is some romantic tension between two characters but it never goes further and would distract from the main story. I felt that this element was just addicting, charming and very well played. One feels that this relation is fresh and hesitating but mature and far beyond simple sexual tension. In addition to this element, the movie doesn't exaggerate towards the entertaining and gripping ending that I liked a lot. It's not as if the ending was a complete happy end or as if the young American teenager would beat up all Chinese warlords, soldiers and monks on his own. Jackie Chan, Jet Li and the charming Yifei Liu get almost as much screen time as Michael Angarano which makes this movie feel balanced enough.In the end, this movie is quite entertaining and worth a watch. It features some of the best actors of traditional Hongkong cinema like Jackie Chan and Jet Li that have become worldwide legends for a good reason. It also features some promising actors of China's younger generation like Li Bingbing or Yifei Liu. These two women don't only act very well, they are also incredibly beautiful and way more natural than the vast majority of young Hollywood actresses. The gripping ending was magical and filled with great fighting scenes as well. On the negative side, the mixture of genres doesn't really fit, the special effects are annoying and the story and acting sometimes lacks depth. If you feel for a modern fantasy movie with a few martial arts sequences and many famous actors, go for it. If you expect a breathtaking homage to old Hongkong cinema with a profound story, don't watch this because you will be disappointed.

Anssi Vartiainen Sometimes it's just great to see two actors sharing a screen together. Sometimes entire films are built around this concept. Like so with this film, I believe, as it is the first film to start both Jackie Chan and Jet Li, who are both amazing martial art actors. And, for what it is, it really works. Forget the lame protagonist, played by Michael Angarano. Forget the silly, yet admittedly entertaining, storyline about a monkey king. If you're going to see this film, see it for these two and for the scenes they share together.That being said, while I do think that this film is way too silly to be taken seriously, I also think that it's that way on purpose. I do wish that they had left out the banal protagonist hailing from our reality, because while usually a decent storytelling device and a way to insert in an audience surrogate, in this case it drags, a lot. Not only has Angarano almost no screen presence whatsoever, he's also stealing the spotlight from the main attractions of this particular film, Chan and Li. Give me a movie with just them, and perhaps that chick sidekick, anytime over this film.Still, if you're able to deal with the fact that you won't get as much Chan and Li as you probably would like to have, it's a fun film to watch. The fight scenes are entertaining, the cinematography and art design are colourful and fit the tone, and all in all it's a good way to spend a couple of hours. Could it have been better? Easily. But it could have a been a lot worse as well. Now it's "merely" a fun kind of average.