jason tripitikas (michael angarano) lives in boston and is obsessed with kung-fu films. one day, after visiting old hop's (jackie chan) pawn shop to buy some dvds, a gang of local thugs drag him back there to rob hop. after hop is shot, he gives jason a staff, which he had been admiring earlier, and tells him to return it to its rightful owner. jason takes the staff, fleeing the gang, but soon finds himself cornered, before falling from a rooftop: when he comes round, he finds himself in china. a few hundred years in the past...

carrying the staff is drawing unwanted attention to jason and he soon finds himself being chased by soldiers. luckily for him, lu yan (jackie chan) the drunken immortal, comes to his rescue, before telling him the story of the monkey king (jet li) and his battle against the jade warlord (collin chou), who imprisoned him in stone. only jason's staff can be used to free the monkey king and save the kingdom from the tyranny of the jade warlord, so the pair, along with golden sparrow (liu yi-fei) and a silent monk (jet li), set off to free the monkey king...

so, it finally happened. jackie chan and jet li in the same film, going head to head: it's a shame it didn't happen fifteen years ago in hong kong but, like most people, i'm just glad that it has.

putting jackie and jet to one side, the film is a pretty standard children's, adventure, fantasy film; it has a central protagonist, an outsider, who is thrown into an environment where he must flourish and, ultimately, blossom into someone who triumphs against the odds and, upon returning to his real life, is better equipped to deal with the challenges that face him. pretty standard stuff.

still, the fact that this film is written by a fan of hong kong films, martial arts and chinese culture is in evidence. most obviously, the film makes references to 'journey to the west' (the monkey king, tripitikas / tripitaka, etc etc etc), as well as classic hong kong films (such as 'come drink with me'; liu yi-fei's character has the same name as its central character and she invites the jade warlord to 'come drink with me'), there's plenty of talk of cinematic martial arts (no shadow kick, buddha's palm, iron elbow), li bing bing's white haired assassin bears more than a passing resemblance to 'the bride with white hair' and the opening credits are made up of a, very nicely animated, montage featuring classic film posters. all good stuff...

there's also a sense of comedy and melodrama which seems to be deeply rooted in hong kong cinema and dialogue, which swings between the contents of fortune cookies and reworkings of bruce lee interviews.

perhaps more importantly, though, the martial arts sequences are choreographed by yuen woo-ping (who also has an executive producer's credit). having been a pioneering force in martial arts cinema and having worked with both jackie and jet over the past couple of decades, yuen woo-ping is someone who realises the responsibility that comes with realising a confrontation that many thought may never materialise.

so, what does this all add up to?

if you are a child, you'll probably love this. it is a fantasy adventure, in a pretty classic mould: there's humour, excitement and spectacle. if you're an adult who likes kung fu movies, then you'll probably like it a lot, enjoying the aforementioned references. if, you just like action films, with no real interest in kung fu, then you may enjoy the martial arts sequences but, ultimately, not get on too well with the rest of the film.

personally, i thought it was a lot of fun, but i like kids films and martial arts films, so it wasn't too much of a shock. i didn't mind michael angarano, who managed to look like he was, at the very least, a proficient fighter by the end of the film. li bing bing was wonderful as the white haired assassin and collin chou made a great baddie. still, this was all about jackie and jet.

jackie was really good; it's a role that nicely fills the middle-ground between his performances in hong kong and american films and his comedic timing and delivery were spot on. jet was also good; nicely flitting between his serious and, less frequently seen these days, comic sides. both of them looked great and, when put together, watching them come together on screen was a treat. like i already said, it would've been something altogether different if this had been fifteen years ago, but the results were still impressive: a good length, nicely mixed fighting styles, high energy, ground and wire-work, with a couple of weapons thrown in for good measure. all good...

good stuff, but not for everyone...