Salt Lake Tribune Review

On paper, this movie should be a Hong Kong action fan's dream come true: a fantasy extravaganza that references everything from Bruce Lee to The Bride With White Hair, has martial-arts choreography by Woo-Ping Yuen (who has staged fights for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Matrix and Kill Bill), and stars two action legends, Jet Li and Jackie Chan. Alas, the results are a dog's breakfast of slamming fists, swordplay and special effects swirling around a weak Wizard of Oz-like story about a Boston teen (Sky High's Michael Angarano) magically transported to ancient China to dethrone a warlord (Collin Chou, from the last two Matrix films), aided by a monk (Li), a drunk (Chan) and a vengeance-minded young woman (newcomer Liu Yifei). Director Rob Minkoff (Stuart Little) and writer John Fusco (Hidalgo) clearly love the genre, but the camerawork is a little too frenetic to capture the kung-fu action. Meanwhile, the long-awaited pairing of the 44-year-old Li and the 54-year-old Chan is a fizzle (they only fight each other once, early in the film) that makes you wish they had met up in their prime.
-- Sean P. Means

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