FORBIDDEN KINGDOM — ** 1/2 — Michael Angarano, Jackie Chan, Jet Li; rated PG-13 (violence, vulgarity, slurs, profanity, brief drugs, brief gore)

If you were Jackie Chan and Jet Li, you might feel a little offended.

American filmmakers continue to doubt the box-office draw of the two Hong Kong action stars, as evidenced by Chan's continual cinematic pairings with American comedians — such as Owen Wilson (in the "Shanghai" movies) and Chris Tucker (the "Rush Hour" films).

Li hasn't fared much better, though at least "Forbidden Kingdom" brings him face-to-face with Chan for the first time. The two even fight, albeit briefly. That may be enough for some of their longtime fans.

However, this silly martial-arts fantasy forces the two of them to play second-fiddle to an American teen. He's Michael Angarano, who stars as Jason Tripitikas.

A kung-fu movie aficionado, the picked-upon Jason comes into the possession of a magical staff and is transported to a mystical kingdom that's very different from home.

Jason is supposed to return the staff to its rightful owner and end the reign of a tyrannical warlord (Collin Chou). Luckily, he's found two traveling companions in a pair of feuding martial-arts masters — a silent monk (Li) and a supposedly immortal drunk, Lu Yan (Chan).

"Forbidden Kingdom" comes from an unlikely pairing of filmmakers, "The Lion King" and "Stuart Little" director Rob Minkoff and screenwriter John Fusco — of the "Young Guns" movies.

And while some of this material was drawn from Chinese legends, it still feels a bit half-hearted and as if it was cobbled together from bits of other movies. Among the obvious reference points are "The Karate Kid," the "Lord of the Rings" and "Spider-Man" movies, and even the Hong Kong hit "The Bride With White Hair," which at least gets name-checked.

And as much as Chan seems to be having fun, he's simply repeating one of his best roles, that of the title characters from "Drunken Master" movies.

"The Forbidden Kingdom" is rated PG-13 for strong scenes of martial-arts violence (brawling, stabbings, a shooting, sorcerous attacks and violence against women), some crude references and gags (including some toilet humor), racial slurs and other derogatory language, scattered profanity, brief drug content (elixirs and an opium reference), and some brief gore. Running time: 108 minutes.

---

E-mail: jeff@desnews.com