Read More @HJ Reviews: Lord of the Staff Maurice Broaddus Previews: Trailer, Photos, Wallpaper, Prod Notes, Overview David Bruce, Webmaster

When I heard that The Forbidden Kingdom began as a story screenwriter John Fusco told to his 11-year-old son, I wasn't surprised. Although it is a fine Kung Fu movie filled with artistic fight sequences rivaling choreographer Wo Ping's previous work in The Matrix and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, its story is one that is about more than just cool fight scenes. And reminiscent of many of the most classic tales of young adventurers on a mission out there, it is a tale that reminds us all that no matter how young, how flawed, or how far outside the hero stereotype we may be, we all have the power to accomplish great things.

Based on the legend of The Monkey King, his "imprisonment" by the Jade Warrior King, and the prophecy of The Seeker who will free the Kingdom from its evil rule by returning The Monkey King's magic staff to him, in many ways, the story of The Forbidden Kingdom reminds me of The Lord of the Rings, The Wizard of Oz, and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Like The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and The Wizard of Oz, much of the story takes place in another world separate from our main character's reality. And like Middle-earth and Narnia, that world and its people live in fear of the evil power reigning over them and in hope of the one who will come to set them free.

When our hero Jason (Michael Angarano) arrives on the scene, he like Frodo, Dorothy, and the Pevensie siblings, is young, unlikely, and in need of much instruction. His mission rests on getting a specific object to a certain place and keeping it out of the hands of those who would prevent that. To aid him on his journey, he is accompanied by three other somewhat unlikely sidekicks who both teach him and learn their own lessons along the way. And by its end, he has not only saved the world which called for his help but gained a much greater understanding of what makes his own world and life worth saving.

Jason's main problem when he arrives in the magical world he must save is that he does not know Kung Fu. It is his love of Kung Fu movies and action heroes which lands him in his situation. But as we all see, neither he nor anyone else has ever really thought of him as a Kung Fu hero.

"He's not even Chinese," says Jet Li's Silent Monk to Jackie Chan's Lu Yan when Yan tells him that Jason is The Seeker. But as Lu Yan tells the Monk and the story shows, "We are all the same inside." Jason may not be a star pupil at first. He may not have a single move in him to begin with. But as Yan tells him, "Kung Fu is hard work over time to accomplish skill." It is not only found in fighting, it is in the work of a painter, a butcher, and a poet. And by opening himself up to the teaching of Yan and Monk, Jason also makes Kung Fu a part of himself.

But to accomplish his mission, Jason must also learn more than just the right moves. Like Frodo's journey to Mount Doom, a major part of Jason's voyage also depends on recognizing a value and purpose behind his task that is greater than "just because." And for him, this mostly comes through getting to know the people who join him on his quest.

While the character of Golden Sparrow (Yifei Liu) ends up serving as mostly a lesson about the destructive nature of vengeance, for Jason she also serves as a personal embodiment of the tragedy from which he must free her world. Through her, the evil Jason must combat becomes more real. And thus, his desire to defeat it does as well.

Although Jason keeps on with his journey with little complaint, it is when Lu Yan's life is put in the balance that Jason really steps up to the plate. Instead of just filling a role in some prophecy he only heard of days before, Jason now clearly sees himself as the only one who can save a dear friend. And even though his personalization of events does make him lose a bit of perspective, it is through the personal relationships with his friends that he is again put back on course, and, in the end, able to both save the friend he loves and the world that is counting on him.

Like in the Wizard of Oz and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, once Jason has completed his task, he returns to his own world as if no time has passed. But bringing with him the lessons he learned while in the magical kingdom he just visited, Jason reveals that all he has learned is just as important in the real world as well. And with "cameos" from his visit to the Forbidden Kingdom in the world he returns to a la Wizard of Oz, it is as if something is telling him that that world of magic and purpose lives in his world also.

In many ways, it is as if the world of the Hidden Kingdom is a spiritual world and Jason's life the physical one. The pursuit of immortality and the exploration of its meaning weave throughout much of Jason's quest to restore the golden staff to its rightful owner. It is immortal evil that must be destroyed and immortal good that must be restored. To have immortality is to have power. But as immortal good is returned to power and immortal evil dethroned, we see that the greatest power that could ever be found in immortality is in relationship, in the gift of a greater purpose, and in serving others. As Lu Yan says to Jason when Jason tells him that he will never forget him, "I guess that's what being immortal really means." And in the same way that Jason returns to his life empowered by the knowledge of a greater purpose and world of which he is a part, knowing that there does exist a greater world of immortally where prophesies are more than just unfulfilled hopes and purposes extend far beyond what we can see before us, so can we.

As Jesus said to his disciples after he rose from the dead and before he returned to heaven, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth... Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. They will pick up snakes with their hands, and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all. They will place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed... Be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."