Jackie Chan and Jet Li mentioned in the same breath is something martial arts gurus have been waiting for a long time.

Finally they don’t have to wait any longer. In “The Forbidden Kingdom,” the pairing of these huge icons doesn’t disappoint, even though both are past their primes.

Jason (Michael Angarano) is a teenage boy who has an obsession with kung fu films. He doesn’t have many friends and the films are his escape.

A local gang wants to rob the pawnshop Jason goes to. Jason gets forced to let them in and the head bully decides to shoot the owner.

Running away with a magical staff in his hand, Jason suddenly is transported from Boston to ancient China. Think of it as “The Wizard of Oz” goes east.

In this new world, Jason needs to return the staff to its rightful owner, the Monkey King (Jet Li). Without the staff, the Monkey King can’t defeat the Jade Warlord (Collin Chou).

With word that the staff is near, the Warlord sends out thousands of warriors to make sure the staff never gets in the hand of the Monkey King.

Jason, with no kung fu training, gets help from three different people.

Lu Yan (Jackie Chan) is an “immortal” drunk who can’t fight unless he chugs down a whole bottle of wine. A man called the Silent Monk (Jet Li) has been living all these years to bring back the staff to the Monkey King. Last is Golden Sparrow (Yifei Liu), whose parents were murdered by the Jade Warlord and seeks retribution.

The story itself seems over the top but director Rob Minkoff and screenwriter John Fusco keeps the mood light and fun. There are times when the film is serious but Minkoff then reels it back to being entertaining. This is more Chan’s film than it is Li’s. If it looks like Li feels out of place, it’s because Li tries being funny but it’s not expected from his demeanor.

The fight between Chan and Li is what people having been waiting for a long time. Not only is the action kinetic and blazing with energy, but also it feels as if both haven’t lost a step.

Chan is verging on his sixties and Li isn’t that far behind but both still are on top of their crafts. There is CGI involved but with those two martial artists and beautiful choreography from Woo-Ping Yuen (“The Matrix,” “Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2), it’s hard to tell when the visual effects start and stop.

Action is constant throughout the film. All four are getting stormed by thousands of soldiers left and right. Even Angarano gets to show off some of his fighting chops. Some of the sequences might be highly stylized but it doesn’t deter from the film.

Some scenes do bring up memories of older films like Bruce Lee’s “The Chinese Connection” or more recent like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” Even one of the characters is reminiscent of Lian Nichang in “The Bride With White Hair.” Minkoff does this to show how far kung fu films have come along and pay homage as well.

“The Forbidden Kingdom” tells a story of a boy who comes of age at the end of the film. It ends with a good message but most people will be discussing the duel of Chan and Li. If this were ten years ago, maybe we’d see more of Chan’s old stunts and more of the firepower of Li’s fighting. Yet there is no denying that these two still have the charisma and energy to put up great action bouts.