⇒ mixed reviews

movies released this year that should have been awesome but ultimately ended up mediocre:
The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Forbidden Kingdom should have been a HK production directed by the likes of Sammo Hung, Yuen Woo Ping, Corey Yuen or Tsui Hark. It should have been wall to wall Jackie/Jet double teaming/battling. The end battle should have been more difficult/epic. It should have had Jackie's insane stuntwork, and been made over 10 years ago, while both were still in/close to their prime. And it should have been planned, filmed, completed and done in a ridiculously short time-frame, like the rest of Jackie and Jet's great movies. I felt that getting peed on was extremely disrespectful to Jackie. Almost as much as having a white, no-kung fu chump babysit two grandmasters of asian kung-fu cinema.

For the record, I do like Jackie more than Jet (not that I don't like Jet). It's because Jackie is creatively superior--he choreographs, directs and stars. He's come up with insane/unbelievable and physically real moves no one's even dreamed of attempting. He invented Kung Fu comedy. And he made Armor of God, Million Dollar Heiress, Police Story, Dragons Forever, Young Master, Drunken Master, etc. Jackie is the Man!

another rivalry I called:
Michelle Williams def. Katie Holmes (began with Dawson's Creek, concluded with Williams' Oscar nod)

about Indiana 4--someone said it first, and said it best:
I tried to like Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, really, I did. But in the end, I just couldn’t do it - my nostalgia was no match for George Lucas and his stupid sci-fi storyline. You won’t get any spoilers from me if you haven’t seen the movie yet, but even though Lucas, Spielberg, and Ford tried to give you everything an Indiana Jones fan could want some 20 odd years later, they ultimately missed the mark.

Sure, there were moments when Harrison’s easy charm made you forget all about the alien mumbo-jumbo (seriously, half my problems with the movie would’ve been solved by taking this crap out), and a few scenes that would have definitely given my 10-year-old self nightmares (hey, I scared easily). But after it was over, I just wanted to go home and watch the original trilogy again to wash the bad taste out of my mouth. Because when a simple adventure with all our old pals would’ve done the trick, the Big Three tried to do too much, and ended up giving us too little instead. What a shame.
source:http://tunaflix.com/?p=1819

main things I disliked about Indy 4:

• CGI animals. WTF?!?!? Monkeys? Gophers? Ants? Aliens? Don't gimme that sh!t about not being able to do it practically...Spielberg would have found a way!
• Tarzan mode...you'll know what I mean. So what, is this a Spider-man film? How'd he keep up with the car?!?!
• Somewhat weak script/dialogue.
• time period. The 50s ain't the 30s. The result is movie that is similar, but just not right.
• Lame villains. It's not the same without a Nazi scum throwdown.
• No Jones senior or Marcus Brody. Had the filme been made in the early 90s, this would have been possible, and likely.
• Not enough whip cracking.
• Sci-fi over mysticism. I personally feel that the Holy Grail and The Ark of the Covenant trump the Crystal Skull. Come on, these were gifts from God!

Not enough trademark Indy grouchiness/fallibility

A lot of these problems feel like a (George) Lucasian decision (same guy who wrote all that 'memorable' dialogue in the Star Wars prequels).
Mutt Williams. Pair a dog-name with a generic white name. Real clever. How about Rover Jennings? Fido Smith? Sparky Hayes?

Things I did like:

• really felt like the final journey for the man in the hat. And he got a happy ending.
• Some of the humor is still there
• It's Harrison Ford

For me, the true (spiritual) sequel to Indiana Jones and the Last crusade? The Mummy, with Brendan Fraser. I knew it in 1999, I know it now.

It should also be noted that Jackie's character in Armor of God was very Indiana Jones like (purposefully so?)

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