Forbidden Kingdom

Starring Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Liu Yifei, Michael Angarano, Collin Chou and Li Bingbing
Directed By: Rob Minkoff
Produced By:Ryan Kavanaugh, Raffaella De Laurentiis, Yuen Wo-Ping and Jon Feltheimer
Genres: Action/Adventure and Science Fiction/Fantasy
Starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li and with fight scenes choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping, the credits for Forbidden Kingdom look like a kung-fu fan's dream come true. Fourteen-year-old Jason (Michael Angarano) uses an ancient staff to magically transport to Hong Kong. There he meets a fighter with a taste for wine (Chan) and a monk (Li). The three quest to free the immortal Monkey King, eventually joined by a young beauty named Golden Sparrow (Liu Yifei). Critics have lauded the authentic Chinese action movie style as well as the thrilling fight scenes, but they complained about the wandering screenplay. Fans have for the most part loved seeing two kung-fu masters in the same film--and, even better, they fight during an early scene.

Horton Hears a Who!

Starring: Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Dan Fogler, Carol Burnett and Seth Rogen
Directed By: Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino
Produced By: Christopher Meledandri, Chris Wedge and Audrey Geisel
Genres: Kids/Family, Animation and Adaptation
The beloved children's book Horton Hears a Who!, first published in 1954, became a Broadway musical of some merit (Seussical, first presented in 2000). The film, like the musical, sticks close to the book's original narrative about a doltish elephant who comes across a world built on a mere dust speck. Nobody else in the jungle believes Horton, of course, and eventually he's thought to be quite mad. Critics loved the computer-animated world of Horton, and most noted that this film managed to avoid pitfalls that degraded two other recent full-length adaptations of Dr. Seuss favorites, The Cat in the Hat (2003) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1990). Fans say the kids love it, and that's all that matters.

In the Name of the King

Starring: Jason Statham, John Rhys Davies, Ray Liotta, Burt Reynolds, Matthew Lillard and Leelee Sobieski
Directed By: Uwe Boll
Produced By: Wolfgang Herold, Chet Holmes and Stephen Hegyes
Genres: Action/Adventure, Art/Foreign, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Adaptation
A gritty Farmer (Jason Stratham) has his family decimated by evil Krugs, and in seeking vengeance he's joined by Norick (Ron Pearlman) and Bastian (Will Sanderson). They escape the clutches of King Konreid (Burt Reynolds, believe it or not) and take on an evil wizard played by Ray Liotta. Neither critics nor fans have liked In the Name of the King even though it's adapted from the videogame Dungeon Siege and plays like a knock-off of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The gaming tie-in and Rings parallels would normally inspire some fans somewhere to laud the movie--but not this one. Everyone lays blame at the feet of director Uwe Boll for poor plotting, inept casting and incompetent editing.