Indiana Jones and the Forgotten Originality
I just saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Well, for those of you that are Indiana Jones fan, you are going to have to see the movie. I am not saying that it is good. It is just something you have to do. It was like watching the first three (meaning the most recent) Starwars, you didn’t necessarily like them, but you just had to watch them at least once. Well, Indiana is better than that. But, will I buy the DVD, um, no. I will probably by the Lego Indiana Jones video game, but I have a soft spot for the lego games. Yeah, I don’t get it either.
Harrison Ford seemed to take a while to remember how to play the Indiana role. Now, I love me some Harrison Ford, to be colloquially emphatic about it. I especially love him as Indiana Jones. He is funny, romantic, clever, a little crazy and lucky as any hollywood scripted character could be. Ok, Bruce Willis in Die Hard might rival him with luck, but they are damn close. Even as an old guy, and he is old enough to be my father, he is still sexy. But, the first 30 minutes of the movie seemed forced and the dialogs stunted.
Kate Blanchette doesn’t really do it for me as a blunette (blonde died brunette), but I think I may only have room in my heart for one bluenette and Kate didn’t win me over. She kept slipping in and out of a Russian accent and every time she said “Dr. Jones” she became British again.
The opening 45 minutes of the movie were the hardest. Some of the scenes were obviously sets and an overhead shot of ruins made me actually mentally say, “wow, nice model.”
After some growing pains the movie seemed to settle into itself for a while. But as Dave asked, “Can Spielberg not make a movie about aliens?” I found the departure into the rhelm of the x-files to be a little less than satisfying. I kept waiting for Mulder to pop around the corner and whisper into Indy’s ear “The truth is out there.” They left more questions about the aliens than they answered and the left one big question, “Why is Indy searching for aliens?” what happened to the Christian relic quests? or how about any relic?
The final action scene was far too reminiscent of The Last Crusade. The double crosser facing the same predicament, riches or life, and the main bad guy or girl, as the case may be, asking for more than they are humanly capable of handling.
As my friend Jessica said, “After 20 years, I expected better.”
Movie Review |5 Responses to “Indiana Jones and the Forgotten Originality”
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Perhaps we’re all just a little older and wiser! I’m a cheap date for a movie - in other words, a little action, a little humor, a little suspense and I’m good. Great post!
Amen! I knew we have stayed best friends for a reason. Bruce Willis in Die Hard might be the sexiest thing ever and those movies have not lost their ability to entertain years later. I also don’t count the 4th installment of Die Hard as relevent as the earlier trilogy but it was not as disasterous as this last installment of Jones. I can’t find Harrison sexy anymore either, I just can’t. I just don’t get the aliens thing.
You are quoted and you commented! Awesome! I guess similar movie tastes are what happens after….27 (ouch) years of friendship. Have I mentioned how old you are lately and how cool it is that we have known each other 27 years!? =) Love you!
It’s like ‘Highlander’; loved the first movie; everything else from that went to far south, but I feel I have to watch them all just because I loved the first one so much. Kind of like going to your niece’s dance recital every year; you know you are going to be bored to ribbons, but you go to support your family.
Indiana Jones is like that for me. I read somewhere that Spielberg hated the 2nd movie ‘Temple of Doom’ so much, that he made the 3rd ‘The Last Crusade’, as a way of saying “I’m Sorry”. I can only wonder what his next token of apology will be!
Dave heard the same thing about Spielberg.