Indy’s back …

• Posted in At the Movies

Along with the AC crisis of ’08, Wheezley and I managed to make it to the movies for the first time since The Bourne Supremacy came out last year. We watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Warning: there be spoilers ahead.

It sucked.

I didn’t expect it to be great, given what George Lucas did to the Star Wars franchise with the three new movies. But Indy 4 wasn’t anything like the other movies. I liked it even less than Temple of Doom, which was just a strange movie overall.

Why didn’t I like it? Mainly because of the alien angle. One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about the Indy movies is that he’s searching for lost civilizations — people who could have really existed, along with a touch of magic. But aliens? In South America? Ugh.

I get what the filmmakers were trying to do. The movie is set in the ’50s, a time of communism and fears about little green alien men. But aliens have never been a favorite thing of mine. (I like fantasy much better than sci-fi). The movie just didn’t show me anything I hadn’t seen before in the other Indy movies –or even National Treasure. The supporting characters were stereotypes, the action scenes were just okay, and I knew what the dialogue was going to be before the actors said it.

There were a couple of things I enjoyed. The opening 20 minutes where Indy’s fighting bad guys in a warehouse full of weird artifacts was the best part of the whole movie. The first time we see Indy is cool too. His fedora blows out of a car, and you see his shadow pick it up and put it on. Loved that.

Other nice touches were the picture of Indy’s dad and old friend Marcus Brody on his desk. No John Rhys-Davies though. Missed him. And the theme music. Still love the theme music.

But overall, I wished we’d gone to see Iron Man instead. Maybe this weekend …

Anybody else seen Indy 4? What did you think?

8 Responses to “Indy’s back …”

  1. Tia says:

    I found it entertaining, but mostly because of Harrison Ford, not because of the writing. The alien thing weirded me out, too. I wish the legend they had used had been more familiar to an American audience, like the Arc and the Grail was. You don’t require so much backstory, then.

    I found the over-the-top escapes way too over-the-top. The interaction between the characters was amusing, but the ally that turned into a double agent, only to go back to Indy’s side, only to go back to the other side was too hard to keep up with.

    Do see Iron Man. I really enjoyed it.

  2. Jennifer Estep says:

    Yeah, I thought Ford did a good job. But the alien angle did nothing for me. You’re right. A more familiar legend would have been better.

    Yeah, I figured the guy would turn out to be a double agent. And was it just me, or did Cate Blanchett’s character look like Natasha from Rocky & Bullwinkle? I kept waiting for Boris to come on screen and join her.

    Ah, well. At least I can say I’ve seen it now.

  3. Louise B says:

    I saw Indiana Jones, too, and thought it was good, but I made the same comment about the aliens. The movie would have resonated more strongly if they’d used an earth artifact which already had cultural expectations ingrained in the audience.

    By the way, I pointed out to my teenage sons and their friends that the romance was a Harlequin secret baby subplot. Since Harlequin sells so many of these stories, no wonder it was popular in the movie. 🙂

    No one else probably got this, but I think the Indiana Jones writers referenced a New Mexico history book. Of course, there was the Roswell incident, the atomic bomb testing, but did anyone else catch the dialogue line about Pancho Villa’s raid on Columbus, NM? Believe me, New Mexicans still remember it.

    I saw Prince Caspian twice the Sunday it came out and loved it. Of course, I was already pre-disposed to adore it. Everyone tells me Iron Man is good, but I’m not that familiar with the story world so I’ll wait to see it.

    Sincerely,
    Louise B

  4. Jennifer Estep says:

    I would have been fine if they’d just used El Dorado and left the aliens out of it. I guess I was so disappointed because I love the other movies (especially the last one) so much. Sigh.

    It was a secret baby plot! I didn’t even think about that, but it’s so true. :blossom:

    According to my Entertainment Weekly, the Pancho Villa reference was actually referring to the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, a TV series that featured Indy as a young man. One of the episodes had him hanging out with PV.

  5. Chasity says:

    I really wasn’t expecting them to go the Alien route with this one. It made me go, “HUH?”

    Overall though I enjoyed the movie. Han Solo can really pull off Indy.

    Shia Lebouff (spelling???) was great in this one. After watching this, I sat down and watch another of his movies, Disturbia. Which I really enjoyed. That kid can act. And he’s cute 🙂

    My favorite part of this Indy was the line “I have a bad feeling about this.” I giggled for a long while when Indy said that.

    Anyway, we saw this at the drive in. So it’s a 2 for 1 deal. Right after was Iron Man. I took me a “cat” nap for about 15 mins at the beginning because I just couldn’t keep my head up. I really, really enjoyed Iron Man.

    What can I say? I’m a geek.

  6. Jennifer Estep says:

    I thought Harrison Ford was as good as ever — and he looked pretty good too. :buttercup:

    I’d never watched Shia before. He did okay. I didn’t think he (or any of the other actors) had a lot of great dialogue to work with.

    I loved the first scene of the fedora blowing out of the car.

    I want to see Iron Man. I’m also looking forward to Get Smart and The Dark Knight. Hey, don’t feel bad — this is geek central. :joecool:

  7. Louise B says:

    The Pancho Villa reference may have been to the Young Indiana Jones TV show, but it first actually happened in New Mexico. 🙂

    I thought the Shia actor did a decent job. I know I heard a lot of complaints about him before I saw the movie. I don’t follow the Hollywood info dump, so I didn’t know anything about him. He was OK by me. I especially liked how he had to comb his hair with the Russian woman’s sword pointing at him.

    Louise B

  8. Jennifer Estep says:

    Ah, I see.

    The kid was okay. Let’s face it — it’s hard to top Harrison Ford. I thought it was funny when the kid was trying to comb his hair in the crypt, and his hand started shaking because he was so scared.

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