what what what???

 

 

Did not work this afternoon and went to watch it. I was not disappointed. The monkeys and Tarzan scene had me rolling my eyes but, all in all, a pretty good movie.

 

If you go into this movie with no expectations, you will love it.

I mean seriously... the 3rd movie was a 'let's being back the old guy with another old guy and try to close out the series with class' and this movie at the onset is basically *THE EXACT SAME FRAMEWORK*

But guess what? a movie that should have been terrible was pretty good. Being a period piece really helps because it fleshes out another 20-some years of Indiana's life as most was pre-WW2.

The beginning 'shenanigans' that he always is in the middle of was good. The middle was good and the end was fine. Action was good. If you don't expect anything, it is good.

 

Just got back from it.

I went in with an open mind and low expectations. I wanted to like it. I really really really wanted to like it.

This is by far my least favorite out of the four movies.

The action was good. The directing was good.

The story was crap. Way to go Lucas, you're 0-4 for your last four movies.

That is all.

 

That seems to be the norm on IMDB - anyone that doesn't like it puts all the blame on Lucas. Easy target.

 

Well, he wrote it. So yeah, I do blame him.

Like I said, the directing and visuals were good. Story was crap. I guess I should be fair and include Koepp as well for the screenplay.

 

QFT! I went with my family, and ALL OF US felt disappointed.

Before seeing this, I had actually re-watched all 3 films the previous day to grasp a good feel and style for the film series, this helped me greatly in determining my overall opinion of this 4th film.

Now, we all went in with the mentality of seeing a movie, and nothing else, and we all had no expectations, but this film was lacking in some regards.

Listen, they got a lot of stuff right. Indy himself, snakes, the new bad guys. Pretty much everything. And it all seemed great.

UNTIL THE MONKEYS.

Then it all went downhill from there. Oh God did it take a nosedive.

Like Razerwire, I really really REALLY wanted to like this film. But it just didn't happen...And now I'm sad. 

My main issues with the film were: *WARNING SPOILERS* Highlight to read!

1.-THE MONKEY SCENE WITH MUTT.
This is when the movie became REALLY REALLY over-the-top and downright ridiculous. The prairie dogs and fridge scene is NOTHING when compared to this. Mutt swinging from vive to vine like friggin' Tarzan just killed it for me. And it only goes downhill from there.

2.-CGI made it look fake, really fake.
At times I felt I was watching live actors that were cut-and-pasted into a friggin' early Pixar film. It's INDY for Pete's sake! Spielberg and Lucas could have at least made a better effort. When seeing IRON MAN and TRANSFORMERS cgi work, and them seeing this, you can really tell the cgi was lacking. We're talking like Nicholas Cage "NEXT" lacking. Scenes of noting are the fridge flying scene, jungle chase, monkey scene, crash into ant field, ants, obelisk, crystal skeleton chamber, Irina Spalko and the alien, ufo/temple destruction.

3.-The other "over-the-top" scenes.
Remember the raft scene from Temple of Doom? Y'know the one where they use it as a parachute to escape a plane and then manage to hover it so they somehow land easily onto a raging river? Yeah...Talking about the fridge scene, monkey mutt Tarzan scene, Russian jeep crashing on top of Indy's jeep in the ant field scene, ant attack scene, ufo/temple destruction scene.

4.-NO GRUESOME DEATHS!
The Russian soldiers in the ant field were just covered, no blood, no being devoured into skeletons, no nothing. And for an Indy film and it's main villains, Spalko's death scene was so weak. she gets vaporized? or disintegrated? Nothing extreme when compared to the deaths in raiders or last crusade. Hell, Mola Ram's death was better than this. At least in the last 3 we saw them die, painfully.

5.-Indy gets his ass handed to him. A lot.
Sure he gets the jump on the Russians early on, but once it hits jungle, he becomes a 66 year old punching bag for the Russians. In absence of Indy's ass-kicking heroics, Mac becomes Indy's bitch.

6.-Whip was not used much in combat.
Sure he used it to get around and pull some swinging feats at the warehouse, but as far as strangling enemies (Temple of Doom) or whipping the guns out of peoples hands (Last Crusade), it just wasn't there.

7.-Mac, make up your frigging mind!
First he's on Indy's side, then he double crosses him for the sake of gaining some treasure to remember this adventure by, then he becomes an ally again (in Berlin during WW2 they worked as double agents against Germany), and then he decides to fuck Indy over 1 more time in the chamber of the crystal skeletons, only to then be on good terms again while he grabs some loot from the temple while they make their escape, and decides to stay and be transported to another dimension so he can be with all the ancient treasures. He's basically a male version of Elsa from Last Crusade, but we never really know what ends up happening to him.

8.-The amphibious jeep...
falling off the cliff, onto the tree, only to be lowered down safely into the river, and then having the tree conveniently recoil back and smack the Russian guards off of the the rock face.

9.-3 DROPS!
Okay, so first they drop, AND THEY MANAGE TO ALL STAY IN THE VEHICLE! THAT EVEN HAS A BUSTED GLASS WINDSHIELD STICKING UP! You'd at least expect one of them to get injured, decapitated at worst.
Then they drop a second time, AND THE SAME THING HAPPENS!

Here's one BIG argument point of mine that for everyone's sake, I will not hide...completely. IF YOU'VE SEEN THE FILM, READ IT AND TELL ME IF YOU AGREE!

So then, they fall for the third and final time. AND FINALLY all of them have fallen out of the amphibious jeep, and be scrambling to get back in. ON THE THIRD DROP? REALLY LUCAS? REALLY?

10.-The crystal skull(s) itself seemed more like a component to a larger machine and less like an artifact of immense power, as the Russians believed.
Unlike the Ark, which can be used to unleash dead souls, melt your face, shrink your head, blow you up, open up the heavens, cast the land in darkness, and suck you into a place only God knows where,
-or-
The Holy Grail which if not chosen wisely can return you to dust, the Crystal Skull itself did not seem all that threatening, until you returned it. Sure it could drive you mad if you stared into it's eyes, until you returned it.
Which then really just brings the whole threat level down on it.
Yes, if used correctly, the Ark can cause massive destruction and destroy entire armies. And you'll be a-okay as long as you don't look at it, the worst you'll only suffer is minor burns from the hot air.
And if you choose the correct Holy Grail, you will be healed from wounds. You can also be granted eternal life, but just as long as you don't go past or bring the cup past the great seal. Bummer.
The power to destroy armies and the power of eternal life.
The Crystal Skull, on the other hand grants knowledge. But we are never sure if this knowledge is truly something that can benefit you. Spalko is seemingly killed when in the process of attaining this "knowledge" so we are never really sure if it has a benefit. Then again, she could have been teleported to the other dimension through some weird-assed way of being vaporized painfully. Who knows.
Another theory about this "Knowledge" is that it is the knowledge and life experience that Indy and Co. gain from their great adventures to return the Crystal Skull.
Overall, the crystal skulls seemed like a weak artifact when compared to the Ark and Holy Grail. I'd place them more on par with the Sankara Stones from Temple of Doom. The Sankara Stones granted the possessor mystical powers and strengths to possibly rule the world with (IF they collected all 5 Sankara Stones). The only consequence the stones had for the user was the possibility of becoming red hot and burning you if their magic was turned against you.

Thats all my main points so far, I'll try to remember more later on.

My newspaper critic gave this film 5 stars out of 5.

But for being a long time Indy fan, and having re-watched all 3 films the day before to grasp a good feel and style for the film series, I felt this one deserved a 3.5-4 star rating AT BEST. And I'm being generous with that rating. I was originally going to give it a 3-3.5 stars.

To sum it all up in one quote:

 

I just back from watching and all I can think is....WHY DID THEY WAIT SO LONG TO MAKE ANOTHER INDY MOVIE? Don't get me wrong, Ford is great but even Indy seems to kinda stroll through this luke warm adventure. I was more interested in learning more about Indy getting war medals and the double agent mission in Berlin than the Russians wanting the Crystal Skull. I know another Nazi movie would have been repetitive, but why hold out from making another Indy movie for a sci-fi plot?

My biggest complaint is that the movie did not open with Indy wrapping up on a smaller adventure. I understand if they wanted get the Russian cold war theme established but it never really materialized for me. To be honest the FBI seemed more threating!

I watched Justice League: New Frontier earlier this year and Indy 4 made me think of it. Indy going from Golden Age to Silver Age. After the nuclear bomb went off, I knew this would not be a great movie and just a good movie. Since we have waited 19 years for a worthy script I knew it would not be as original as Lost Ark, but I was hoping it would be as entertaining as Holy Grail.

Go see this movie if you are in Indy fan, otherwise you can wait for the DVD. The actors are great and if Shia takes over, his Mutt character seems capable. But there is really no reason you have to see it on the big screen.

I have 2 questions for anyone that saw the movie...

1) When Indy and Mutt create the diversion in the college cafe to escape the Russians, does Indy put his hat on someone else and run out? If so, wtf?
2) When Marion is driving the duck in the jungle, something smacks the windshield and her head. Does she get knocked out temporarily?

 

I liked it. Not love, liked. Same issues as everyone else- Jungle Hunt (LOL), 3 drops, aliens from 'another dimension' rather than just plain ol' space aliens. You know what would've been cooler? If they were time travelers far from our own future on an archaeological expedition that got trapped here, which would explain the cave of wonders.

 

Now that I had a chance to think more thoroughly about it, I think I've pinpointed why I dislike this installment.

The first three were about archaeology and the adventure and mystical elements attached to it. This one turned out to be a sci-fi flick about aliens.

Granted there was always suspicion about aliens coming in the past, but there has GOT to be other topics out there that could've been used. Like Atlantis.

Yeah it was a time piece with the whole Roswell/Area 51 thing. But man, it just isn't sitting well with me.

 

Here's an idea for the next two: (yeah they wanna make 2 more)

Indiana Jones: and the Spear of Destiny. (Wolfenstein baby!) <-Could work as his past mission with Mac in Berlin. Hey, Temple of Doom was a Prequel to Raiders!

Indiana Jones: and the Realm of Guardians. (Valhalla) We had Egypt, Southern America, India, Middle East, why not more of Europe?

Other ideas:

Indiana Jones: and the Seas of Darkness (Bermuda Triangle)

Indiana Jones: and the Golden Dragon (Oriental? Asian?)

Indiana Jones: and the Sword of Kings (Excalibur)

 

they already did Indy finding Atlantis  

 

this is gonna sound rude, but you have no idea how Lucas and Spielberg do movies together.

since your main gripe is the scifi aspect, I can assure you that if Spielberg thought it was gonna be lame, he wouldve let Lucas know from the get go. I am pretty sure they go over the treatment together, the distinction between director n writer is just on paper only. thats the kind of relationship these guys have.

 

*** SPOILERS***




My biggest gripe is that we knew it was Aliens from the start. Why did they have to show an alien body in the 1st ten minutes, cuz then all the other clues just seemed pointless. And monkey scene was ridiculous, ONE SWING PEOPLE...... same scene, same premise, but make it ONE FREAKIN SWING. Then it could have been a happy accident instead of looking like Mutt was part chimp, and somehow covers more ground than cars speeding through the jungle by swinging on vines.

 

I actually don't mind the sci fi aspect in that we get to see Indy outside of his element. He doubted the relationship of the skull to little green aliens, and he was wrong about it. It's nice to see him being welcomed to a world they he never really dealt with.

I don't want them all to be Sci Fi, but when I found out that the story dealt with roswell, I was pretty excited about that. i wanted to know what the world of Indiana Jones was going to do with that story.

 

I saw it last night, I liked it to an extent, but it wasn't great. It definately didn't have the old school feel to it.

 

It was meh. I need to see it one more time before giving its' final ranking among the 4. Right now it's in 3rd or 4th place. Marion Ravenwood/Karen Allen saved the whole movie. Thank god she was in it. They could have easily replaced her character with a former, random, Indy fling, then MAN would it have been a shitsy movie.

 

[1) When Indy and Mutt create the diversion in the college cafe to escape the Russians, does Indy put his hat on someone else and run out? If so, wtf?

If I remember correctly it wasn't THE hat that he put on the kid.