Saw Indy Jones 4 today...it ain't no Iron Man!

I went to a midnight show and saw this last night.

I was very unimpressed. I'd give it two stars, I guess, mostly for special effects and nostalgia for the characters. But overall it sucked ass.

The aliens idea was stupid, the plot was thin, and the crazy guy who was mesmerized by the skull -- WTF? Really all I can say about that. Basically a retread of the prior movies, without the same charm.

 

I am becoming more and more pleased with my decision to pass on this movie until it makes it to cable.

Bring on the Dark Knight!

 

Yes, I saw it as well late last night. Was it fun and entertaining? yes. But the storyline was so ridiculous I was laughing at the end. And I agree ...Bring on the Dark Knight.

 

My now late grandfather fought in World War II.

My dad and his siblings encouraged him to see Saving Private Ryan.

He didn't like it, he especially didn't like the end. From what I remember my dad telling me, he thought it turned the sacrifices he and his buddies into a cheap movie moment.

I cried when I first saw it, but I see both sides. Diff'rent strokes, etc. ...

 

I enjoyed it for the most part. It's no flop and nowhere near Phantom Menace.
It's not horrible, the worst movie ever, blah, blah, blah.
The end with the alien/different dimension dudes was weak. The action was fun. It was everything I expected through most of the film.
Formulaic? Of course. What did you expect?

 

Critics have been easy on this film. They're giving it a major pass.

The filmmakers made Indiana Jones predictable and meek.

SPOILERS BELOW (seriously, I'm gonna spoil the whole damn film)









































- It wasn't the plotline, the MacGuffin. It was the execution. Were they trying to convey not only an Indiana Jones who completely lost his mojo, but who was willing to help the Soviets just to stay alive? And if he completely lost his mojo, couldn't we have had a line or two of dialogue explaining WHY and HOW?
- The less said about the prairie dogs at the start, the better. I'm on record as having enjoyed Phantom menace (because the non-Jar Jar stuff was very good), but the handling of animals in this film was like ILM wanted to show off, and said, "Hey, let's go back to the childish tone that turned so many people off from Phantom menace!"
- That crate at the beginning was selectively magnetic. The dudes carrying it had no issues with it pulling their guns from their backs, but they walked by dudes with weapons, and they were all pulled toward the crate? A detail Lucas and Spielberg used to think of in their sleep.
- The beginning sequence worked for the most part, even the end of it (WHY was the TV on?). In the late 1950s, aliens and nukes were the big "we gotta save the world from these things!" topics in movies. But the beginning also showed an Indiana Jones that seemed to have no problem helping the bad guys, since his plan in the end seemed to be "escape by punching someone in the face."
- I decided I was on board during the scene when Indy had to look into the eyes of the skull. Every fantasy flick has moments that ask you to suspend disbelief, that ask "are you in, or out?!" I realized at that point that they were going through with this 1950s sci-fi homage of an alien connection, and decided I had no problem with that, since how is that honestly any different than chasing artifacts that are powerful based on religious faith?
- Of course, then Indy again shows just how happy he is to help the bad guys, and instead of the scene paying off with him mistranslating John Hurt's drawings to put the Soviets on the wrong path, it turns into an escape. WHICH INDY THEN SPENDS THE WHOLE TIME BITCHING ABOUT. So what was the plan, Indy? Help the Soviets find this temple, then hope they don't shoot you?
- The son was the easy cliche. Superman showed the folly of it two years ago, and Spielberg and Lucas went to it anyway. Though the "he's your son!" reveal was handled in a nice, entertaining way, that scene looked like it was filmed on one of the sets left over from Land of the Lost.
- Funny lines from Indy after finding out he was the dad (and if you saw it in Chicago, and you heard some a-hole yell out "SHOCKING!!!!!!!" at the big reveal, that was me. Sorry).
- The swordfight on the back of the cars was a great idea. And in the execution, it looked like it was drawn up on a computer. Did you ever see swords actually hit each other? I started to get nervous when they actually showed him between cars and a plant almost hit him. But they dodged that bullet . . .then he got hit. In the nuts. By a CGI plant. Heehee, I'm 12, how funny.
- Shia (who did a nice job with the material he had) then ends up doing the Tarzan thing, while a legion of CGI monkeys helps him by attacking the bad guys! Yay! They must want the good guys to find the temple!!!!!
- I did like Cate Blanchett's bad guy. Would have liked to see more character than just a hinting at psychic powers, which we of course never really heard about again. Kind of like Indy's trouble with the government. he goes from being on the watch list to being named associate dean, while the dean also got his job back! YAY!!!!!! And the wedding ties it all up with a nice little bow!!!!!
- Wouldn't have minded a line of dialogue that explained why Blanchett's character would go from Soviet soldier to "obsessed enough with knowledge that she forgets everything but the skull aliens in the moment of truth". You know, something about how this search has become her personal obsession. Otherwise, it was a nice deus ex machina to get rid of her.
- "The skulls all work together with one mind." Yes, and if you're not careful, you will be assimilated by the beastie with the head of Alien and the face of Close Encounters of the third kind. (the look was another 1950s homage, so I can live with it).
- Liked the last shot. The whole theater groaned as Shia pickedup the hat. And in a better movie, would have cheered when Indy grabbed it from him. Instead, it was just a sigh of relief.
- People have talked about the cinematography. The movie looked like it was filmed on sets and green screens. Fine for films set in space. Bad for movies that have a root in the real world.
- John williams' music. The man's last very good score, two hours of almost all brand-new music, was Phantom Menace (which helped save that movie for me). It's easy to say "it's just music," but I think Indiana Jones, like Star Wars, has music that lifts the entire proceedings past B-movie scripts and cheesy, archetypal characters, to something special. And starting with Attack of the Clones, the man has been lazy and repetitive for these franchises. The part that really pissed me off was the end of this film, when I heard the Holy Grail music from Last Crusade over the final lines of dialogue in South America. See, I'm one of those dorks who buys the soundtracks, who enjoys the movie music. I'm someone who saw Williams in concert at Hollywood Bowl conducting these great songs. I'm a total movie music nerdboy. So when a brand-new Indiana Jones film comes out, and the music waffles between repeating old themes and completely unmemorable new ones . . . let's just say that the music failed to add to, much less lift, the proceedings. I know that oftentimes music is the filmmaker's prerogative (Lucas screwed williams on the final battle music for attack of the clones), but Williams really fell asleep on this one.
- That all said, I'll see it again, just to see if my initial reactions were correct. And hey, I have nephews.

I know, I know. "It's only a movie!!!!" Yup. And people still bitch about Phantom Menace, don't they? This film was as bad as people said the Star wars prequels were.

 

Saw it last night. Don't have time to dissect it right now, but Piotr makes an awful lot of good points. I'll get back to it later.

 

Flop, floppity, flop, flop.

 

Haven't seen it.
Enjoyed the first movie when I was a kid.
The second one stunk, and I was a kid when I saw it.
Never watched the third.
Have no interest in this one, but I may be forced to see it.

 

That should be:
Floppity flop flop
Floppy flop
Floppity flop flop
Floppy flop flop flop

 

I don't need no stinkin' trained chimp with a keyboard to tell me what to post.

 

Just to be clear, I have had no training.