Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
May 23, 2008
I thought there was an advance showing for Indiana Jones on Wednesday night, but it turned out I read the paper wrong, and it meant Thursday at noon. This was akin to telling a six year old that tomorrow is Christmas, only to break it to them in the morning that Christmas is actually the next day, and they aren’t getting any presents. And you hate them.
So after crying myself to sleep, and pouting all day at work on Thursday, I finally got to see it last night. Indiana Jones is basically my personal Jesus, so this was a big event for me.
I have mixed feelings about the movie. A lot of the writing was awkward, too much CGI was used for my liking, I wasn’t really feeling the science fiction angle, and there were some incredibly cringe-worthy moments. I don’t want to spoil anything, but you’ll know the parts I’m talking about when you see it; they have George Lucas written all over them.
Despite its shortcomings, I still really enjoyed myself. Although, if the movie was an hour and a half of Indiana Jones putting on his hat from different camera angles, I would probably still buy the DVD, so I might not be the best critic in this case. Once I would have been outraged, and felt they desecrated my all-time favourite trilogy, if they brought out a fourth installment that wasn’t amazing, but now I can see it as just being a chance to revisit old characters without it tarnishing the memories of the original.
You should see it if you’re an Indy fan. I may have to go watch Raiders of the Lost Ark now.
Hmm, I’ve been reading the reviews for this and still haven’t made up my mind whether to see it or not. I love Indy but I can’t bear the thought of an Indy that just isn’t up to scratch - I’m inclined to think I’d rather remember the series the way it was… Then again, maybe I’ll just wait for it to come out on DVD, hire it and then decide if I “must have it”!
Comment by Absolute Vanilla (and Atyllah) — May 25, 2008 @ 8:19 am
From what I heard the kiss of death was Spielburg giving in and letting his pal George Lucas write the screenplay. At one point M. Night Shyamalan wrote a draft, how different a movie would that have been?
Comment by Chris — May 25, 2008 @ 1:18 pm
I’ll probably be disappointed, but we’re going to see it anyhow. One of my wife’s favorite movies of all time is The Last Crusade. We own all three on DVD. Can we please take the pen away from Lucas now? Please?
Comment by strugglingwriter — May 27, 2008 @ 7:13 am
If you can’t bear the thought of a sub-par Indy film, Vanilla, I’d probably stay away from this one. While I enjoyed myself, it definitely doesn’t stand up to the originals.
A Shyamalan Indiana Jones, I can’t really imagine it. I’d take a wild guess and say there would be a surprise ending, though…
I also wish Lucas would stop writing, Writer. He’s completely lost the touch these days.
Comment by Rob — May 28, 2008 @ 10:49 pm
Hmm, I have very fond memories of the original Indy movies and I was kinda look forward to this, but I’ve also read reviews and I think I’ll wait for DVD. As far as Lucas is concerned, the only good thing that man has done in his life is come up with the concept for Star Wars. He should NOT be let near a pen OR a video camera as he can’t direct his way out of a paper bag. As you can tell, I am not a fan of that man as everything he touches personally turns to shit as far as movie go… including Star Wars to an extent. Am I the only one that noticed how much better SW got when he was removed as director? I didn’t think so.
Comment by Tiffany — May 31, 2008 @ 9:00 pm
He’s absolutely terrible, yeah. If they decide to carry on with more Indiana Jones’, I really hope they find a real writer.
Comment by Rob — June 1, 2008 @ 11:33 pm