Jackablade on 26/5/2008 at 00:54
There can not be a worse review of the film than that. Every character is forgettable except Shia Lebeouf. (and Indy of course).
Scots Taffer on 26/5/2008 at 01:00
I'm not walking in expecting the holy grail (heh) of cinema, I'm not even expecting anything amazing... for the record, I believe the Indiana Jones movies have each been a lesser version of the other and my preference for the movies is as they were released. I don't see that changing, but if I don't have any fun - like many of you are suggesting I won't - then that makes me worried. Indy has always been fun.
Raiders is simply unattainable brilliance, lightning in a bottle, Spielberg and Lucas at the top of their games working with an actor who just owned a role right down to the ground, perfect pacing, characters, script and choreography. It's one of the best movies ever made and I'm glad I got to catch it in the cinema a few years back.
Doom was over the top and ridiculous fun, people label it as the "darker" outing, which is true to a certain extent (child slavery, a heart-eating cult and Indy's black turn) but it's also bursting with humour, energy and excellent set pieces. Yes, Capshaw is a screechy bitch, but she's decent eye candy and damsell in distress fodder which was new to the series (Marion was anyhing but that).
Crusade is the weakest for me because of the villains and the set-up, plus it denigrates two solid supporting characters (Brody and Sallah), but makes up for it with Connery and the Nazis. The best moments are the two Joneses together and the rest of the movie is pretty flat, except for the absolutely sublime intro. RIP River. :(
I'm expecting Kingdom to be the weakest again, with a lower than average (for Indy) script but trying to make up for the Joneses dynamic of Crusade with the Indy-Mutt dynamic and set pieces to pick up again a little (Crusade was a bit weak, but these ones will have an overreliance on CG) - but the thing that keeps it "fun" is always Indy. If Ford sells me on an old Indy in the 50s, the plot has always been extraneous so ancient Incan civilisations or Area 51 aliens don't really affect my enjoyment. However, I will state for the record that I would've preferred they kept it mythical - though in terms of the tone and intention of the series, it makes sense for sci-fi in a 50s serial homage.
If anything, my only regret for this fourth outing is that Lucas didn't take Darabont's script - I never read it, but it was supposed to be stellar.
Fafhrd on 26/5/2008 at 01:08
I certainly had fun, it's a solid action/adventure movie, it's just kind of sub-par for an Indiana Jones movie. If you have any intention of seeing it ever, see it theatrically, in a crowded theatre. I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much if I hadn't experienced it in a mostly packed theatre with an audience that was eating it up. I probably won't see it a second time, but I'll be picking up the box set of all four movies when it inevitably comes out.
Angel Dust on 26/5/2008 at 01:15
The audience I saw it with was very unresponsive. Many of the gags fell flat and the mood as the credits rolled was pretty icy.
Stitch on 26/5/2008 at 03:00
Just saw it in a packed theater that was absolutely loving it. People were fucking clapping during certain scenes, for god's sake.
Not all of it worked--Fafhrd is pretty spot on in his assessment--but overall I had an enormous grin on my face the entire time.
BEAR on 26/5/2008 at 03:04
So basically what it sounds like is it cant really stand on its own merit. I can only enjoy it if I was already enjoying it just because of the atmosphere where I would enjoy anything? I'm not going to argue its merits, if you liked it I'm glad but my faith in humanity lowers day by day (don't take that too seriously, my world view is not that impacted by this movie its just a figure of speech).
Stitch on 26/5/2008 at 03:11
Quote Posted by BEAR
So basically what it sounds like is it cant really stand on its own merit.
No, I just enjoyed the shit out of the movie. It's a fun Indiana Jones film, with pretty much the same pluses and minuses as every other movie in the series.
I understand you think differently and are wandering around your house bumping into things.
Good luck with that.
Edit: Also, I liked the sci-fi macguffin. It's one of the few new ideas this movie introduced into the series, and it was handled in an unmistakably Indiana Jones manner.
Ko0K on 26/5/2008 at 03:48
Reviews this mixed could only mean one thing: Be your own critic.
rachel on 26/5/2008 at 09:37
Quote Posted by BEAR
God, that was so terrible I am physically sick. I've been wandering around the house bumping into things, I hardly know where I am. I need to eat but I don't think I can even drive. I don't even deserve to eat having paid money for that.
Every second of that movie was torture, I wanted to walk out but I kept thinking that it might get better. It never did, IT NEVER DID! The overall storyline was OK at best but the implementation was just mind-bogglingly bad.
I feel like I need to convince myself that they all died in the end to be able to go on with my life.
Ughng....I actually have a bad taste in my mouth.
I couldn't be drunk or stoned enough to enjoy this. Anyone with a soul
do not see this, just forget it ever happened.
Bullshit.
I try not to comment on reviews because hey, to each his own, but this is just grotesque. You must have had pathologically high expectations if you really feel that way about KotCS. I'm not saying it's Oscar-worthy, far from it, and you have every right not to like it, but jesus going that far on the negative scale is just ridiculous.
Morte on 26/5/2008 at 10:47
Yeah, let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's a terrible Indy movie and simply not any good, but not a crime against cinema on the level of say, the third Pirates movie.
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
I'm not walking in expecting the holy grail (heh) of cinema, I'm not even expecting anything amazing... for the record, I believe the Indiana Jones movies have each been a lesser version of the other and my preference for the movies is as they were released. I don't see that changing, but if I don't have any fun - like many of you are suggesting I won't - then that makes me worried. Indy has always been fun.
Raiders is simply unattainable brilliance, lightning in a bottle, Spielberg and Lucas at the top of their games working with an actor who just owned a role right down to the ground, perfect pacing, characters, script and choreography. It's one of the best movies ever made and I'm glad I got to catch it in the cinema a few years back.
Doom was over the top and ridiculous fun, people label it as the "darker" outing, which is true to a certain extent (child slavery, a heart-eating cult and Indy's black turn) but it's also bursting with humour, energy and excellent set pieces. Yes, Capshaw is a screechy bitch, but she's decent eye candy and damsell in distress fodder which was new to the series (Marion was anyhing but that).
Crusade is the weakest for me because of the villains and the set-up, plus it denigrates two solid supporting characters (Brody and Sallah), but makes up for it with Connery and the Nazis. The best moments are the two Joneses together and the rest of the movie is pretty flat, except for the absolutely sublime intro. RIP River. :(
I'd have disagreed quite vehemently on that, but after watching all the Indy movies again this weekend I'm sort of coming around to that point of view. Doom still sags in the middle, and the Willie Scott/Short Round combo is annoying as hell (*Willie shrieks at animal, Short Round points and goes "Haha, you funny rady!", I scream and throw stuff at the screen*) and leads to ill-fitting broad comedy that doesn't go with the darker tone at all. But that opening in Shanghai and subsequent para-rafting is still killer, and the end is pretty breakneck as well. But despite its numerous flaws, it's its own movie. Last Crusade is a pale, fatuous retread of Raiders, that sabotages most recurring characters, and doesn't hold up very well to repeat viewings.
The best description of Crystal Skull is probably an extremely pale xerox of Last Crusade, made by the director that thought it was a good idea to replace guns with walkie-talkies in ET.
