Post A Reply
my profile
|
directory
login
|
search
|
faq
|
forum home
»
Flare Sci-Fi Forums
»
Sci-Fi
»
General Sci-Fi
»
$$ Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull $$
» Post A Reply
Post A Reply
Login Name:
Password:
Message:
HTML is enabled.
UBB Code™ is enabled.
[QUOTE]Originally posted by The Mighty Monkey of Mim: [QB] [b]$$$ IN THIS ONE![/b] Ok, now back from seeing it a second time! Various comments as they come to me: -- Conceptually, the whole 1950s Red Scare flying saucer sci-fi thing works really well. This was the natural territory to take these characters into from the 1930s pulp fiction Nazi-fighting of the originals. Stuff like "I like Ike" is priceless. -- The opening credit sequence really put me in the headspace that I needed to be in to fully enjoy the movie. This means, of course, that it does its job. I'm talking primarily about the motorcade with the kids in the roadster; breaking into the base and finding the box were good, the subsequent action felt a little forced. -- I love the idea of the nuclear test, though the refrigerator thing tugged pretty hard on my suspension of disbelief. -- Cate Blanchett is great as the appropriately stereotypical heavy. The whole psychic warfare as part of the arms race thing is perfect for the material. -- Harrison Ford has still got it. He looks fantastic and acts the part as easily as if the intervening two decades were just a week off work. Karen Allen...not so much. -- The first sequence at the college felt too repetetive to me (I actually thought the same thing about the one in [i]Last Crusade[/i] as well) but most others seemed to enjoy it for that same reason. I suppose it's sort of like the "M's Office" scenes in all the James Bond movies. -- Shia LaBeouf played his part wonderfully. I have no interest in him being "all the rage" these days or anything like that. I went in with no baggage attached, no active like or dislike of him as an actor, though I was somewhat skeptical of the casting. I honestly thought he did really well. -- The malt shop brawl and ensuing chase comprised the best action sequence in the film. Very cool, very believable. Real stunts done well. -- Geroge Lucas' interest in real archaeology and mythology showed strongly in the story, which I dig. (No pun intended! :p ) Tying together the crystal skulls, El Dorado, Peruvian mummies, the Nazca lines, Roswell and Area 51, and everything else made for a highly interesting and entertaining story, especially if you already know some Meso-American history. Not that it's anything that no one thought of before, (Erich von Däniken, anyone?) but still perfect as a vehicle for Indiana Jones. -- As I said before, I would probably have personally preferred a movie that was a little less overtly referential to what had come before. Having said that, I was gratified to see that as long as it was going to be that kind of film, they included a small nod to the [i]Young Indiana Jones[/i] series. I watched that show when I was a kid and have recently been rewatching it in its modified DVD format. It provided much interesting backstory for the character. -- I don't think I quite got what was up with those wild men at the cemetary. Come to think of it, I don't think I quite got what was up with all the angry natives who came out of the walls towards the end, either. -- Marion's introduction didn't gel for me, but the sand pit scene made up for it pretty quickly. From that point onwards, it was mostly smooth sailing on that front. Perhaps the truck scene was a little talky, too. -- Sand pit scene: classic! Comic relief has always been something these movies have used to great effect. -- I can't understand why contradictory pre-release publicity regarding Mutt's relationship to Indy was deemed necessary. I was glad that it was a straightforward scenario presented in the film, but the fact that they seem to have actively tried to build up/confuse people's expectations of something more complex made it's straightforwardness initially distracting. Not the film's fault, just a poor marketing strategy. -- Seriously, WTF is up with all the CGI animals in this film? :confused: :mad: -- The very long chase sequence through the jungle had distinct high and low points. It could easily have been shorter. Mutt's swordfight and swing with the monkeys were wholly excessive IMO. The way they ultimately got into the water presented another challenge to my suspension of disbelief. -- Not a problem unique to this film by any means, but all the massive and elaborate mechanisms incorporated into the ancient architecture bother me a lot. While visually impressive, they are extremely unrealistic. How the hell did the designers ever intend them to be reset? Even if they were only intended to be used once, surely they must have needed to be tested? Very hard to accept as real, practical devices. -- I didn't really care about Ray Winstone's character enough to feel that the drama of his demise was warranted. I'd have preferred Cate Blanchett's ordeal to have been extended/expanded to fill that time. I'd also have liked more explication about the aliens. -- The flying saucer was cool, although one questions why such a vessel is necessary for interdimensional rather than interstellar travel. -- "Not into space! Into the space between spaces!" was pretty cringeworthy. -- The first time around, the wedding scene seemed a little off or out of place or [i]something[/i] to me. I didn't have that reaction on second viewing. The hat blowing over to Shia had me about to roll my eyes, but Indy's interception was the perfect antidote. Obviously, it was a very deliberately designed ending, but it worked. Overall, the interaction between Indy and Mutt was consitently the best part of this movie. I'll definitely be seeing it at least one more time before it leaves theaters. Maybe a few more. I like Indiana Jones a lot. More than SW, even more than a generous portion of Trek. This one is very much worthwhile to have, though it could certainly have been better and may suffer from a few more flaws and excesses than its predecessors. -[b]MMoM[/b] :D [/QB][/QUOTE]
Instant Graemlins
Instant UBB Code™
What is UBB Code™?
Options
Disable Graemlins in this post.
*** Click here to review this topic. ***
© 1999-2024 Charles Capps
Powered by UBB.classic™ 6.7.3