"Welcome back indiana jones..."
After 19 years of reading, and following, and waiting for the next installment of the indiana jones saga, i am happy to say that although the wait was worth it, it was still like going out and buying the car you want, but its not the color that you initially wanted.
I wont reveal spoilers, i think most of us know the premise of the jones story, and many of those elements remain, some are gone, and there are new ones that emerge. It was suprisingly good to see la beef in the film, he didnt necessarily drown indy's role, but was a supporting player (something i thought would get lost in the mix) and karen allen was a welcome face back, but the role was so minimal that i wonder if she only returned for nostalgic reasons only.
As you may or may not know the plot device or artifact if you will is the crystal skulls, that are wanted by the soviets, and although it is more of a surreal prop in the film, i feel that it did not have the same effect as the previous plot devices from the others (although i thought it was much more interesting than the stones in temple of doom) and feel it was a bit overused throughout the film. Although the film was beautifully shot by spielberg and i thought it played well with fords age throughout the film without drowning us with "i am too old for this" type of demeanor.
The script had very few holes, and the end was summed up with a nice bow, but felt the ending was too clean cut to be a fitting ending to this film, or possibly the series. (i still feel last crusade summed it all up nicely at the end)
Although i promised no spoilers, my only hope is that this is not a slap in the face for fans to have the series continue on without indiana. the ending showed that it could very well go any which way... but my hope is that if this is not the end of the series then this wont be the end of indiana either.
HARRISON FORD... the man still knows how to charm the audience... a little more crack to the voice, wrinkles, and lots more grey in the hair, he still has got indiana after 19 years of being out of character. Many complained of his age... that he hasnt had many hits in the past few years... his age... and well his age, but it was good to see him and although his stunts were performed by stuntmen (take most of hollywood no matter the age anyhow for that matter) i really hope his performance shut many of you up.
so overall:
story 3.5: welcome additions, great action, good building of characters, but last 25 minutes seemed a bit out of place for a jones movie.
acting 4: arguments seemed rush and pushed between allen and ford, and ford seemed bored in a few spots
directing 5: what can i say, spielberg served dessert to us, and i was left with only the crumbs.
visuals: action was great, great gag effects, glad the fight in the diner worked much better than in spielbergs "1941", and cgi seemed minimal... thank god lucas did not co direct.
overall 4: welcome addition to the indy saga, but last 25 minutes seemed a bit of a letdown. great movie though, and cannot wait to see it a second time.
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p.s. I must be dumb cause I didn't see aliens coming. Then again I am part Blond. lol.
Now, to my opinion of your review:
I agree with a lot of it. I for one loved the movie (as you may have guessed from reading mine), and being knowledgeable about the Mayans and the Crystal Skulls in advance, I kind of already overly suspected alien involvement in the plot. For if one understands these things, such as how the Mayans are adamant that their gods came from the sky to help them build the pyramids (hence where the inspiration for AVP came from) and how the crystal skulls they had can still NOT be reproduced by any human or machine, then there's more credibility to ET making the skulls than the Mayans. It's like Sala says in "Raiders": "It is not of this earth." Plus the Mayans were the only ones to have the skulls, so the title also hinted at extraterrestrial involvement. But you are right "incmob" in that the climax could've been more similar to the others, and have been more dramatic/action like than it was, but it still measures up to be well worth the wait. Plus you can't make a '50s "B" movie if Indy doesn't age as much, so the time-frame works. I still seem to be the only one overall accepting of the alien part of the plot though, even amongst the supporters of the film.
And I whole heartedly agree about the over useage of the skull. It scared every nonhuman enemy away! That was kind of a cop out. But still okay. Having the brainwashed guy in the film didn't really help as much by the climax, cuz it was more like an escort of the crazy man! Such as when Indy says: "I'll give it back. I promise." lol!
There was a lot of CGI, but if you didn't notice it as much, then that's a compliment to ILM in that they did a good job! I thought it still looked realistic too!
Overall a great review from an Indy fan that is realistic with their expectations after the 19yr hiatus. (Unlike the naysayers whom got to the theater and forgot to check unrealistic expectations at the door. **cough**Filmpro**cough**)
So please, go post a comment on a review that you actually agree with instead of opening your mouth and taking a warm steamy shit on someones "OPINION".
dick.
Please go see the movie before posting a review you copied from a guy who works for Paramount.