I finally got to see Indiana Jones

[kaliha]

Lots of spoilers behind the cut.

Saw a ton of trailers
Wall-e: really really want to see. It wasn't a trailer as such as a little scene against a white background of Wall-e and a Henry vacuum cleaner. How can they give a box so much character? He looked brilliant!
Prince Caspian: Not going to see it. I was too annoyed by the bad CGI and colour matching in the last film to sit through it again.
Kung Fu Panda: could be fun. I did an actual laugh during the trailer.
Handcock: Sort of want to see it, but probably won't.
Get Smart: Quite want to see that. Did an inadvertent "Yatta!" when I saw Masi Oka. *is so ashamed*
And many, many more. I think we saw 9 trailers in the end. A ridiculous amount so many that I can't remember what else I saw.


There were things I liked, things I hated and the last fifteen to twenty minutes made me go WTF? Please stop George Lucas from ruining our childhoods anymore. Thanks.

Things I liked:
+ The Ark of the Covenant! Although there was a glaring continuity error (unless the warehouse people of Area 51 repackaged it)
+ Shia La Beouf and his brilliant hair. Big fan of the hair.
+ I LOL'ed when we found out he named himself after a dog (although a bit more generically than his dad)
+ Sliding the bikes under the chairs and tables in the library. Win.
+ Cate Blanchett's hair and eyebrows.
+ The quicksand scene. The snake!rope.
+ The picture of Sean Connery on Indy's desk made His Lordship go "JUNIOR!" rather more loudly than he intended much to my amusement
+ Family arguments whilst tied up and in dire trouble.
+ Surprise Jim Robinson!! Something that always fills me with glee. It really does.

- At the start the obvious non-Americans were obvious.
- How cheap did the skull look? It looked like it was filled with crinkly cellophane. Considering it was such an important prop you'd think they'd make it look less cheap.
- All the set-pieces were a few minutes too long. Chop a minute or two out of each of them and they'd be much better.
- Cate Blanchett's psychic powers. Whatever.
- Giant Ants. I hate ants.
- Interdimensional Beings. Oh shut up. What happened to a good old fashioned bit of adventuring? eh? eh?
- The script and the clunky dialogue :(
- Unnecessary CGI.

I can see why George Lucas went with the sci-fi vibe. In the fifties Sci-fi was the big pulp thing (for want of a better term) with loads of ace B-movies being made and lots of new Sci-Fi being written, so it makes sense to advance the pulpy vibe of battling the Nazis in the thirties to battling aliens in the fifties, but it just wasn't well done. Woes. (I'll accept immensely powerful holy relics and invisible bridges, but not aliens??)

I really really wanted to love this film. Sadly I didn't. Maybe it'll grow on me. I'll probably get it on DVD (if only to keep my Indy set complete). And I do feel I'm really looking at the film through the nostalgia of my childhood.

7/10

Comments

[tiggerbrasilf.livejournal.com]

You seen it too? (: I'd agree that its probably not the best and the plot leaves a lot to be desired. He's also looking a little old to be running round like that but still! My inner child still went squee once it stopped worrying about plot (:

[lm-jillybean.livejournal.com]

(I'll accept immensely powerful holy relics and invisible bridges, but not aliens??)

I caught myself doing the same, and thought about it, and then decided I fricking loved the aliens being in it. The whole movie became better for that.

[dune-drd.livejournal.com]

I agree that the 50ies were the best time for alien stories, but why add one to an Indy movie? It could've been insane Russians hunting aliens while Indy found out about some Mayan God. Period. Meh.

[doylefan22.livejournal.com]

I kind of felt like you you the first time I saw it. Just got back from taking my Dad to see it and I came out bloody loving it. I think the first time is a culture shock, what with the aliens and the totally different feel to it, but the second time I went in knowing what to expect and enjoyed it a whole lot more. It somehow felt more Indy. And I picked up on a lot of little things that I missed first time out (like the Marcus painting on the wall outside Indy's classroom).

I love Shia too. I think he had me after the first five minutes of Transformers and I think he did a great job of a potentially difficult character.

And you mean you didn't get The Dark Knight trailer?! Bad cinema! The only thing I would have liked as well was the Hellboy II trailer but 1 out 2 isn't bad.

[khallandra.livejournal.com]

I'm going to see Kung FU Panda mainly cause my boy does Kung Fu and almost jumped out his chair when the Crane appeared.

Also check out esoteric connections that was what this movie was about not aliens. My sister is really big on it so I get lectured a lot. Especially around the number 13, it is a pretty special number, Neferlim is a common name for them ;) And they tend to pop up in fantasy books a bit that are set in 'modern' times (rather than the medieval type fantasy).

[chicklet73.livejournal.com]

Please stop George Lucas from ruining our childhoods anymore. Thanks.

Hee. WELL SAID.