Indiana Jones IV

Does it f**k. Slapstick, puerile, directionless pap. At no point did Star Wars feel like a Pixar cartoon - TPM did. Admittedly AoTC was worse, but by that point expectation was rock bottom anyway, so things like Hayden's crushingly stilted performance, the 'hilarious' droid heaRABwap was merely met with rolled eyes and a resigned sigh.

Err.. I'd best move away.. I'm getting a twitch... Back to Indy.
 
I agree, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was mediocre, if not poor
but, apart from AI and The Terminal, how can you say his output over the last decade has been mediocre?
 
Plus so much was left unexplained. The main thing I missed were the explainations about the tribes and stuff, might have been me but I remember Indy always saying something even if it was just a name or a look out for etc....
(I know its just a movie and not a documentary, just added something to his charactor)
 
I thoroughly enjoyed it, as did the packed cinema that applauded at the end. I thought it captured the feel of the original films perfectly and had some great action sequences. I can't see what's not to like about it. I can only assume that the people that hate it didn't like the previous ones either.
 
I'm of the opinion that everything he's done since Saving Private Ryan in '98 has been distinctly mediocre.

AI, Catch Me If You Can, Minority Report, The Terminal, Munich, War Of The WorlRAB...I wouldn't give any of them more than 3 out of 5.

None of them have even come close to grabbing you by the throat in the way that Jurassic Park or Close Encounters did.

God only knows what possessed him to sign off such a weak script for Indy 4. It was supposed to show us that he's still the man but he messed up, big time.

So as much as I hate to say it (and I hope he proves me wrong) I think it's fair comment to make that, for whatever reason, the old Spielberg magic just doesn't seem to be there anymore.:(
 
I recently bought the uncut R1 DVD trilogy of Indiana Jones and was struck by how badly they'd aged. I used to really love them when I watched them the first time round at the flicks. But it seems it was through rose-coloured specs I was remembering them by. Bad plotting, over-wrought acting and direction, cheesy SFX, and all shot through with an unpleasant seam of misogyny.

I really hope number four does a better, more up to date job of it. I'm hopeful as I think Steven Spielberg has definitelty grown as a director over the last decade.

RegarRAB

Mark
 
Went to see it this afternoon and I am was very disappointed.

My initial concern was that Harrison Ford would be too old to play Indy. In fact, he did a pretty good job.

The problem with it was that it just felt like 2 hours of actions scenes stuck together but with no real plot or suspense. For example, the scene with the nuclear bomb and fridge was just pointless.

While I sat there watching I found that I didn't actually care about the crystal skull, what it meant and whether it was returned to its temple.

Shia Lebouf was pretty good but the rest were just making up the numbers.

I'm surprised that John Hurt agreed to be in it given the rubbish he was given to work with. He just mumbled jibberish throughout.

Ray Winston came across as a stereotypical cockney wideboy rather than someone who fought with Jones in the war.

Karen Allen looked really old and with age had lost all of her feistyness. Her character just spent the whole time trying to catch Indy's eye.

Cate Blanchett looked nice but there was no depth to her character so it didn't matter what happened to her at the end.

In addition, I was under the impression that this would be light on CGI. As if! Sword fights in a jungle on cars and rope swinging with monkeys. And the waterfalls? Like you'd survive not just 1 but 3!!!

And the end? What the hell was that about? Aliens, UFOs!!! Rubbish!!! It was like an episode of the X-Files. And the special effects for that bit with Blanchett and the alien were awful!

The thing that made the previous films plausible was that Indy was searching for historical treasures. Whereas here he was taking a skull back so aliens could go back to wherever they came from in their space ship!

Lucas and Spielberg should get in that spaceship and not come back.

Dismal.
 
I really don't have a problem with the sci fi ending. indian Jones has explored the supernatural and folklore. Aliens visiting earth is as much a part of our folklore as anthing else these days. Also, the idea of 'spacemen' in the film is very apt given it is set in the 1950s as it pays homage to the flying saucer craze at the time
 
Back
Top