Sunday 25 May 2008

Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

We went to see the new Indiana Jones film last night. I really enjoyed it. It is true to it's B-movie Genre. Without giving away too much of the plot (I hope), I'd really, really like some answers to the following:-
  1. Why kill off Henry Jones Snr? I can understand killing off Marcus Brody - it's hard to maintain an iconic character when the actor is dead (Denholm Elliot died in 1992) - but "the King of Scotland" aka Sean Connery is still alive. He might have added some gravitas to the proceedings. (Wikipedia says that Connery turned down the chance, saying he was enjoying his retirement too much. I wonder if it was the script. It would have been great if he'd walked in on the last scene, towing some piece of treasure with him.)
  2. What nationality was Alan Dale's character? He was probably meant to be an American Army General, but a) I couldn't see the US flashes on his shoulders, and b) his accent was appalling that that was the reason I looked. He didn't quite sound his native Australian, but he certainly didn't sound like any American I've ever heard.
  3. Whoever thought up the comb fetish for Shia LaBeouf deserves to be shot. Throughout the first half of the movie, he combs and re-combs his hair in a "look at me, I'm cool like Fonzi" action, at the most inopportune times. It is really irritating. And irrelevant. He looked far better once he'd been doused in water.
  4. Kate Blanchett's Russian accent is just not convincing. It almost works but then she says something with a long "ay" sound (as in "say") and the way she says it sounds totally wrong.
  5. What is it with the gophers? And the monkeys?
  6. Anyone who has seen The Mummy will remember the scarab beetle scene. So why repeat it twice with the big ants? Definite overkill. On the other hand, it had the desired effect of making me want to curl into a ball and hide from creepy crawlies.
If you want to hear a really entertaining review of the film, track down Mark Kermode's review from Friday on BBC Radio Five Live (you can download it via the latest podcast but get in quick - you've only got to May 30th before that gets overwritten).

- Pam

2 comments:

tina said...

Pam-
I reviewed in more detail elsewhere.
My thoughts:
*OK - Cate Blanchett - and the "Vulcan Mind Meld" - Please! no thank you.
*That whole "she has supernatural powers" was seriously not developed enough to understand.
*The first time they showed Marcus Brody (portait on the wall) - Ok fine. But to show his statue, with the name, and then have Indie explain who he is with the photos on his desk - Way.Too.Much - we don;t have to be clubbed over the head with the references..
*Even the elf said WTF about the monkeys (although not as much as the boy did - he was nearly heartbroken about the movie)
*the groundhogs added that "cute" factor for kids in single digits who don't know the Real SPlendor of the first three.
*the "Happy Ending" - ugh.
*Is Karen Allen capable of any facial expressions other than stern, concern and goofy smiles?

I could go on, but I would just be frustrated...

peace & Jones
t

Christi said...

My biggest "huh" moment was that the Skull looked like a clear shell stuffed with crumpled up Saran wrap (cling film or whatever it's called across the pond). What, that's the best they could do? Heck, at least tint it with some color or something.

The mental power idea was sort of abandoned after that first mind meld scene.

Yes, the hair-combing and the Tarzan swinging were a bit much, I thought.

Overall, I thought it was pretty good, but then I haven't seen the other three movies in years. Didn't get the chance to dust off the DVDs before we went to see it. At least it wasn't the travesty that the recent Star Wars movies were (all special effects, no script).