Now the hatred that people seem to have is the gopher, the fridge, the monkeys, and the alien. The gopher and the monkeys are only for a few seconds, the fridge went a little farfetched, as if nothing farfetched ever happened in an Indiana Jones movie. Of course you can't survive a nuclear bomb inside a fridge; it's a "movie." You also can't survive falling off a cliff on a tank or dropping out of a plane on a rubber raft and sliding off a mountain slope. It's common knowledge that Spielberg was inspired by the James Bond films, the guy who escaped near-death situations all the time. That's what it's all about. About the alien, was it really that surprising? It's practically in the title: "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Have you ever done any research to know that the Crystal Skull is said to be extraterrestrial, before seeing this movie? There are about a handful of television documentaries that prepared everyone for this film's release. Maybe you weren't looking at your cable guide to know when and which channel they were on.
The design of the alien is obviously giving tribute to the 1950s B-Movies, like "The Invasion of the Saucer-Men." And since this movie takes place in the 50s, can't you see why they did that? I understand if you hated the fact that the alien was a CG effect, and there was no CG in the 50s. And what's with everyone saying that aliens don't belong in an Indiana Jones film? Isn't this franchise built around fantasy? For those who probably haven't read my other blog reviews on the franchise, there are spirits that come out of an Ark that melt and explode people's faces (Indiana and Marion survived by covering their eyes), voodoo dolls, hearts being ripped out, and a knight who sits in a cave for 700 years guarding the Holy Grail. Where does everyone get off that aliens don't have a right to be in an Indiana Jones film? You don't think they would have a policy? I can understand if you say that the original trilogy was all based on a religious artifact. Like Indiana said in this film, "Depends on who your God is." Exactly, all of the films are on a higher power. He already found the Holy Grail, how do you top that?
Don't get mad that there is only a passing mention that Indiana's father passed away. You didn't expect him to live around forever, did you? I understand that you wanted it to feel like the previous films, but the reason why you would see a franchise that has been resurrected after so many years, like Star Wars or Indiana Jones, is for the nostalgia factor. I wasn't around when the other films were released in the 80s, so it was nice to see an Indiana Jones film that was released in my lifetime. And who knows, it might not be the only time, there are talks of a fifth film. The way they revealed Indiana was really nice. It's a nice way to keep you in suspense. First you see the fedora, then his shadow, before you finally see him in the full flesh. If Harrison Ford wasn't in this, it would not have the same feel to it. I have mentioned this before, and I will say it again: Indiana Jones was a tribute to B-Movies and old adventure serials. Leave your logic outside the theater, seat down, and enjoy the film. Lucas and Spielberg were having fun with this franchise, and it shows. It's not a masterpiece by any means, and nowhere near as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark, or even The Last Crusade, but it wasn't even nearly as silly as Temple of Doom. Who would expect it to be the better than 1 or 3, they were classics.
Remember the South Park episode where Lucas and Spielberg rape Indiana Jones and the South Park kids made fun of the audience's reception and the film itself? Is this how we review films, by ranting and nitpicking all of the individual moments that we hated? The Star Wars prequels aren't as good as the Original Trilogy, but are still enjoyable. They are political, yes, and Lucas didn't want to work under anyone or hear other people's opinion on the films, but they were still enjoyable, despite the fact that the Original Trilogy was puppetry and animatronics, and the Prequels were all CGI. Why can't we look at the big picture as a whole? There is a positive and a negative side to hear. Some people just want to follow the more popular opinion. Think for yourselves.
So what is this film about? Well, it does show the real-life passing of the movies, because this one opens in 1957, acknowledging the actual passing between films. Indiana is having a nice life teaching before being given a mission to find the crystal skull before the Russians, or Soviets, do. They are led by Irina Spalko, played by another Lord of the Rings cast member, Cate Blanchett. Indiana travels through Nevada, Connecticut, Peru, and the Amazon in Brazil. Marion returns in this, and tells him that a greaser named Mutt Williams (real name is actually Henry Jones III), played by Shia LeBeouf, is actually his son.
Ok, the silly moments: the gopher only appeared after the Paramount logo faded into a gopher hole, but the one I want to mention is when a bunch of kids are driving and joy riding, which is reminiscing on another Lucas film, American Graffiti. But why are they driving through the middle of a desert near a secret base? It has nothing to do with the plot, and we don't need to hear Elvis "The King of Rock and Roll" Prestly's Hound Dog to know it's 1957. Not a good way to start a movie. Another one is a jeep chase near the edge of a cliff. Well, they cut to Mutt Williams swinging around on vines like Tarzan with the CGI monkeys before he swings into the car, and the monkeys hop into the other car. Then is the Twilight Zone like scene, when Indiana stumbles onto a nuclear test town that is filled with mannequins. But there's an explanation to why he jumps into a lead lined fridge that protects him from the radiation, has him fly far away from the impact, and lands, thankfully, right side-up. We can see the gears turn in his head as he looks around to plan his escape. I thought it was pretty funny. I know you can't survive a nuclear bomb, but you can't survive falling off a cliff on a tank or on a rubber raft either. This is up there with the "Who shot first" question from A New Hope. Of course, that moment created the famous "Nuking the Fridge" internet meme. Also, why complain about the ship falling off the waterfall in this? That looks like a ride for Paramount's Kings Dominion. Now one moment, which is really cheap writing, is when Indiana is betrayed by his good friend Mac, played by Ray Winstone. Especially after a few minutes in, when it has been established that they have been longtime partners, he double-crosses Indiana, saying he works for the Soviets. After nearly getting killed and almost blacklisted, Mac starts working with Indiana again saying that he's a double agent working against the Soviets. However, near the end when they are in the temple, Mac betrays him again. However, I found it funny when Indiana said, "So what are you a...a triple agent?" No Indiana, he's a double agent, but why did you trust him twice?
Final words: the Indiana Jones movies are all entitled to some dumb moments. They recapture the spirit of the old adventure films that came out during The Great Depression and World War II. According to James Rolfe, "audiences were looking for something to escape the real world and forget about their troubles." Movies are all about entertainment. However, critics nowadays are "far more critical, have less imagination, and are not willing to suspend their disbelief" (Rolfe). That causes the death of cinema. Rolfe says, "I hope there's somebody out there that still embraces that old time B-Movie feel, and that filmmakers aren't so discouraged to try and recapture that old spirit of this cinematic pastime." There wasn't a need for another Indiana Jones, but Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was still enjoyable. If you want to watch it, just enjoy it and don't nitpick it to death like everyone else has already done enough of.
Thank you for joining me on "Indiana Jones Month," stay tuned for when I do another marathon.
No comments:
Post a Comment