Monday, May 26, 2008

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull


Holiday weekend? Not so much for me. I worked more of it than I was home! But I did take some time this afternoon, and take the kids to a matinee. Yeah! I love movies!! And one of my very favorite of all the onscreen heroes has always been Indiana Jones!! So.....armed with a large soda and a big bucket of popcorn, off we went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

I, personally, liked the older, slower, grayer Indy. I mean, come on....the man IS in his mid-60's now. Still sexy. Indiana Jones has always appealed to me. He's a professor....smart, studious, READER.....then he puts on the hat and leather jacket and he's the complete action hero. Nothing has changed in that regard. And the return of Karen Allen was just an added bonus. Marion Ravenwood will always be the best of Indy's leading ladies. Cate Blanchett plays the villainous Irina Spalko. It's actually kind of a waste of her amazing acting talent. But she's very good at being evil. And I was a little disappointed with Shia LaBeouf's character. Very sullen and not all that much too him. I had hoped for a little more.

Did I enjoy the movie?? Of course. It's Indiana Jones. Did I love the movie? No. The storyline was a little too sci-fi. Don't get me wrong...I love sci-fi. But not in an Indiana Jones movie. He's a man whose feet are firmly planted in the past. Archeology digs and ancient civilizations. The added "alien" storyline (and this isn't a spoiler....you find out in the first 10 minutes that the villains are looking for something that came from Roswell) just didn't do it for me. Mike and the kids loved it though. But for me, it didn't even come close to Raiders or the Temple of Doom.

But I would love to hear what you guys think. Anyone else see it yet??

15 comments:

Jill said...

We saw it this afternoon too, and I'm with you. I enjoyed the movie, but I thought the sci-fi plot was a little out of place. I really liked the adventure they went on and everything about the ending except for the sci-fi stuff. I also agree about a waste of Cate Blanchett's talent, but I actually loved Shia LeBouef. The plot "twist" that involved him was not at all a surprise to me, though (not to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't seen it yet).

There were some parts where I laughed out loud because the action was so preposterous -- mostly related to Shia, actually. The sword fight with Cate on the jeeps and the swinging through the jungle? Over. The. Top.

But it was great fun and definitely worth a trip to the theater.

Literary Feline said...

Hubby and I saw this one this weekend too. I thought it was a lot of fun. Sure, it wasn't award winning and I really didn't go in expecting much. I find the Indiana Jones movies over the top as it is, but I expect that and therefore don't mind it at all. I'm with you and CDJ about Cate Blanchett. The role didn't do her justice. I thought Shia LeBouef was okay. I admit I had my eyes on Indy most the time. :-)

Suey said...

We planned on going to this movie today, but ended up at Prince Caspian instead, which I totally enjoyed, but it doesn't take much to please me. I hope to fit Indiana in still one of these days... I hope. The Mr. read your blog over my shoulder just now and he's seen the movie and says he totally agrees with you....

Anonymous said...

I am going to try and see it this week as life gets hectic from June 2nd. I am really looking forward to it despite the critics rubbish reviews.

katrina said...

I would quite happily have walked out of this after the first half an hour, it was poor, overdone and tacky.

DesLily said...

I'm with you.. Harrison cannot disappoint, but the story line did. That was the last thing I thought would disappoint me after all the years it took to get a story approved to film!

But will I buy it? You bet! Indy is Indy and Harrison is as wonderful as ever

Carl V. Anderson said...

I agree with your thoughts on Harrison Ford, I thought he was fun as always and it was great to see him return to the kind of roles he was born to play. I would like to see even more of these kind of wise old action hero roles from him. But the movie really sucked and that is sad. One could argue that none of the Indy movies were Oscar worthy, but I personally don't buy that. There are extremely well written, well done and solid action adventure/popcorn flicks out there and then there are ones like this. It doesn't take much to sit down and see the difference. The saddest thing about it is that all the elements were there to be able to craft a tale worthy of the franchise...someone just forgot to hire a good writer.

Susan said...

We saw it at the drive-in a few nights ago. We all agreed that it was good, but not great. It was pretty much what you'd expect from an Indiana Jones movie - cheesy, predictable, unrealistic.

I thought the sci-fi touches were weird for an action adventure flick, but whatever.

I'll always love Indiana Jones, even if he is near my Dad's age. He's just a sexy man - in fact, I thought he was better eye candy than the kid from Transformers!

Bookfool said...

Nope, I haven't seen it. I hope to see it on the big screen, but I'm not holding my breath, here.

Andi said...

You're gonna be shocked by this, but I've NEVER seen an Indiana Jones movie. And I love Harrison Ford! I had a huge crush on Han Solo in my childhood.

Shame on me!

Stephanie said...

cdj - Yeah...over the top, but that's just the way Indiana Jones is. They are all over the top. That wasn't what bothered me so much about the movie though. You are right. The "twist" was a little predictable!

Wendy - Cate Blanchet is just SO talented. She was wasted with this role. It was fun, though.

Suey - I took the kids to see Prince Caspian last week. I thought it was good...not as good as the first, but still good. Glad to know the Mr. agrees!!

Rhinoa - I rarely pay attention to critics. They loved No Country for Old Men. Personally, I HATED that movie!

Deslily - Harrison Ford is the man. I have loved him since I saw Star Wars. (Was never a fan of Luke Skywalker....Han Solo was the one for me!)

Carl - I'm sorry you were so disappointed with this one. I know you were looking forward to it. I knew it would never be the caliber of Raiders, but I did expect it would be better.

Susan - Yeah...Harrison is my Dad's age too. Kind of creepy that I still think he's so sexy!!

Bookfool - It is definitely one for the big screen. Take it for what it's worth - it's an action movie. I liked it better than others. So judge for yourself!

Andi - you MUST watch Raiders of the Lost Ark. And Temple of Doom. They are fantastic movies!! I'm with you on the Han Solo crush too.

Anonymous said...

We saw this one over the weekend. I'd compare it to the new star wars vs. the old star wars. This new one just couldn't compete with the old but I still thought it was enjoyable. It was silly though. Almost as if they dumbed it down for a younger audience. How many times were they going to show that gopher or swing through trees? I thought the snake scene was hilarious!

Bookfool said...

I think I'll probably like it as long as they don't eat monkey brains for lunch. :)

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks the sci-fi element was a little out of place. We went to a late late show, so I was starting to nod off a little in the end (I think I'm the oldest 20-something ever because this happens frequently), but for the most part I thought the movie was fun and they did a great job of staying true to the previous movies. And I agree--Harrison Ford is looking as good as ever. :)

The Bookworm said...

I want to see this one, I'm an Indie fan.

http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/