Indiana Jones 4: Early Review

[Cavlaw]

I'm a huge Indy fan and saw it yesterday.

I hated it. I felt that GL once again killed a favorite story from my childhood. This is nowhere near as good as Temple of Doom (which I liked really well, but also consider the worst of the original three). It lacked emotion, it lacked plot, it lacked humor, it lacked pretty much everything.

I found myself looked at my watch to guess how much longer I would have to be there, and that damn near made me cry since I love the Indiana Jones character so much.

[billybreen]

I'm a huge Indy fan and saw it yesterday.

I hated it. I felt that GL once again killed a favorite story from my childhood. This is nowhere near as good as Temple of Doom (which I liked really well, but also consider the worst of the original three). It lacked emotion, it lacked plot, it lacked humor, it lacked pretty much everything.

I found myself looked at my watch to guess how much longer I would have to be there, and that damn near made me cry since I love the Indiana Jones character so much.

Ugh. That's exactly what I feared. I'm with Patton Oswalt -- George Lucas should have been killed with a shovel back in 1995.

[allenmurray]

Was it one of the greatest movies of all time? No. Did my 9 year old and I hve a great time? Yes. Did we think some of the stunts were stupid? Yes. Did we have a good time anyway? Yes. did we sing/hum the theme song in the car on the way hme? Yes.

I suggest that anyone over the age of 25 go see this movie in the company of a child under the age of 11. It is more fun that way.

[billybreen]

I suggest that anyone over the age of 25 go see this movie in the company of a child under the age of 11. It is more fun that way.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I steal someone's kid to go see this, won't they lock me up and throw away the key?

[allenmurray]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I steal someone's kid to go see this, won't they lock me up and throw away the key?

Probably. However, there are ways to take a kid to the movie without stealing one. Perhaps you have a friends with a child in that age range. This couple, who never gets a night alone, would love to go out to a romantic dinner sans child.

You billybreen, hero to all mankind that you are, step up and say, "hey friends, would you like a night of free babysitting? I'd sure like to go see that Indianna Jones movie and I'll bet your cute little son/daughter would like to go as well. Why don't you two make reservations for a nice dinner somewhere and I'll take the kiddo off your hands for a couple of hours."

If you can't find anybody up there, travel on down here to NC. Mrs. allenmurray and I could uuse a night out, and I'm sure Dan wouldn't mind seeing it again.

[TillyGalore]

If you can't find anybody up there, travel on down here to NC. Mrs. allenmurray and I could uuse a night out, and I'm sure Dan wouldn't mind seeing it again.

I was going to ask if you would lend out your kids.

[Duvall]

I'm a huge Indy fan...

That probably explains the vehemence of your reaction.

It's not a great film, by any means - many of the action scenes made little sense, and the villains were thoroughly dull. Nonetheless, this was still a reasonably entertaining film. Sure, it wasn't necessary, but none of the Indy sequels have exactly been high art.

[2535Miles]

I dunno, I'll put this one right behind or closely tied with Temple of Doom. Temple of Doom might win out because I was seven years old when it premiered and I wasn't a discerning movie critic (not that I am now) back then, so it has the nostalgia factor.

I'll pretty much echo many of the previous posters' sentiments. I'm a big fan of the Indy humor, which was lacking, save one or two memorable scenes. I'm a big fan of highly improbably escapes; this movie is chock full of em. I'm also a big fan of character development. I had a hard time getting attached to anyone in this film.

It was a fun day at the movies and killed some time before I went to see the Police with Elvis Costello. If you get a chance, go see this tour.

[Cavlaw]

I have to say, everyone who is saying that Indy4 compares to Temple of Doom should go watch Temple of Doom again in the near future with Indy4 still fresh in your mind. It's not even close.

[gvtucker]

Was it one of the greatest movies of all time? No. Did my 9 year old and I hve a great time? Yes. Did we think some of the stunts were stupid? Yes. Did we have a good time anyway? Yes. did we sing/hum the theme song in the car on the way hme? Yes.

I suggest that anyone over the age of 25 go see this movie in the company of a child under the age of 11. It is more fun that way.

Exactly. We had a good time.

Is it Raiders of the Lost Ark? Nah. But it was an entertaining evening. In hindsight, I'm glad that I didn't get Raiders for my boys to see before we went to the theater, because it would have unnecessarily raised their expectations.

[Duvall]

I have to say, everyone who is saying that Indy4 compares to Temple of Doom should go watch Temple of Doom again in the near future with Indy4 still fresh in your mind. It's not even close.

I caught Temple of Doom on TV a couple of weeks back. It held up better than I thought it would, but nothing in the new movie was as painful as Kate Capshaw's screeching or Short Round's broken English. It's a fair comparison.

[2535Miles]

I caught Temple of Doom on TV a couple of weeks back. It held up better than I thought it would, but nothing in the new movie was as painful as Kate Capshaw's screeching or Short Round's broken English. It's a fair comparison.

Agreed. Indeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

[Cavlaw]

I caught Temple of Doom on TV a couple of weeks back. It held up better than I thought it would, but nothing in the new movie was as painful as Kate Capshaw's screeching or Short Round's broken English. It's a fair comparison.

You really think the fight in Area 51, surviving the atomic bomb in a refrigerator, or the brief motorcycle escape through the library compares to the nightclub fight and the chase through Shanghai? What about the character and feel of the Indian village against the amazonian one? Or the table banter and history lessons from Indy in Temple of Doom rather than the miraculous epiphanies he spews out in Crystal Skull? So on and so forth.

I do think Cate Blanchett's awful fake accent ranks up there as a point of pain in the movies, by the way. So does the waste of John Hurt's talent in the role of a raving madman with terrible lines.

[Duvall]

You really think the fight in Area 51, surviving the atomic bomb in a refrigerator, or the brief motorcycle escape through the library compares to the nightclub fight and the chase through Shanghai? What about the character and feel of the Indian village against the amazonian one? Or the table banter and history lessons from Indy in Temple of Doom rather than the miraculous epiphanies he spews out in Crystal Skull? So on and so forth.

I do think Cate Blanchett's awful fake accent ranks up there as a point of pain in the movies, by the way. So does the waste of John Hurt's talent in the role of a raving madman with terrible lines.

The nightclub scene and race through Shanghai is the best set piece in either film - it might be the best sequence in any of the films - but I enjoyed the Area 51 sequence. Surviving an atomic blast in a refrigerator may have made little sense, but it was entertaining, and the shot of Indy looking up at the mushroom cloud was certainly striking. I also liked the motorcycle chase, but mostly for personal reasons.

And you've allowed yourself to forget terrible scenes like the "foreigners eat wacky foods" bit. Chilled monkey brains?

Cate Blanchett's accent was more hilariously awful than painfully awful, I thought. Still, I can only assume it will result in another Oscar nomination for her.

[Indoor66]

Still, I can only assume it will result in another Oscar nomination for her.

I hope not. I thought she was the weak link in the movie. She was, IMO, a miscast. I enjoyed the movie but not Cate. She should stay in the "Kate" roles.

[Cavlaw]

I'll concede that the "meal" in Temple of Doom was over the top. I do think the fight with the slaver guards, the escape in the mining cart (for all its stretches of credulity) and the fight on the bridge over the chasm were superior to the fight through the amazon, the army ants and the boatride over three waterfalls.

(not to mention that the Shankara Stones, obscure as they were, at least stood up better than 1/13th of an alien head.)

And, even with the terrible abuse of English, Shortround was a far better sidekick than Mutt Williams. From driving the car with boxes tied to his shoes and playing poker with Indy in the middle of jungle with aces up his sleeves, to discovering the pain of being burned as a countereffect to the thugee drug wine and freeing the slave children, he never needed to rely on a comb to get a cheap laugh or epee leassons from a private school to help win the day.

I'll never argue for Temple of Doom to be held up as better than either Raiders or Last Crusade, but I think it's underrated due to comparison with the other two. With Crystal Skull now in the series, Temple of Doom no longer has to bring up the rear of the franchise.

[JasonEvans]

By the way, the most important takeaway from this thread is that darn near everyone agrees with my early review.

Lets focus on what matters here people -- ME!

--Jason "it is a bad sign for Kung Fu Panda is people agree with me about movies" Evans

[blublood]

Probably. However, there are ways to take a kid to the movie without stealing one. Perhaps you have a friends with a child in that age range. This couple, who never gets a night alone, would love to go out to a romantic dinner sans child.

You billybreen, hero to all mankind that you are, step up and say, "hey friends, would you like a night of free babysitting? I'd sure like to go see that Indianna Jones movie and I'll bet your cute little son/daughter would like to go as well. Why don't you two make reservations for a nice dinner somewhere and I'll take the kiddo off your hands for a couple of hours."

If you can't find anybody up there, travel on down here to NC. Mrs. allenmurray and I could use a night out, and I'm sure Dan wouldn't mind seeing it again.

Lord, yes. And if you can't find allenmurray and Mrs. allenmurray, come look us up. Of course, we have a baby and he doesn't enjoy Indiana Jones very much, but we'd love the free babysitting!

[merry]

Was it one of the greatest movies of all time? No. Did my 9 year old and I hve a great time? Yes. Did we think some of the stunts were stupid? Yes. Did we have a good time anyway? Yes. did we sing/hum the theme song in the car on the way hme? Yes.

I suggest that anyone over the age of 25 go see this movie in the company of a child under the age of 11. It is more fun that way.

Same here, and even a little older than 11 can be ok (our "child" is 13).

Also we saw it at the Carolina Theater in downtown Durham. I wish I could see all movies fhere.

[gvtucker]

Same here, and even a little older than 11 can be ok (our "child" is 13).

Also we saw it at the Carolina Theater in downtown Durham. I wish I could see all movies fhere.

No kidding, merry. There is just no comparison between the Carolina Theatre and Random Mall Cinema. Carolina Theatre is such a great place to watch a movie, I think just the venue alone helped us enjoy this movie a lot more.