Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [spoilers]

[Orius]

[sblock]As for the big reveal of interdimensional aliens? Lame. I always preferred the mystic angle when Doctor Jones is involved. Was Spielberg channeling Close Encounters when he thought of this? [/sblock]

You know I was watching the commentaries on the DVD, and the whole

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aliens angle was Lucas' idea. Spielberg wasn't keen on the idea, haven gotten his fill from Close Encounters and ET. So then Lucas decides on making them "extradimensional", and hearing Spielberg describe it, it sounded like he went along with it to humor Lucas.

The whole

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"aliens built the foundations of human civilization" idea is ridiculous to me, but I don't mind the way it was handled here. Besides, the whole scene where the skeletons blur into the one live alien who then stares into Irina's face and then fries her brain with psychic powers was pretty good.

(Temple of Doom was sloppy, and I can't figure out its point.)

I think it was Lucas' reaction to the divorce he was going through at the time. He admits the whole dark feel of the movie probably reflected his feelings at the time. And look at the plot: it's all about an evil cult worshipping an evil death goddess who rips out people's hearts and steals their children.

Yup, divorce.

I've been waiting for years for the opportunity to opine that Temple of Doom is an allegory for divorce.

 

[Felon]

I loved Temple of Doom because it showed that Indy could have adventures that weren't just cookie-cutter retreads of the first movie. Then we got Last Crusade, which was a retread, and Crystal Skull, which was a retread.

What the heck is wrong with using ancient astronauts as a plot device, rather than taking yet another stab at retrieving some holy artifact? Indy is a pulp hero, folks. In the pulp world, pseudo-scientific and mystical phenomena exist side-by-side. Think Johnny Quest.

What didn't work for me was the increasingly-overexposed Shia LaBeouf cast in the role of a tough, prettyboy greaser punk. He injected not a droplet of personality into it, he was completely unconvincing in his stunt scenes, and I never for once felt he had any idea how to use that switchblade. Round peg, square hole. The kid's born to play the goofy twerp.

 

[fba827]

I saw IJ and KotCS (I'm too lazy to type all that out) on an airplane a week ago.
Mind you, it's a little hard to fully immerse yourself in a movie on a plane what with distractions as people in front of you tilt their seat back on top of your long legs, and wierd headphones that have static and what not.

I liked it for the character moments: seeing how Indy has grown physically and mentally over the years, seeing how he interacts with his former love, and seeing how he interacted with the new character Mutt.

As for the plot and movie itself, I don't know, it just didn't excite me like the other Indy movies have. I never once felt drawn in to it, or felt concern as to what the outcome would be.

So, the character moments were the only saving grace for me in the movie making it watchable, but not re-watchable.