Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull..where do you rate it?

[Frimost]

I would have to say it was a fun enjoyable movie but also that it is the weakest link of the four movies...Kind of like a light beer version to the full draft laeger of The Raiders of The Lost Ark.

Even though it had good action and stunts I kept feeling like it was missing something, it had moments where it hit on all cylinders and felt right at home with the other three movies but at other times it just felt...dilluted, kind of like comparing the third (and best) of the new Star Wars trilogy to the ORIGINAL Star Wars trilogy. I guess you really can't put down a project for 20 years then restart it without losing the original muse that inspired the storyline, even if you are the original creator.

It needed a few more good action sequences, a few more build-up scenes to build-up the menace around the bad guys. A few more military toys (the first tone had a submarine and the third had a tank). Some scenes with Stalin in it or somethign to give you a scope of global menace. Some more weird animal or situations they bumble into, a bit exposition before we are just thron into the storyline with Indy coming out the trunk, less alient stuff in it, a little more traveling and exotic historical locations. And more quips and one liners by Indiana Jones.

Overall it was Indiana Jones, but just needed a bit more....

Still a good summer popcorn movie though, but if you have big expectations ala Phantom Menace you will be sorely disappointed.

They have books about further Indiana Jones adventures, kind of like the expanded Star Wars universe and there are at least 2 or 3 of them I would consider better, more fun, more true to the original spirit of Indiana Jones, and more adaptable the cinematic experience then this movie was.

I would give it 4 out of 7 stars.

 

[HB1965]

After I've seen it tomorrow I'll let you know. It can't be worse than Temple of Doom

 

[Frimost]

Well there is no annoying Asian kid...Temple of Doom just "felt" more like Indiana Jones though... I don't know, those emotional triggers and moods are hard to judge though since its been so long since the last one and we are older, different people as well comparing our opnion to an opinion we had when we were yonger, more spiritedm and less jaded (usually when we were kids or young men/women). You'll see.

 

[unregistered]

 

[BlueTriton]

http://www.derober.com/2008/05/22/7-reasons-why-shia-labeouf-cant-fill-indiana-jones-shoes/

 

[dolf]

i liked it.
he made a gag of him getting older. there was a cute younger guy to ass to the eye candy angle. who the mother turned out to be was actually pretty cool...''omg! it's her!".

it wasn't high brow stimulation...but who goes to an indie film expecting that.

the ant scene was ripped right from the mummy though.

 

[Karen Kraft]

Of the four movies, I liked this one and the first one the best. The other two left me cold.

 

[atmas]

I would say that it definitely doesn't discredit the franchise, but there will never be anything to compare with Raiders. This film seemed like a requiem, with so many allusions to scenes from the earlier films. But it did stand on its own. Not bad.
However, Raiders was not only the best film in the series, it is my favorite film ever.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Less action, more cliff-hanger.

Less bemusement, more snarling.

Less gee-whiz, more whoa.

 

[Morcheeba]

Bookmarking.

Wanted to see a double feature of SpeedRacer and this at the Drive-In tonite but a huge front came through full of rain and thunder.

No lightning, dammit.

Be back later with a response once seen and done.

 

[Le Jacquelope]

i liked it.
he made a gag of him getting older. there was a cute younger guy to ass to the eye candy angle. who the mother turned out to be was actually pretty cool...''omg! it's her!".

it wasn't high brow stimulation...but who goes to an indie film expecting that.

the ant scene was ripped right from the mummy though.

The ant scene is also classic Indy Jones horror, except in this case it had follow-through. You expected the snakes in Lost Ark to do something awful to someone but they never did. Same with those bugs in Temple of Doom; the rats in Lost Crusade were yet another pain-in-the-ass swarm; this time, though, in Crystal Skull, the swarm was ants and boy howdy did they fuck that Russian dude up.

 

[dolf]

The ant scene is also classic Indy Jones horror, except in this case it had follow-through. You expected the snakes in Lost Ark to do something awful to someone but they never did. Same with those bugs in Temple of Doom; the rats in Lost Crusade were yet another pain-in-the-ass swarm; this time, though, in Crystal Skull, the swarm was ants and boy howdy did they fuck that Russian dude up.

na, the ant scene is a straight rip.
the person i was watching it said "the mummy" just as i was thinking it.
swarms are expected in indie but the devouring, into the mouth, writhing body beneath was a straight rip.

bloody good though.

 

[MechaBlade]

Take away Harrison Ford and you have a shitty Goonies sequel.

Weak, but amusing.

 

[VintagePearls]

Just saw it like two hours ago. It was ok. Not great, not horrible.

But I will have nightmares... Especially since I am home alone all weekend. In fact that's the reason I'm up right now. I can't sleep! I keep seeing those... well I don't want to give it away, but I am sooo not into that sort of thing.

Why did it have to glare? Why!?!

 

[Phelia]

I agree that is was fun and entertaining blah blah blah, but at the end of the movie I literally said "...what?!" to the movie screen. I guess that I just expected more out of the story after 20 years and millions of dollars. The end was ridiculous, the crystal skulls looked plastic, and everything just happened a litttttle too easily. I'm being a whiner, though, I liked it.

BUT, I have to point out that the kid from Tempe of Doom was/is awesome. Data from Goonies has every right to be in every action movie ever. I will fight you on that.

 

[Le Jacquelope]

na, the ant scene is a straight rip.
the person i was watching it said "the mummy" just as i was thinking it.
swarms are expected in indie but the devouring, into the mouth, writhing body beneath was a straight rip.

bloody good though.

Yup, bloody good and scary. My wife called it 'mummy scene in 5... 4... 3...' as soon as the ant bit the Russian woman's hand. The whole theater was like, "oh shit" (as in here it comes).

If it were my production they'd have shown what happened to the guy when he went into the hole. Top that, Clive Barker!

ETA: actually I am also in favor of the implied horror approach where the ants come running at you and all you hear is screams in the background.

 

[Eurika]

I agree with the majority on this one. I’ve always been an Indiana Jones fan, but this one left me wanting something more. It was a good movie, and I’ll get the DVD to go with my others, but I don’t seem myself sitting down to watch this one very often.

There were several “cheesy” moments. Indy has always had funny parts, but some of it felt forced to me. Then there was the part with the vines… Yikes!

I did enjoy it over all, and at the end had a feeling we would be seeing more in the future. I do feel a new series coming on.

 

[dolf]

Yup, bloody good and scary. My wife called it 'mummy scene in 5... 4... 3...' as soon as the ant bit the Russian woman's hand. The whole theater was like, "oh shit" (as in here it comes).

If it were my production they'd have shown what happened to the guy when he went into the hole. Top that, Clive Barker!

ETA: actually I am also in favor of the implied horror approach where the ants come running at you and all you hear is screams in the background.

implied would be good.
my youngest would be fine with the ant scene but my eldest would develop instant ant phobia.

but the special effects were great and originality is overrated in some things.

 

[sutherngent985]

I saw it yesterday. I thought it was probably 3rd in line over Temple of Doom (which I hated) and below Raider and Lost Crusade. I did enjoy it though. The beginning was good tho. As soon as they opened the door to the warehouse and I saw all the crates I was like "Here comes the Ark." There were a few subtle hits on the other movies, that being just one that really stood out to me.

 

[prettygrl]

It was entertaining at best.

I'd certainly never see it, again.

 

[HB1965]

*Spoiler Alert*

OK I said I would report on it...
I love the Indy franchise. Not my favorite films (because I can't really say I have one I like so many), but definitely ranks up there with movies that mean something to me. After Raiders I always had a fantasies about being an Indy sidekick and going on adventures with him. I loved this one. People have mentioned the Mummy rip off (which really isn't a rip off, but was an acknowledgment that Mummy ripped Indy off), but they missed the bigger picture. Not only were there allusions to past Indy films, but also to a lot of other films and also a lot of 50's cultural jokes.

The whole Chariots of the Gods? thing how people could have missed that, even the reviewers I don't know. Then again Chariots of the Gods? has gotten overwhelmed by so many other unsolved mysterious of the world stuff that maybe it's become too obscure.

The film is ingenious in that way of intertwining all this stuff into something new.

As far as being a requiem, I don't think so. I felt that the ending suggested that there was more to come. The scene at the end was basically the idea that Mutt would eventually take over the fedora, but that Indy wasn't ready to give that up just yet. I also think that most hardcore Indy fans have assumed that he ended up with Marion and that was their payoff.

The only thing that I disliked about this film was the way the plot line worked regarding Indy being Mutt's father. As most hardcore Indy fans have been following this movie since the rumors first started the idea that he was Mutt's father is not a new concept. The original idea that seemed to be floating out there when this movie was first made official in 2006 was that it was supposed to be 20 years later and Indy and Marion were married and had a son. The whole thing was that the son was being brought into the family business so to speak. While, I liked the fact that Indy seemed to have gotten past his own issues with his father and was ok with being Henry Jones Jr, but I felt that they could have brought in something with his relationship to Mutt that needed resolving

Again I can say that I really loved this film and will definitely be adding it to the DVD collection


ETA: Did anyone else laugh their asses off when it was revealed that the kid's name (which he chose himself) was Mutt considering it was revealed in Last Crusade that Indy had chosen his own nickname from the family dog?

 

[IrezumiKiss]

Bookmarking. I'll see it tomorrow probably. Part of the Summer Event Movie Rundown, this is. Including Sex and The City, egads.

 

[johnjones1]

Mixed feelings but overall its a winner

Raiders is a classic. No movie, this one included is going to be as good. Having said that, I enjoyed this one. I loved seeing Indy, and an Indy story again. The effects were far too slick. I loved the score (I'll really miss John Williams when he's gone). You could see the George Lucas influence too, some American Graffiti moments, and a great Star Wars reference spoken by Indy near the end of the movie. Obviously I have mixed feelings about the production, but I loved having another Indiana Jones movie 19 years after the last one.

 

[HB1965]

Raiders is a classic. No movie, this one included is going to be as good. Having said that, I enjoyed this one. I loved seeing Indy, and an Indy story again. The effects were far too slick. I loved the score (I'll really miss John Williams when he's gone). You could see the George Lucas influence too, some American Graffiti moments, and a great Star Wars reference spoken by Indy near the end of the movie. Obviously I have mixed feelings about the production, but I loved having another Indiana Jones movie 19 years after the last one.

Good you caught that stuff. The opening scene definitely reminded me of American Graffiti. The diner scene reminded me of Back to the Future. The amphibious car was from James Bond. The swinging from the ropes was of course Tarzan. Then there was the scene were Mutt makes his first appearance which was straight out of The Wild Ones. I could go on.

 

[Faneros]

Bookmarking. I'll see it tomorrow probably. Part of the Summer Event Movie Rundown, this is. Including Sex and The City, egads.

Lets see it together....I'll buy the popcorn