Friday, May 23, 2008

In defense of (the new) Dr. Jones

Geez...of all the things to come out of retirement for!

Okay, so the new INDIANA JONES movie came out this week. I'm sure you heard about that. Anyway, a lot of people on the Internet are cutting it to pieces (basically saying it's either crap and/or terrible). I just saw it two hours ago, and I have to disagree.

I went in a skeptic, but frankly--they pulled off an 20+ years later Indy movie. Sure, it's the 1950's...so it feels a little off at first (no Nazi baddies), but the first 10-15 minutes will BLOW you away (my favorite scene in the whole movie revolves around a plastic/fake "city," I'll say no more). The movie is solid all the way until the end (which is a bit anti-climatic). But all things considering it's well worth seeing.

In the summer of 1989, I went and saw THE LAST CRUSADE at the Drive-In (back in KC). It was fucking amazing, it blew my little kid mind. This flick will do the same for all those little kiddies that are too young to have seen an Indy film "new" in the theaters. Look, I won't argue with the haters--RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK is better...but guess what? I was a sperm and an egg in 1981. I missed that boat. I saw on TV/VHS/DVD and I love it. But it's what I grew up with. I grew up with seeing this stuff on a little TV screen. ANY INDIANA JONES movie on the big screen is going to make me happy, if only because I've grown up with the character--but not when it's "new."

Does that make sense?

It's like the STAR WARS Prequels--even though they weren't as good as the originals, I'm glad they were made so I could get the chance to see a brand new STAR WARS movie.

Bottom line: go into it with the sole intent to be entertained. Don't think about it, just enjoy it. Also, as an aside, Harrison Ford STILL kicks ass.


Little Green Men.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think I've seen all three previous Indy films on the big screen. Same with the first three Star Wars.

I got to see it at the new Screenland Armour Theater here in Northtown. It was a good film but it wasn't the first three films. It wasn't an awful film (I wouldn't say it was crap) but it seemed to miss something, some zip or something. It is that unidentifiable something that often bugs me about my own stories.

That said, it was greating seeing the characters again. Especially Doctor Jones.

Oh, I know what it was. The villians didn't scare me. It just hit me as I typed this up. The Colonel Doctor Whatshername, while interesting, just didn't scare me. She seemed third rate compared to Indy's other opponents.

Too bad. Some work on her to make her a deeper, more complex evil type might have put that missing whatever back in.

Crusade was one of the last films I saw before I went to boot camp. God, that was . . . shit, almost twenty years ago.

Damn, where does the time go.

Respects,
Murph

Eternal Sunshine of Katie's Mind said...

Thanks for the review. I wasn't sure if this would be a movie I could take Alex to see (I thought maybe it'd be too violent or something- I don't know. I've never seen any of the Indiana Jones movies). Anyway, we're bored as can be, so I think we might just spend our Memorial day at the movies. :) p.s. I'm glad you're no longer on hiatus.