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Saturday, May 24, 2008

Indiana Jones (for skeptics)

I was dreading seeing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull because of my emotional connection to the Indiana Jones movies, in particular Raiders of the Lost Ark because of Marion Ravenwood. However when a movie "that everyone wants to see" comes out, work rents out a movie theatre. So yesterday I trudged along with my coworkers to see it.

At the end of the movie, I was a beaming smiling face amongst a sea of frowns. Everyone seemed disgusted, but I was utterly happy with it. Why?

1. They hit the right notes. The pacing, the cinematography, the dialogue, of course the music... it was Indiana Jones alright. It took me a few minutes to get swept up in it, but once I was there, I was sold.

2. Despite the utterly stupid central plot theme and its lacking some of the *realism* that made the other movies seem less fantasy and more plausible, all the steps along the way were the same. Ruins--check! Puzzles--check! Villains--check! Sympathetic hero--check!

3. Iconic references and tributes that triggered the little kid in me. And not simply the obvious ones. Any movie that can get me to mutter "the breath of God" is aces in my book. Also, how does your heart not melt when Harrison Ford shakes a fist full of papers and says "It's a puzzle!" He looked about 20 years old in that moment.

4. They did their best to ruin the character of Marion with a terrible story arc and some uncharacteristic behavior, but Karen Allen can not be dimmed! The chemistry she had with Indy, the look in her eye, she too seemed not to have aged all these years.

There were definitely moments where I rolled my eyes, and there were definitely some over-the-top references, but I was glad to have seen it. And like probably everyone else that has seen the movie, I went directly home and watched Raiders of the Lost Ark. It didn't ruin my childhood, it just made me sentimental for it.

"I always knew someday you'd come walking back through my door."

5 comments:

Milkman519 said...

Good to hear that Indiana Jones isn't a disappointment. I'll be sure to check it out soon.

Kyle Mahaney said...

Hey Carrie, I just got back from it and I loved it. It was 2nd only to raiders. Absolutely amazing film.

Casey Cannon said...

Its looks decent enough. I should try to rent the first three Indiana Jones films before seeing it(believe it or not, I've never experianced an Indi-movie), if I do see it before its out of the theaters that is. I have no reason to doubt its quality though, every film you've recommended thus far(starting with Pans Labyrinth) have been aces.

Anonymous said...

Good to see your still doin your thing Carrie! I have an important quesion though.... have you taken any awsome trips to vegas with Bob lately?

Austin said...

It's nice to see that someone else liked the movie. It seems to be getting an uncalled for amount of hate on the internet. There were some flaws (Tarzan/Mutt), but overall it was an enjoyable action adventure romp. Also, the fact that your job rents out a theater is awesome.