'Indy Jones & Crystal Skull' review *SPOILERS!*

[Signals1982]

****SPOILERS****

 

 

I just saw it.

 

It was alright. I had no problem with the story. The crystal skulls are a good historical artifact to make a story about. And the aliens aspect of it is all base on findings and ancient text. I really liked the story.

 

My problem was with the characters. And some of the corny scenes. Example: Shia LeBeouf swinging through the jungle with a bunch of monkeys. Why did they have to put these things into it? Indie surviving a nuclear explosion my hiding in a fridge? He flies hundreds of feet in the air and is perfectly fine. Argh! This may work for "The Mummy" and other movies. BUT NOT INDY!!!

 

Anyway it was ok. But definitely not a classic.

Edited May 22, 2008 by Signals1982

[GhostGirl]

We are taking our ten year old and his friend to see this right after school today (it's the last day, woohoo). I'm just hoping they have fun and that it doesn't SUCK.

 

[ReflectedLight]

I won't be running out to see this one. Can't they make original movies today like they did back in the 70's and 80's? (Star Wars, Indiana etc..)

I realize it's all about the money, but they should have left Indiana Jones story alone. Mr.Ford had his fill with the previous, but than again, who would turn down millions of dollars?

Edited May 22, 2008 by hope70

[theworkingman]

I can't wait to see this too. Looks like a great movie. I'll probably be seeing it on Monday.

[Stormtron]

I just got back. It was just "okay" to me. I really liked it up until the jungle chase scene, but that's when things started getting ridiculous...just some really silly shit, even for an Indy movie. Yes, sillier than that old knight guarding the Grail in the last one. Shia LeBeouf f***ing swings through the jungle on vines like Tarzan with monkeys.....then they help him attack someone.....ughhhhhhhh.

 

I also didn't mind the alien stuff until.....

 

 

*****SPOILER*****

 

the head on shot of a live one during the end. It was corny and the CGI looked pretty bad.

 

 

 

 

It was fun, but ranks at the bottom of the Indy films.

Edited May 22, 2008 by Storm Shadow

[Lerxster]

My local paper, which carried a review by Christy Lemire of AP only gives it 2 starman.. er, i mean stars out of four. Very mixed review. Hmm.. it's the only review i've seen though. Hope it's better than that (haven't read any posts here cause of potential spoilers).

 

[Signals1982]

QUOTE (Storm Shadow @ May 22 2008, 11:49 AM)

I just got back. It was just "okay" to me. I really liked it up until the jungle chase scene, but that's when things started getting ridiculous...just some really silly shit, even for an Indy movie. Yes, sillier than that old knight guarding the Grail in the last one. Shia LeBeouf f***ing swings through the jungle on vines like Tarzan with monkeys.....then they help him attack someone.....ughhhhhhhh. I also didn't mind the alien stuff until..... *****SPOILER***** the head on shot of a live one during the end. It was corny and the CGI looked pretty bad. It was fun, but ranks at the bottom of the Indy films.

That's exactly how I felt about it. It was great right up until the jungle scene, then it got ridiculous.

[JoenataArctica]

IT WAS f***ing AWESOME

[treeduck]

QUOTE (Jack Aubrey @ May 9 2008, 10:11 AM)

I've had some nagging suspicions about this since I first saw a close-up picture of the crystal skull itself about two or three months ago. When you look at it, it looks like it's the skull of one of those aliens that so-called UFO abductees/contactees have hallucinated seen. I remember thinking "oh God, why does it have to be aliens? Couldn't they make the movie about an Earthbound archaeological site with mystical powers?" But then I thought "Dave, relax, it might not be aliens" and went on with my life until I had confirmation of what the skull actually was. It turns out that my instincts were right. Not only that, it seems that Lucas has once again done what he did with the 'Star Wars' prequels: he takes out everything that made the original films work and pisses in what's left thinking that it will make it better. I know Spielberg is involved with this one, too, but apparently Lucas convinced him that his way is best. I dunno. Maybe I'm making too much of this, maybe the reviewer saw this in a bad mood or something and maybe I'm jaundiced over Lucas because of how he so royally screwed up a golden opportunity to achieve true greatness with the 'Star Wars' prequels. I suppose we'll see. I do know that my initial enthusiasm for this one has been considerably dampened. That's enough of me, here's the review courtesy of Ain't it Cool News: QUOTE Well, I haven't seen a review of this yet and having seen the movie this morning, I feel I'm as qualified as anyone to post a quick reaction to it. In short, this is the Indiana Movie that you were dreading. I remember seeing the two trailers and though I was excited to see the old man in action again, I was kind of worried that they seemed to be missing 'something'. That something was tension. During the whole of the movie, there was not a single moment that I thought our hero Mr. Jones (actually Colonel Jones as he was a hero in WWII now) was in any sort of peril or even significant inconvenience. In most cases, you were so many steps ahead of the characters that it was really just an arduous wait for them to get through it. HERE WE GO WITH SOME SPOILERS! Well, sadly the hopes of seeing Abner Ravenwood were unfounded. Though we do get to see the big Ark weilding warehouse again (it's Area 51 just incase you were unsure), the Ark is not the main object that they are there for (they do show it ofcourse; ya gots ta). LeBeef is ofcourse Indy's son. And other than quick references to Indy's Dad and Marcus (both dead) there isn't much to link with the the old stuff. The storyline is basically about an alien corpse from some crash in some town call Roswell, that has magnetic properties that may or may not be the ultimate weapon in the future. The Nazi's are replaced by the Soviets who are obviously bad and want said weapon to do bad things with. The alien corpse prize is replaced with the crystal skull from the corpse (the actual skeleton of aliens is crystaline, and the Crystal Skull is literally an alien's remains) and chases and such ensue as they try to figure out how to 'Return' the skull to the Lost City of Gold and let it's supernatural abilities run rampant. I found it funny that they mentioned the Lost City of Gold as it accidentally referenced the old Allen Quartermaine days (a crappy knockoff of Indy Movies incase you missed them) and this was very much similar in most respects. The big problem with the movie is that the traps or perilous moments are completely ass-inine and ridiculous. From a quicksand trap that Indy has time to yack on about, to being saved from said trap by LeBeef using a snake as a rope. BTW, this snake is as crappy as a Mad TV prop when they don't CG it up, and that is another failing of this movie. The fake stuff doesn't mix with the real stuff at all. In the opening scenes where they are outside of the warehouse and Indy is pulled out of the trunk of the car (you'll recall the previews), they go from a real outdoors set to a fake indoors soundstage (pretending to be still outside). The jungle chase in the duck amphibious vehicles (I wonder if those will go in water at one point or not?...) looks like the whole jungle was made of plastic. And then we go with the actual acting and characters. Well, everyone will be pleased to hear that LeBeef was horrible. He'd start crying about skeletal remains representing people that had died thousands of years ago (boohoo). Once Indy figures out Beef's heritage, he is non-stop complimentary towards every non-screwup thing he does (they would pause for mugs of adulation; just horrible). The Double Agent dude is comically horrible. Marion was actually really great when she was first introduced (about half way) and she and Indy have some good banter. But after that five minutes, she was sporting a big muggy smile as they continued on their adventure and she was never scared, worried, or nervous, even with the stupid moments that she tries to help (duck in a tree; you will cringe when you see it...). Cate Blanchett wasn't overly horrible, but her characters' abilities of psychic prowess were never successfully used and she whenever she caught Indy she was never really intimidating or bad. And then we have Indy himself. He has a few lines that work and a million that don't. He just never shows signs of worry or distress. Again, no Tension. He also has a weird tendancy to help the bad guys figure out the clues; never figured out why. What??? Jack doesn't believe in little green aliens from space???   Now I'm truly shocked!!

[nimagraven]

I got my tickets for tomorrow.

 

YAY!!!

 

Will reserve my judgement until AFTER the film .

[The Owl]

did it at midnight last night.....

 

I too think it was Okay.

 

Way too much CG IMO. Again a little corny in alot of areas (Shia swinging with monkeys.... )

 

 

As a stand alone movie it was decent, and definatly worth watching, but as an "Indy Film"....................not really worth the 20 years of waiting.

 

More Spoilers Below

 

 

But I did like the opening set...who would have thought when you first watched "Raiders of the Lost Ark" that in the warehouse at the end that there would one day be an action sequence there.

 

Plus it was cool seeing the Ark again.

[-D-RocK-]

Saw it tonight - first time in a theatre in 18 months........took me 12 seconds to remember why I can't stand theatres....

 

Anyway, I enjoyed it from start to finish. A little hokey it some parts but purely entertaining. I'll probably buy it when it's released on DVD.

 

 

[Ya_Big_Tree]

I just saw it. I really liked it

 

It had everything the other movies had. It had action, it was funny and you cared about the story. That part with the ants had me cringing and the part with the alien was really weird. But I really like how they used ancient texts and historical findings to support that part of the story.

[GhostGirl]

My ten year old and his buddy LOVED it. They said it was "Awesome!!!!"

 

My husband HATED it. I mean...HATED IT. He can't help comparing it to the original, and it, of course, comes up lacking.

 

As for me, I was able to divide my feelings (I'm good at that) - I loved watching the boys have fun, and there were some fun moments, BUT...

 

 

 

 

 

****SPOILERS*****

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was more than a bit hokey in spots. The whole nuclear blast/refrigerator thing, the offhand way the big "secret" was revealed, Kate Blanchett's "accent" drove me nuts, and yes, Shia of the Jungle, swinging through the trees, the whole "knowledge was their treasure" part - knowledge about WHAT?

 

It was exciting in some ways, and very disappointing in others.

[syrinxpriest 2112]

If you ask me (a big effing dork, and long time Indy fan) I'd tell you it f***ing rocked. Easily the 2nd best Indy movie, after Raiders, of course.

 

 

 

 

SPOILERS:

 

 

 

 

 

Loooooved the fight scene where he knocked the guy into the ants. That movie flew past my expectations. It was the shit.

[nimagraven]

Ok well of course... Spoilers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fridge ftw. It's an indy movie. Don't tell me you bought all the other rubbish in the past three movies and then hate this because it's so phony (A grail that grants immortality. Some rocks that get hot and an ark that melts your face like a WoW priest's mind flay)! It's an action film, it's meant to suspend belief for the 2 hours of your time .

 

As for the movie.... It was ok. Not fantastic, but certainly not bad either.

[Padfoot]

Spoilers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw it last night, and I thought it was a good movie it's self, but

compared to the other 3 movies, I didn't think it was as great. It

definately didn't live up to what I was hoping to be, but maybe

after watching it a million more times in the future I'll think

differently.

[Del_Duio]

Harrison's so old now, I feel bad for him. Sometimes in interviews it looks like he has trouble just walking around.

 

A long while ago I heard AH-NULD wanted to make another Conan movie. I think he'd be passing the torch in it, just as Ford does to "Le Boof" in this one.

[Stormtron]

QUOTE (nimagraven @ May 24 2008, 03:19 AM)

Fridge ftw. It's an indy movie. Don't tell me you bought all the other rubbish in the past three movies and then hate this because it's so phony (A grail that grants immortality. Some rocks that get hot and an ark that melts your face like a WoW priest's mind flay)! It's an action film, it's meant to suspend belief for the 2 hours of your time . As for the movie.... It was ok. Not fantastic, but certainly not bad either.

I see people saying that, but the last third of this movie is one hokey moment after another. Way more far fetched and sillier than any of the other movies.

[-D-RocK-]

QUOTE (Presto-digitation @ May 10 2008, 02:54 PM)

I'm the same way. Ready to lose myself in fun....and not about to take it too seriously. Taking Indy Jones serious (as a fan) is really approaching it all wrong.

My thoughts exactly.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

The weird thing was that on Thursday night after the movie I tuned into Coast to Coast Am and low and behold the topic of the evening was the crystal skulls. The guest, renowed Egyptologist and pre-historian Dr. Stephen Mehler talked about how Lucas "had done his homework" and that the events portrayed in the film actually depicted the mythology behind the skulls quite accurately.

 

But whatever.......it's a sci-fi fantasy movie, and a pretty good one at that.

[heartofcygnus]

without doubt one of the worst movies i have ever seen. most of the reasons for my opinion have already been stated though.

[DiscipleofLerxst]

I just got back from seeing it....compared to the first Indiana Jones (my favorite) it's terrible.

 

Compared to the other 2 it's OK...

 

It's just your typical action movie made today...lots of quick action sequences woven into one big story that isn't too deep.

 

The movie is kinda cool in that it addresses lots of topics in US history of the day...The H-bomb, McCarthyism, stuff like that.

 

Go see it to say you did, but just expect National Treasure type crap...not the good olde stuff of Indiana Jones past.

[darrenhigh]

It was a good summer popcorn flick. Indiana Jones was never about historical accuracy, it's just unfortunate that the first one was so good and has made it nearly impossible to live up to. Another problem this movie has is that there have been so many attempts to copy this formula that the series suffers from its own success. (Tomb Raider, National Treasure, etc.) I wasn't totally sold on the specific "supernatural" elements, but then how many truly original story ideas are left in this genre?

 

 

 

 

[nimagraven]

QUOTE (Storm Shadow @ May 24 2008, 08:08 AM)

QUOTE (nimagraven @ May 24 2008, 03:19 AM) Fridge ftw. It's an indy movie. Don't tell me you bought all the other rubbish in the past three movies and then hate this because it's so phony (A grail that grants immortality. Some rocks that get hot and an ark that melts your face like a WoW priest's mind flay)! It's an action film, it's meant to suspend belief for the 2 hours of your time . As for the movie.... It was ok. Not fantastic, but certainly not bad either. I see people saying that, but the last third of this movie is one hokey moment after another. Way more far fetched and sillier than any of the other movies. I call this George Lucas fanwankery .

[JDL2112]

I saw it last night, and as much as I hate to say it, I would rather never have seen it.

 

I really enjoyed the 3rd movie a lot with Mr. Connery, and Raiders was excellent, but this new one is probably the worst of the 4, IMO.

 

The only parts that had me even waking up were just the funny stuff like the snake bit, and when he gets nuked and the fridge goes flying away with him in it...that was pretty funny there!

 

Anyway, I hate to say it was not good for me, but it just wasn't. I think it will be one of those movies that you either love or hate...not much in the middle...just my 2 cents worth on that thought!