Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

[The Inspector]

So, I posted my views on the film on another forum and I was interested to read what the folks at Carpe Noctem thought of the movie.

Although anyone silly enough to look at this thread only to be horrified that major plot points are revealed, perhaps some sort of warning for SPOILERS is in order for those readers who have not seen the movie just yet.

Yes, I do agree that the alien explanation was rather out of place. That's just it: It's out of place. It's not stupid, or idiotic...just not Indiana Jones. As soon as the first whiffs of alien intervention began to crop up here and there in the film I thought that it was a giant red herring.

What I mean by this, is that the writers were deliberately making something as ludicrous as alien life so painfully apparent in order to trick the audience with the intention of making us all feel so silly about ourselves when Indy comes out with a line like "I bet some fools would have thought little green men did all this, when it was really...[insert ambiguous religious artifact here]."

Other things were completely out of place also. The now infamous 'Tarzan scene' had me looking left and right down the aisle to see if everyone else was having the same incredulous reaction I was. In addition to this was the best made fridge in the history of the world, and the snake who could have put Stretch Armstrong to shame.

Another gripe that I had was that several characters were entirely superfluous. Ray Winston's character was next to pointless, and only served to illustrate that Indy has a life that we don't see on screen. John Hurt was completely bland, and the apparently meaningful relationship that he shared with the main cast was almost totally unexpanded upon.

The passing of the torch (or hat) to Shia LaBeouf to play the next generation of our favourite archaeologist was so clumsy it was embarrassing. It could have been done worse, and I suppose my distaste for it is from no small part that I simply cannot stand the actor.

All in all, however, I was entertained. Which is what really matters, isn't it? It just wasn't an 'Indiana Jones' film, which is a shame.

 

[Aeschere]

I have to agree with you on some points.
Yes the aliens were out of place, yes he should have hit a tree and died in the tarzan scene and yes some characters had no use what so ever.
However, it is in my opinion a really Indy film. It is easy, no thinking involved action from beginning to start, he cracks his whip once in a while, gets beaten up and has some unrealistic moments (the snake is a good example).
Fortunately the passing of the hat didn't happen since Indy took it out of his hand before he could put it on so be relieved that Shia isn't going to be the next generation.

The movie is good fun and will provide you with a good nights out.

 

[puggimer]

I wanted to have some of the same reaction, but then realized that aliens aren't any more out of place than magic is.

It makes me wonder if it will have some sort of reverse Star Trek movie curse - where odd number Indiana Jones moves don't suck (because we all know that the even numbered Star Trek ones don't).