By golly, Indy’s Back!

I’m going to be honest, Raiders of the Lost Ark is my favorite movie of all time, Harrison Ford is my favorite actor, and Steven Spielberg is my favorite living director (cliche, I know). I have followed the conception of Indiana Jones 4 for four years, following its cancellation and inevitable de-cancellation, and have long awaited its release today. I knew as an avid Indy fan that the next installment would not be as good as the rest, since the good ole days will always remain exactly that. I was, in a way, correct, but upon seeing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I realized Spielberg’s immense joy for what he does and how the series itself is really just a great director’s self-aware excuse to have fun creating a picture that is simply a blast to watch. I intentionally avoided any media relating to the latest Indiana Jones movie, and luckily was able to evade anyone’s opinion of it prior to seeing it (apparently there was a particularly nasty blogger who leaked an extremely negative review to the press that got massive media attention…). I know there may have been some innate bias on my part before seeing this film, as an Indy fan, but I think this also gave me a certain level of expectation and high standards. Nevertheless, I tried to view the film as objectively as possible to provide the most reliable review here. Indy 4, to my surprise, was revelatory in pushing all those expectations aside, reaching for something that is not nostalgic, but still maintains the soaring intent of the earlier films. And now, I never thought I would have a chance to say this: here is my review for Indiana Jones 4.

-INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL- ( 2008 )

Dir: Steven Spielberg; Star- Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Shia LaBeouf (Rated PG13)
Indiana Jones movies stand alone; they are big budget and well aware of it, and they try to pull everything out of the creative mind and slam it in the audience’s face for the purpose of sheer enjoyment. Indy 4 is no exception. This time, it’s 1957 and communist Russians are in search of a mysterious “Crystal Skull” of alien origin which is supposedly able to allow ultimate psychic powers for the femme fatale Blanchett. Indiana is pulled into the fray, bringing the young Mutt (Lebeouf) and old flame Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) with him as he tries to recover the skull to thwart the communists. Indiana himself is well into old-age, and the screenwriters have developed several devices to acknowledge this. The professor bumbles, stumbles, and is clearly not in his prime, helping to serve as a comical basis that makes the character more charming than ever, adding new layers to his personality (which still remains well-intact from the last movie). Thankfully the movie does not try to emulate the other three, it stands on its own with new, changed, and older characters who have accepted their aged lives instead of trying to recreate their past glory. The screenplay itself is very funny, with verbal and visual gags abound, helping to keep a lighter tone throughout. I was initially skeptical about Labeouf’s presence (I used to think he had a tendency to be a chronic screen-whiner), but he is fantastic here, lending an extremely welcome sense of youth that perfectly balances the wisdom of everyone else. Karen Allen is also a welcome throughback to Raiders of the Lost Ark, providing romantic spark to the proceedings. Like previous installments, Indy 4 is chalked full of exciting action sequences, drawn out and logically absurd (with everything including the kitchen sink thrown in), but monumentally enjoyable to watch. The fact that the filmmakers are well aware of this absurdity means that it is embraced instead of just shoddy. The main chase sequence through Amazon jungle is one such moment, in which anything and everything can and does happen. This scene is one of the most electrifying in the entire series, and it’s deliberately over the top and shining in the glory of Spielberg’s uniquely playful whimsy. Steven Spielberg, the wealthiest director in Hollywood, knows that he can do whatever he wants in each of his films, yet he is still a young and rambunctious boy at heart, indulging in his playful fantasies on screen. What makes this so good is that Spielberg’s indulgence is every person’s indulgence; his delightful fantasies are shared by millions around the globe (this is also a reason for his popularity). In essence, the “saturday-matinee-serial” feeling (in which everything is intentionally tacky and over-the-top for pure entertainment’s sake) is in full form here. Fans of the series may complain about Spielberg’s reliance on CGI animation for many of the film’s best action scenes, but I found this to be a revelatory and fantastic component. If you think about it, the first three films relied on current genre cliches for all of their sequences, pushing it over the top to the point where one was simply disarmed from reservations and won-over by the adventure. The same is true here, as CGI is the cliche tool of the 2000s, Spielberg chooses to treat it as such, pushing it to a level where one simply begins to enjoy the zeal and marvel in his stylistic sense of humor. It all results in one stellar adventure that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s almost a grandiose parody of the action genre that is subsequently more exciting and gripping than the average thriller that simply utilizes typical cliches. My only sizable gripe is the finale, which seems a little too laizzes faire and visionary to suit the pulse pounding happenings that precede it. Nevertheless, it is intelligently aware movie making for the experienced viewer, and simply plain fun for the common person. It is the childhood fantasy of Hollywood’s most imaginative yet popular film makers, that leaves the viewer satisfied well after seeing it. If you examine this one with the previous installments, they cannot really be compared since, aside from Raiders, they have all managed to do the same thing: to exaggerate the conventions of their respective contemporary genres to create something original, something new yet reminiscent, and something delightfully entertaining.

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And, speaking of hollywood blockbusters…

-IRON MAN- ( 2008 )

Dir: Jon Favreau; Star: Robert Downey Jr, Gwenyth Paltrow, Terrence Howard;Rated (PG13)
Billionaire genius celebrity arms manufacturer Tony Stark is kidnapped by terrorists in Afghanistan who use his own company’s weapons decides to dedicate his time to using his genius for doing good. He subsequently constructs a metal suit with many gadgets and functions to help him in this. A dazzling showcase of sleek technology and CGI action sequences that takes too long to get interesting, but when it picks up steam is rather gratifying. The screenplay itself is rather trite and occasionally stupid, and does little to explain many logical holes. Gwenyth Paltrow, the love interest, is treated as a one-dimensional female accessory and the villains are nothing more than overused archetypes (complete with scary facial scars). Surprisingly, Downey Jr. lends a refreshing edge as Tony Stark with his comic whit and sarcasm that, which when coupled with some flashy technology make Iron Man a decently entertaining, if overly typical experience.

-HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY- ( 2008 )

Dir: Jon Hurwitz; Star: John Cho, Kal Penn; Rated:(R)
Horrid sequel to the occasionally-funny cult classic Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, in which the titular stoners get caught for trying to smoke marijuana on an airplane and subsequently get sent to Guantanamo Bay Prison as terrorists due to a misunderstanding, where they have to escape. They must evade the law while trying to clear their name and win the hearts of the girls they’re after. Every narcotic-related joke one could imagine is used here, and boy does it wear thin. The envelope for good taste is certainly pushed, but here it’s just plain unfunny, insulting, and disgustingly irrelevant and unnecessary. These characters were interesting in the first movie, but now they are simply detestable people. The writers think that they are being intelligent by including jokes based on current social issues (like racism, immigration, and the war on terrorism), but the jokes are just so poorly crafted and the characters are so over zealously obnoxious that it just doesn’t work. At all. There isn’t a single likable character here, and while there are some chuckle-worthy gags, most of the jokes fall flat and make the filmmakers look like incapable idiots trying to be leading men in the industry. Many people in the theater sounded as if they really enjoyed this movie, but then again it smelt of odorous marijuana -i guess they forgot to bathe beforehand.

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Tags: archaeology, blockbusters, cate blanchett, gwenyth paltrow, harold and kumar, harrison ford, hollywood, indiana jones, indiana jones 4, indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull, indy 4, iron man, movie, movie reviews, Reviews, self aware, shia labeouf, steven spielberg

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