I enjoy writing about all sorts really. I love travel and am pregnant at the moment so expect a lot ...
I enjoy writing about all sorts really. I love travel and am pregnant at the moment so expect a lot of baby reviews to come. I also post on Dooyoo under the name Whizz11
Member since:07.09.2007
Reviews:412
Members who trust:44
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
It's finally here, the fourth instalment of the Indian Jones series which we have waited 19 years for is finally here and the verdicts are in, but is it any good or not?
I went to see this at the cinema this weekend with three others, one of which had never seen an Indian Jones film before (how is that possible?) but we talked her into it.
I am a big fan of the films and first saw them as a child but have watched them over and over again through the years (generally when they are on the tele over Christmas) so I was hoping that this one was going to be as good. I read a lot of the critic's reviews before seeing it which in general weren't that complimentary but kept an open mind going into it. Cinema goers however didn't seem to worry about bad reviews as the film took £12.5m on its opening day and more than £50m over the weekend making it the third-biggest opening of all time! The film only cost £95 million
to make (only!!) so already they have made a profit which many critics didn't think they would do.
Well, let me tell you Harrison Ford still has that special something that makes women everywhere swoon. He does look older of course, but in my opinion can still cut it as an action hero and still looks good in his trademark whip and hat which were very much part of this film as always. The only thing I didn't like was that in parts they made him out to be a bit of a dithering old fool which they didn't do in the other movies, he was a bit clumsy in the other ones but maybe they made it more pronounced in this to highlight his age, who knows.
Shia LaBeouf who played the young boy in the film was good in my opinion. In most of the reviews I have read he was slated but I thought he did a pretty good job. He had a good chemistry with Harrison Ford and I think they complemented each other well. There is rumour that he will go on in other movies to play the part again and take over from Indie which I think would work very well.
The film is set during the Cold War and features the Russians as the baddies. Indiana Jones battles Soviet Communists who are trying to steal Mayan artefacts in the Amazonian jungle. They basically set off to find treasure, as is the premise in all the movies, and encounter various adventures along the way.
There are lots of references to the previous movies. For example like I've mentioned before he still has his trademark hat and whip but also (and I think you have to be a real Indie fan to notice as my brother told me this afterwards) that there are references to the Arc of the Covenant that they were searching for in the other movies and lots of clues that came to light in this film. Also, they go back to Indie's university for quite a few scenes which were good and reference his father and his old friend Marcus.
I liked this film but didn't love it but who knows; maybe it will grow to be a classic like the others. I thought the story was not as developed as the others. The film started and all of a sudden we were right in the middle of the story and of looking for the Crystal Skull before we even found out why Indie wanted to find it and what benefit it would have to him (ok this was explained but not developed as much as it could have been).
Also, the other two criticisms I have are these. Firstly, there was too much computer generation and fancy graphics for my liking. The old Indie films were great in that they showed raw adventure scenes and these became quite believable when you watched them. In this film too many of the scenes were computer generated for maximum effect but I thought they made the film too modern. The scenes in particular that I thought were overdone were a waterfall scene (another Indie classic used in other movies) and a sword fighting scene involving jeeps! I guess though if the film had of stuck to the old format people would have complained and said that it was not up to date or that the graphics were terrible so you can't win either way.
Secondly, the crystal skull was awful. It looked like a plastic kids toy and not worthy of the old artefacts in the other movies. I thought they could have done a lot better with that prop than they did.
All in all though this film entertained me, I will definitely watch it again, I enjoyed the Hollywood ending and am looking forward to more maybe!!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Action/Adventure - Director: Peter Jackson - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Andy Serkis
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1977 - Action/Adventure - Director: Clint Eastwood - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring:Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
great review. Have heard ffom many people this film isn't that good
Maestrolover 25.06.2008 01:13
I will probably see this because of Harrison Ford, though the genre itself isn't really my cup of tea. Great review.
Bollinger28 03.06.2008 18:14
I hope to go and see this for myself very soon. Shame that there's a bit too much computer animation in it; like you say that's not how the older Indie films were made. Lexy
Directed by Steven Spielberg produced by George Lucas and starring Harrison Ford Cate ... more
Blanchett and Shia LaBeouf the much-loved adventurer Indiana Jones returns to our screens for a new instalment of one of Hollywood's most successful film series. W...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Directed by Steven Spielberg produced by George Lucas and starring Harrison Ford Cate ... more
Blanchett and Shia LaBeouf the much-loved adventurer Indiana Jones returns to our screens for a new instalment of one of Hollywood's most successful film series. W...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Funny, Hugely entertaining, great cast, reasonable plot, Disadvantages: Truly unbelievable in parts, bad timing, some naff effects, silly at times
Jun 2nd, 2008
very helpful by (100%):
