EMH drops a line About 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'

My favorite part of the whole thing was in the opening scene when we saw the crate smashed and the corner of the ark of the covenant was showing. It's throwbacks like that that make me like seeing sequels.

It’s funny. I just saw the movie here in Alabama with my 13-year old son. When we got in the car to head home (after getting my free refill of the tub of popcorn), I told him how I thought Indy fans would think of this movie. I basically said the same thing to my son that Dr. Venkman just wrote.

Haven’t you noticed when Speilberg and Lucas make sequels, it’s almost with the “you asked for it” attitude. Most people that were die-hard Star Wars fans thought the last three made were horrible compared to the first three. Look how Jurassic Park II and III were received by those that loved the first.

I think there are some action movies today that take such advantage of the special effects capabilities that they break the willing suspension of disbelief of the audience. Look, if Indiana Jones could have done on the big screen 25 years ago what I saw his son do today, he would have. Effects today are more complex.

I don’t have a problem with the movie, and here’s why. I am not a huge Indy fan to begin with. I think the movies are great, but I didn’t care if they ever made a fourth one.

I didn’t have a problem with the unbelievable action because I expected it. I knew it would be over-the-top crazy. Audiences thirst for it.

All this being said, I don’t have a problem with people like Dr. Venkman that are big fans of a film franchise and are sure to be disappointed.

But here’s a promise. Take your kids to see Indy 4. Then show them the first three. They will not like them as much.

I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark when I was 5 years old. I thought it was so cool. But people, we are in 2008. When we were kids Superman had bullets bounce off of him. But today, Neo makes them stop before they get there.

John McClain takes down terrorists by himself and jumps off a building with a firehose as a safety rope in Die Hard. Last Summer, in the fourth Die Hard movie, he survived repeated attacks from a military jet while driving an 18-wheeler. Audiences overwhelmingly do not want realism in their action movies.

This is not an argument to Dr. Venkman, it’s just my adding to the insiteful opinion he has already given.

My favorite part of the whole thing was in the opening scene when we saw the crate smashed and the corner of the ark of the covenant was showing. It's throwbacks like that that make me like seeing sequels.

By they way, there was one great line in the movie. I even turned to my son and said I loved that line. During the first 1/3 of the movie when Jim Broadbent is talking to Harrison Ford...He said something like "...it seems we've reached the age where life stops giving us things and starts taking them away." First, that was a cool line. Second, it was proven to be not completely accurate by the fact that a short time later, Indiana had a wife and a son. I thought it was cool.

Enjoy!

E.M.H.

PS - I still thought it was better than “Temple of Doom.”