Indiana Jones

Posted on 2008/05/31 11:35:06 (May 2008).

[Thursday 29th May]
So tonight I went to see the new Indiana Jones film with a few people from work, at the Screen on the Hill in Belsize Park.

Well frankly it wasn't that great. I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised. Having spoken to other people who'd seen it before me (and weren't exactly raving about it) I'd gone in with extremely low expectations, and yet still managed to be disappointed. When trotting out a load of well worn clichés there seems to be a fine line between the charmingly nostalgic and the tediously formulaic. In this film Indy didn't just tiptoe around that line, he ran over it, screaming and being chased by a giant rolling boulder.

I noticed that a lot of Indy's lines were things like "You've gotta be kidding" or "I don't believe it!" - I couldn't help but wonder if this was just Harrison Ford ad libbing.

As one of my colleagues put it, rather dryly: "I was very surprised when the temple collapsed at the end of the film". I think this summed it all up very well indeed.

Of course I suppose a large part of the problem is that I've just grown up since the original three films were made, but surely I'm not entirely incapable of suspending my disbelief now? Would it have been entirely impossible to have made a new Indiana Jones film that the original fans would have universally applauded?

After leaving the cinema we went to a nearby tapas place for dinner, and a chance to conduct a postmortem for the film. Unfortunately the Victoria line was doing it usual annoying thing of closing early, and as a couple of us relied on that for getting home we couldn't stay particularly late.

Hmmm, well thanks for the review. I'm glad I read it. You're quite right John, if the cliché was pushed too far. After the first three films did their work, it was always going to be a hard act to follow - especially as HF is 26 years or so, older!

Mind you, I think watching the originals, I was never under any illusions that all I was expecting was a jolly good romp, with a lot of nasty baddies, amazing crumbling ruins and a predictable ending! I hope the new film, at least, gave those! :D

Posted by Nigel at 2008/06/02 15:11:17.

Hmmm, well thanks for the review. I'm glad I read it. You're quite right John, if the cliché was pushed too far. After the first three films did their work, it was always going to be a hard act to follow - especially as HF is 26 years or so, older!

Mind you, I think watching the originals, I was never under any illusions that all I was expecting was a jolly good romp, with a lot of nasty baddies, amazing crumbling ruins and a predictable ending! I hope the new film, at least, gave those! :D

Posted by Nigel at 2008/06/02 15:11:19.

I didn't mind the last Indy movie, I found the story quite strange in some points, and the idea of the Rooswell incident it's a bit "too much" in my opinion... Unlike other Jones movies there aren't enough "people" around, it seems that the set was only him, his son and wife and the Russians.. Not disappointing completely, but I guess it could have been better...

Posted by Lox at 2008/06/02 17:33:06.

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