Indiana Jones blog on the Independent

June 6, 2008 | In Random | No Comments

The following is a re-posting of a blog I wrote in responce to a co-workers blog about the latest Indiana Jones film. The original blog posts can by found on the Marshall Independent Web site.

Indiana Jones and the Cranky Sports Editor

I grew up loving the Indiana Jones film franchise. I started with the second, “Temple of Doom” and spread my wings further, finally catching the first movie shortly after.

In 1989 a dream came true, I got a third Indiana Jones movie “The Last Crusade.”

The excitement I felt as a kid for the third movie is actually similar to what I felt when I heard they were making a fourth.

A few years ago the news reached me that a fourth film starring Indiana Jones would be hitting the big screen.

It took a few years and a number of “it’s never going to happen” doubts, but we finally have the new movie.

I didn’t make it to the theater right away to see it, I was busy that weekend, but the following weekend I was sure to have a ticket for the movie.

Before I ever got to see it, co-worker and sports editor Andy Rennecke told me he hated the movie. He later expanded on his displeasure with the film in his blog post “Bad Indy.”

By that point I had heard a few voices express displeasure with the movie including a few film critics but I had actually heard more positive reviews.

The Web site Rotten Tomatoes, a site that compiles film critics reviews and determines how “fresh” or “rotten” a movie is, scored “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” a 77 percent fresh rating. To translate, most critics really liked the movie.

Even the highly critical movie fans that frequent the Internet Movie Database rated the movie a 7.5 out of 10.

Unlike my fellow blogger here at the Independent I will not be posting any spoilers in my write up about the movie, some of the fun in this franchise and this film are the surprises.

What I will say is the obvious, Dr. Henry Jones Jr. is growing up. He’s no longer that kid just discovering a whip on a circus train. He’s no longer that middle aged adventurer who saved small villages and discovered lost relics. Instead Dr. Jones is a seasoned adventurer who never stopped exploring and discovering over the 20 years that we’ve missed him.

It’s the 1950s, a different world from the one he rode away from in the Last Crusade.

In his blog, Andy complained about the opening sequence of “Skill,” which had our hero captured without any explanation as to how that happened.

I’d like to remind Andy, that’s pretty much how all the Indy movies have started. How did Indy find himself at the edge of a temple ready to discover an idol only to find himself face to face with his nemesis. How did that happen? What brought Indy to the table with bad guys who were ready to poison him? And how did a young Indy find himself in the middle of a desert where he would face off against the bad guys on a train?

The movies (and even the television show about the young Indiana Jones) have always had an edge of cheese. They’re based on old serials from the early days of film. Each serial picked up where the last one left off.

I think that is one of the problems some people have had with the movie, in some ways it doesn’t feel like the same world that Indiana Jones first explored in.

It’s a little more modern, but there is still the dangers and mysteries around.

Jones has always been running from improbable traps, shying away from snakes and fighting over-the-top bad guys.

That’s all here in this latest film.

I think sometimes we remember movies from our youth a certain way and we’re not willing to accept newer versions of them.

“Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” has a lot of supernatural elements, but remember that too has always been present in the franchise.

Andy suggested waiting to see this movie on DVD or just skilling it all together.

I think that’s a mistake. If you’ve been looking forward to this movie I say go see it in theaters. If you were going to wait for the DVD, that’s on you.

It might not be the best of the Indiana Jones movies, but Skull has a lot going for it.

It’s a really good time.

Andy cited Steven Spielberg and George Lucas as part of the problem with the movie. The two film makers that created Indy and have virtually shaped film making to how we see it today.

Spielberg and Lucas have been both praised and lamented for their choices in movies. The one thing that can’t be disputed is many film makers have tried to emulate their styles and storytelling.

I think that might be where some of the concern actually stems from. What might feel like something we’ve seen 1,000 times can actually be traced back to these film makers.

I’m glad to have Indy back, I just hope it’s not another 20 years before we get another one.

Andy is free to his opinion, he just happens to be wrong on this one.