Indiana Jones General Consensus: ehh
May 23rd, 2008Today at 4:00 the great majority of non-workaholic Indigio employees were treated to the new Indiana Jones Movie. After the movie I spent some time walking out of the theater and chatting with Tim Colburn and Eric Voelter, both of whom were not particularly impressed. On the way home I sat on the train with Thomas Noon and his wife, and Jamie Streib, and their general impression was the the movie stunk. Upon changing trains I ran into Tricia Robertson, and she thought it was great.
So, Tricia officially confirmed my belief that she is crazy, and I was officially unimpressed with the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
For a short while it was fun to see Indiana Jones back in action, but for some reason I just could not suspend my disbelief about the things that were happening in the movie. I knew they were on a sound stage, and I couldn’t forget that they were acting. The lines were cheesy, the bad guys weren’t even bad (if Indigio QA Director Mike Girenko has taught us anything, it’s that Russians are just really smart and punctual), there was no character development, and the ending of the movie was ludicrous and without explanation. I really don’t know what Lucas/Spielberg were thinking when they made this movie.
The acting was mostly bad all around (I thought Karen Allen was particularly unbelievable), the story was hard to follow and what I did follow was not believable, and a lot of the movie was just 100% annoying (ie. John Hurt’s character).
The good: 1) Well, it was Indiana Jones (but for most of the movie I seriously forgot I was watching Indiana Jones). 2) Cate Blanchett is a fantastic looking bad guy. 3) Shia LaBeouf is the best actor of his generation (sorry Lindsey Lohan). 4) It was fun to be 10 years old again (if only for moments here and there).
The general consensus: ehh. I’m glad I saw the movie, but I will never consider this to be worthy of the original trilogy. This is not the same Indiana Jones, not the same type of story, and not the same story quality.
8 Responses to “Indiana Jones General Consensus: ehh”
By Tom Whittaker on May 23, 2008 | Reply
I agree with Tricia. I liked it. Was it the best Indy movie – no. Were there “other-worldly” elements I found out of space in an Indiana Jones film – yes. Was it a mindless 120 minute distraction from the rest of the world and a few hours I was not focused on my Blackberry – yes. So that is not all bad.
By Tricia Robertson on May 23, 2008 | Reply
Tom – thx That’s almost verbatim what I actually said to WR. Guess that makes both you and I crazy. OW
PS Thanks for the tickets, I enjoyed myself
By Wayne Rodgers on May 23, 2008 | Reply
Yes, coincidentally those were the exact same words out of Tricia’s mouth, and you are both crazy. I prefer my mindless distractions to not almost ruin one of the best movie franchises of all time.
By Tom Whittaker on May 23, 2008 | Reply
Tricia is now my new favorite. Wayne is no longer Wayne David. He is now Wayne Eugene.
By Thomas Noon on May 23, 2008 | Reply
I certainly agree with Tom in that it was a great 2 hour distraction. Thanks Indigio! On the other hand, I agree with my officemate with respect to the “strange elements” in the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
By Tim Colburn on May 23, 2008 | Reply
“EHHH” is about right. The cheesiness was not my complaint. All these movies are cheesy. Wayne is right there was no character development, you knew the kid was his son immediately and the plot just didn’t make much since. So where those skeleton’s alive? Why was the skull only magnetic when it was convenient?
By Mike Minton on May 23, 2008 | Reply
It was a smoking pile of crap. Please do not mix hokie sci-fi fooey into my action flicks, thank you.
By Jamie Streib on May 27, 2008 | Reply
Hey now, I didn’t say it stunk. I liked most of it except the first 10 of the last 15 minutes. Plus I am in love with Shia Lebeouf. So for me, it was two hours of the LeBeouf with some other stuff going on in the background. He is 21 so it’s fine.