Indiana Jones And Domestic Bliss
I was so looking forward to watching the latest Indiana Jones movie. Heck, I stayed up half the night trying to book tickets online.
Now that I have seen the movie, I should have passed.
Actually, they should have left Indie riding off into the sunset in the last movie instead of attempting to get a last one in. It was pathetic!
The action sequences were great as were the funny moments. Indie can still crack a joke or two and I know Froggy had fun watching it because she alternated between laughing and squealing throughout the movie. If you can divorce yourself from the story, it’s quite a ride.
However, I have to say that the story line is similar to National Treasure II. Heck, there is even a car chase scene through Academia that is just like the one in National Treasure II.
Another similarity - National Treasure II talks about the lost city of gold that is located inside Mt Rushmore. Indie’s lost city of gold is somewhere in the middle of the Amazon jungle. The water element plays a pivotal role in both lost cities.
While the first 3 movies talked about ancient relics, this 4th installment tried to up the ante by combining the ancient civilization element with science fiction! They actually had aliens in there, complete with the whole Area 51/Roswell inuendos and a flying saucer during the final climatic scene.
OK, so it’s a well known belief amongst science fiction buffs that the gods worshipped by the ancient Mayan civilization were visitors from another world. How else can one explain the great inventions and achievements that the Mayans had in terms of engineering and Mathematics?
But the whole premise just seemed rediculous for an Indiana Jones movie. If this were an X-Files movie, then that would be different.
Marion Ravenwood, man, what happened to that fiesty broad from Raiders of the Lost Ark who can beat a Siberian (at least I think it was a Siberian) in drinking shots? Right now, she just seemed an annoying, whiney woman who has no choice but to tag along.
Then there’s Shea Laboeuf as Mutt aka Henry Jones III, Indie’s son by Marion who insists on grooming his hair at every opportunity. Like father, like son, so they say because both father and son named themselves after dogs.
With the introduction of the whole family thing, my fearless explorer seemed domesticated. The whole movie after that revelation seemed to change direction and turn into a family outing rather than just a gool ol’ fashion adventure yarn.
Oh the dialogue between Marion and Indie was witty, the sarcastic banter coming out non stop from both sides sharp as ever. But Ford and Karen Allen just don’t have that chemistry to make it believable. In the end, it ended up sounding like a domestic quarrel.
Of course, because age is catching up with our hero, he is relegated to the role of stunt driver while his son does most of the action sequences like sword fencing between 2 speeding vehicles and swinging from the vines like the monkeys.
And he got married in the end, finally bringing his family together. I guess it’s a good thing that our hero finally found his happily ever after, that being the period of the nuclear family and all that. Maybe the producers are trying to show him as a man who has finally grown up and owned up to his responsibilities.
Indiana Jones domesticated, tamed, happily married. Oh how sacriligeous!
Me, I like to remember our hero as he was at the end of The Last Crusade, riding away from Petra, looking to the horizon for the next adventure.
I would say go watch the movie only if you are looking for a fun movie date. But if you are like me, who owns all 3 of the previous movies and want our hero immortalized as the great adventurer that he is, give it a miss.
