Just got back from seeing it- nice timing on the review! I enjoyed it! I'm with you on the pacing- after it was over I commented on how short it seemed, and we were surprised that it was actually 2 hrs. I think the short feeling was due to the fact that there weren't many plot twists, and like you say, they needed at least one other slow, character-building moment to break up the blur of action in the last half. Two would have been good.
I think one problem this movie had is that when the first three came out, the big visual things they did were more interesting; you still had that "how did they do that?" feeling of awe with special effects that I at least don't have anymore in the age of cgi. With this movie, the special effects were good and all, but they didn't do anything to distinguish the movie because we've seen so much of the same stuff. I think the most intersting thng with the Indy movies are the smaller, cool things he does as part of an action sequences, like when he was fighting alongside the bad guys' car, falls into the car, beats everyone up, and climbs out the other side and back into his own car (I forget who was driving, but, you know, back into the good guys' car which is now on the other side). Ok, that was awkwardly described, but when I that happened in the movie I thought, ok, this is why I like these movies.
There were only three lamenesses that bothered me: 1) I wouldn't have minded if the car just drove off the cliff, but hitting the tree just right so that it lets them down easy and then snaps back on the bad guys? That was a little groan-worthy. 2) The obvious blue-screen in front of Harrision Ford at the end when the spaceship takes off. C'mon you guys, you're supposed to be experts at this stuff! 3) The waterfalls! The thing about Indy is he gets in impossible situations, and somehow finds a way to survive. So when they were headed to the first waterfall, I was thinking omg, how are they going to get out of this one. Answer- they go over the falls and.. survive. Um, ok. But there's a bigger one coming! Oh, so this is where they do something exciting.. Nope, they just go over and it's all cool. By the time they were headed for the third one, I was like, whatever. I'm not sure what that was all about- something more should have happened there. A rapids sequence would have been more interesting.
Oh, and this was one of the greatest examples of the bad-guys-can't-aim school of film making. Those Russinas must have taken lessons from some stormtroopers.
Anyway, those are my only complaints. Harrison Ford was great- he seemed alarmingly old at first, but then settled into the role nicely. Cate Blanchett- always awesome. It will be fun to see Shia LB in the role in the future, if that's what they're planning. Nice to see Karen Allen back.
All-in-all it was fun. I was kind of relieved in a way that it seemed like they weren't trying too hard. Everyone just seemed to be having fun.
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Date: 2008-05-26 03:19 am (UTC)I think one problem this movie had is that when the first three came out, the big visual things they did were more interesting; you still had that "how did they do that?" feeling of awe with special effects that I at least don't have anymore in the age of cgi. With this movie, the special effects were good and all, but they didn't do anything to distinguish the movie because we've seen so much of the same stuff. I think the most intersting thng with the Indy movies are the smaller, cool things he does as part of an action sequences, like when he was fighting alongside the bad guys' car, falls into the car, beats everyone up, and climbs out the other side and back into his own car (I forget who was driving, but, you know, back into the good guys' car which is now on the other side). Ok, that was awkwardly described, but when I that happened in the movie I thought, ok, this is why I like these movies.
There were only three lamenesses that bothered me: 1) I wouldn't have minded if the car just drove off the cliff, but hitting the tree just right so that it lets them down easy and then snaps back on the bad guys? That was a little groan-worthy. 2) The obvious blue-screen in front of Harrision Ford at the end when the spaceship takes off. C'mon you guys, you're supposed to be experts at this stuff! 3) The waterfalls! The thing about Indy is he gets in impossible situations, and somehow finds a way to survive. So when they were headed to the first waterfall, I was thinking omg, how are they going to get out of this one. Answer- they go over the falls and.. survive. Um, ok. But there's a bigger one coming! Oh, so this is where they do something exciting.. Nope, they just go over and it's all cool. By the time they were headed for the third one, I was like, whatever. I'm not sure what that was all about- something more should have happened there. A rapids sequence would have been more interesting.
Oh, and this was one of the greatest examples of the bad-guys-can't-aim school of film making. Those Russinas must have taken lessons from some stormtroopers.
Anyway, those are my only complaints. Harrison Ford was great- he seemed alarmingly old at first, but then settled into the role nicely. Cate Blanchett- always awesome. It will be fun to see Shia LB in the role in the future, if that's what they're planning. Nice to see Karen Allen back.
All-in-all it was fun. I was kind of relieved in a way that it seemed like they weren't trying too hard. Everyone just seemed to be having fun.