Indiana Jones IV: Tomatometer 79%

[dANdeLION]

I like it better than Temple of Doom, but not as much as the Last Crusade. The stunts came off way less choreographed than say, Jurassic Park II or Batman Forever, and I thought Blanchett and Ford did a good job in it. The weaknesses, however, are definitely glaring, and they're all so obviously the fault of Geaorge Lucas, who needs to grow up a bit, dammit. Or get a girlfriend; I don't know. I do know he writes dialogue horribly; Harrison Ford is the only actor who ever managed to create any sort of magic with it. Ford and Carrie Fisher were great in the first 2 Star Wars, and Ford did it again with Karen Allen in Raiders, but Karen wasn't up to it this time, not by a long shot. Not only that, but the dialogue between them was written even worse than usual by Lucas; he obviously thought Ford could sell anything, and didn't bother to come up with anything special. The other flaws have been covered already, and I agree with them,

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especially the Tarzan one

so I won't repeat them here. Anyway, the movie's worth watching once, and if you can keep from thinkng about it afterwards, you'll be happier for it.

[Avatar]

Ack! I agree 100% with dAN.

Still I actually quite liked it. Some of it was really awful, but I still had fun. Ford was still believeably Indy. And despite it's short comings,

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At least he didn't give the hat to the kid.

--A

[Loredoctor]

I came, I saw, I liked,

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I hated the UFO sequence.

[Cagliostro]

Ack! I agree 100% with dAN.

Still I actually quite liked it. Some of it was really awful, but I still had fun. Ford was still believeably Indy. And despite it's short comings,

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At least he didn't give the hat to the kid.

--A

Yeah, my friend since grade school and I went and saw it, and when that scene came up, he kept "please no, please no, please no." \

This is probably the best point made about this movie, and why I think it fell flatter than it should have:

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43) We were frequently ahead of the story (when we weren't confused) such as “Mary” being Marion Ravenwood or Mutt being Indy’s son or that Indy will win the fight with the Russian soldier who will fall into the ants, or frankly, the mysteries about the skull itself.

Overall, I did have a lot of fun, and even though I wasn't expecting very much from it, I still left a little disappointed.

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Marion had almost nothing to do, it wasn't nearly as funny as the previous three, and I think for point #43, it wasn't as much fun as there was no tension. But as for the bits of non-reality, sheesh, guys...all of them had that. Particularly TOD when they leap out of an airplane with an inflatable raft, hit pretty solidly on a mountain side, slide down a mountainside on raft, go off a cliff, and land in the water. I was expecting things like this, so the ant sequence didn't bother me in the slightest.

What I did like about it was the beginning of the forest fight sequence, we see the action from a different perspective. We don't follow Indy as he tosses people out of the truck. We've seen that before, so it was kind of funny to see it from another perspective. Then again, it wasn't particularly exciting not seeing the action, but I have to say it was one of the few clever moments of the movie.

I also like that they didn't make a huge deal out of his age as I thought they would. Mutt was more perplexed at first that it was a teacher kicking ass.

I'm sure I have more both ways, but I'll leave it at that. But suffice it to say, and this surprises me, I had much more fun at Iron Man.

[Skyweir]

I came, I saw, I liked,

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I hated the UFO sequence.

yeah that sucked majorly

but yeh daNs assessment is fair .. it probably isnt the worst movie ever made .. and it had fun factor .. and I think it was marginally better than
temple of doom .. which also had a very annoying kid

and cag - in the hat scene i was with your friend going 'please no, please no' out loud ...

[Tulizar]

Not much to add. I wasn't as disappointed as most since I went into the theater with low expectations. I love the Indy movies (except TOD)

I don't want to repeat what's already been said, but...
I agree that the script sucked. I didn't care about the skull because the characters didn't seem to care or believe in it. I love Cate Blanchett, but her character was not a great villain. I was disappointed that Karen Allen's only role was to "surprise" the audience. In Raiders she was a clever, industrious, quick-witted character. In this movie she...smiles and does nothing memorable.

Thank god the action sequences were so outrageous. The over-the-top chase scenes and ridiculous near death escapades were the only things that were reminiscent of the previous Indy movies.

[balon!]

I went in there with what I thought was a well armored nostalgia of my childhood. But after two hours and some change of THAT, I can say, my childhood has been thoroughly beaten.

[Fist and Faith]

When I watched Raiders again a few weeks ago, it just wasn't as good as I remembered.

You blasphemous bastard!!! How dare you suggest Raiders is anything less than perfect in all ways!!!!

Well, I guess the lack of nudity means there was room to improve it, but still...

Heh. I saw it 22 times, and can still quote a large amount of the dialog, despite not having seen it in more than a decade. Though it does require some suspension of disbelief, it's nothing like Temple of Doom, or, from what you are all saying, IJ4. I can't imagine not loving Raiders if I watch it again. But now you've got me scared to try.

[Zarathustra]

Cag, I agree with your point about Indy's age. I'm glad they played that low-key, because honestly it didn't matter to me at all. I, too, liked that they made a bigger deal out of this "mere teacher" kicking ass, rather than a the old man angle. The problem wasn't Jones at all. That gives me hope that they could still squeeze out another and redeem this one. I loved the look and the feel of the movie. Heck, I even see Tulizar's point about the over-the-top action scenes providing a necessary bridge to the old films that was missing in the character interactions and story. You also make a good point about the raft in TOD. Maybe it was the CGI which made these less believable than that. When you see real objects with real light moving through real space, it's easier to accept unrealistic stunts.

F&F, don't get me wrong, I still love Raiders and think it's the best of the series. I just remember getting chills during the scene when they open the tomb for the first time, with the lightning in the background. But of course, I used to believe in God when I first watched this as a child, so that could have added to the power of that scene.

About TOD, I know that historically it was a disappointment after Raiders, and I always agreed with this sentiment. But after the (slight!) disappointment in rewatching Raiders, it was a surprise to me how well TOD held up. I actually liked it better than I remembered. Short Round is not annoying (Skyweir)! He's cool!

[Worm of Despite]

Heh. I saw it 22 times, and can still quote a large amount of the dialog, despite not having seen it in more than a decade.

That doesn't count, since you are the "Quote Master" of the Watch or something.

[Cagliostro]

Y'know, I've never really had a problem with TOD. When I saw it, I came out of it like I was on a roller coaster. Lotsa fun, although there were some annoyances on the way. But not enough to keep it from being a non-stop thrill ride (sorry, had to use the typical movie review lingo). Yeah, water doesn't move like that in the caverns (rounding the bend and surprising you), but what the hell if it doesn't make sense...it's all in good fun. So with that I agree with Tulizar in that the action scenes being so outrageous were the best parts of this flick. It really was at its best at its most unbelievable. I loved the ants.

[iQuestor]

it sucked, badly.

[Cail]

Adult Content Warning!!!!!

7 Artifacts for Indiana Jones to Chase in Part 5.

[Marv]

Very dissapointing. I can see why Sean Connery didn't want any part of it. The only redeeming thing was that Ford was still believable as Indy, so there's a chance for a 5th, to lay the series to rest properly and not with this rubbish.

[Wyldewode]

It was enjoyable (while I was watching it), but I had many of the same problems with it that others did. I won't buy this for my collection. . . and am disappointed because I really expected a much better film with all the raw material that was available (actors, money, special effects). The dialogue and fuzzy logic in this movie cements my theory that Lucas should never be allowed within a 1000 km distance of a script when it is being written.

Bah! Movie grade: C-

[CovenantJr]

Saw it tonight. The weakest of the four, and badly flawed, but pretty fun.

I did dislike...

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...the flying, atomic detonation resistant fridge, the vine-swinging silliness and the presence of aliens (ugh), but I still enjoyed it overall. I approved of making a bit of a joke about Indy's advancing age, and the way Mutt didn't get the hat - although the hat blowing in at all seemed daft.

I really hope we don't get Mutt spinning off into a new franchise; I have no interest in seeing Mutt Jones and the Brylcreem of Retro Fashion.

I hadn't thought about the matching goals of the two parties until I read Malik's post, but he's quite right: Russian woman wanted to put the head back, and Indy wanted to return the head but not actually put it back on its neck himself. In retrospect, that's a fairly glaring hole.

Still, we mustn't forget that Indiana Jones was always cheesy and silly. He's called Indiana Jones, for pity's sake!

[Cagliostro]

Yeah, I thought the fridge scene set up the tone for the rest of the movie. Personally, I took it that we would be seeing some outright poo-pooing on reality, physics, and all the things the pseudo-scientists usually go on about. I hung that on a hook, and set about the task of not taking it seriously, and had something of a good time. I just complain that I didn't have as much of a good time than I had expected.

[Cail]

Spoilers in the link, but it appears that the movie will be famous for at least one thing.

[Wyldewode]

That sounds about right, Cail.

[onewyteduck]

Short Round is not annoying (Skyweir)! He's cool!

Short Round was very annoying. He is the Cadillac of annoying children that ruin what might otherwise have been a decent movie.

Crystle Skull was decent. Harrison Ford was still great as Indiana. Lucas didn't portray Marion very well but at least I will give them kudos for not replacing Karen Allen with a "younger, hot, totally talentless actress". The chase scene through the jungle was waaaaaay to long. Still out to bat on Shia LaBeouf in general.......

I really liked the bit with using the snake to pull Indy out of the sand pit and crashing into the crate holding The Ark in the warehouse was pretty funny too.

It wasn't a waste of money but I don't know that I would ever watch it again.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is still in my top ten favorite movies of all time! Watched it the other day. That makes