Month: November 2014

Released: May 2008

Directed By: Steven Spielberg

Rated PG-13

Cast:
Harrison Ford: Indiana Jones
Cate Blanchett: Irina Spalko
Shia LaBeouf: Mutt Williams
Karen Allen: Marion Ravenwood
Ray Winstone: George Michale
John Hurt: Professor Oxley

Indiana Jones.  Aside from Han Solo, Indy is Harrison Ford’s most iconic role ever.  In 1981, we were first introduced to the globe-trotting archaeologist on a quest for the Ark of the Covenant.  A box-office smash, Raiders of the Lost Ark went on to become one of the highest grossing films of that year.  It was such a huge hit that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas made a sequel: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.  While the film took a darker turn than most people were used to, it was still a fun ride and a very successful picture.  In 1989, the third adventure featuring the titular hero, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, was released to world-wide success.  Taking a much-more light-hearted approach to the character, The Last Crusade featured a phenomenal cast including Sean Connery.  The resulting movie was better than Temple of Doom in every way.  Many people expected The Last Crusade to be the last of the series and rightly so, given how it ended.  It was a perfect ending.  But people had been asking Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas on whether or not Indy would be returning for another big-screen adventure.  The rumors persisted for about 15 or so years.  Then, I began to hear news that a fourth Indiana Jones film was indeed entering production.  I was concerned whether or not Harrison Ford was physically up to the task given his age and the fact that the last Indy film was released nearly 20 years prior.  As it turns out, he was.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull begins in 1957 as a convoy of Russians disguised as American soldiers infiltrate a top-secret military installation.  It turns out they kidnapped Indiana Jones(Harrison Ford)and his friend Mac(Ray Winstone) and stuffed them into a trunk.  The leader of the Russians, Irina Spalko(Cate Blanchett)seems to believe that Indy can help her find a particular box that houses mummified remains.  Forced to cooperate, Indy helps them find the box.  Betrayed by Mac, Indy manages to escape the installation.  After being accused of being a Communist by FBI agents, Indy is forced to leave his university when he’s approached by a young man named Mutt(Shia LaBeouf) who says that Indy’s friend, Professor Oxley(John Hurt) has been kidnapped and being threatened.  They head to South America to find out where Oxley has been when they discover a mysterious crystal-like skull.  It should be mentioned that Steven Spielberg was reluctant to make an Indiana Jones movie with aliens, but he was convinced by George Lucas that they really weren’t space-men.  When you consider when the movie takes place, it’s not entirely surprising that they decided to take the franchise in this direction for this film.  The 50s was time loaded with bizarre sci-fi films and creature features.  It was also a rough time in the States because of the Red Scare, so that plot point was thrown into the mix.  Like the previous films, it’s a story that’s fairly easy to follow and is fairly entertaining.

Harrison Ford is still fantastic.  In fact, he’s even more so as an older and more experienced character.  He can still wear the fedora, leather jacket and whip like it’s nobody’s business.  It’s such an iconic look, you can’t really expect anybody else to look like that.  The supporting cast in this film is still fairly impressive.  Despite what many people think of Shia LaBeouf, he doesn’t do too badly here as Mutt.  John Hurt is great as the “not-quite-there” Professor Oxley.  He’s clearly having a blast with the role.  Ray Winston is also clearly having a good time as the two-timing dirtbag, Michale.  I was surprised when it was announced that Karen Allen would be reprising her role of Marion.  Her introduction in this movie is not quite as memorable as Raiders, but it’s still pretty funny.  It’s even funnier when her relationship with Mutt is revealed to Indy.  The only one here that kind of seems out of place is Cate Blanchett as Spalko.  It’s not that she’s bad as Spalko, it’s that the character is thinly written and generic.  There’s nothing particularly memorable or threatening about her.  Same thing with the other Russians, aside from the big Russian dude that Indy gets to fight later on, they basically substituted the Nazis for the Russians.  Given the time period, I could understand the Russians.  But they’ve been done to death in the James Bond movies.

I’m not opposed to the idea of a sci-fi theme in Indiana Jones, seeing as how the supernatural has been for three films.  I wish it could have been handled better.  Let’s face it, the otherworldly beings in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, are described as “inter-dimensional beings.”  If they aren’t of this world, they’re aliens.  That’s kinda obvious.  One of the things that truly made the previous films special was the use of practical effects.  Most of it was done by hand, CG had barely been introduced, so Spielberg opted to do everything as practically as possible.  For three films, that had been the case.  With Crystal Skull, they opted to go ahead and use CG.  Here’s the problem:  There’s WAY too much of it, and a lot of it is very obvious.  It’s hard to believe that the characters are in any sort of peril when the CG environments and objects are too distracting.  I know a lot of people had been complaining about the “nuking the fridge” sequence towards the beginning of the movie, claiming it’s not realistic.  It’s Indiana Jones, it’s not supposed to be.  Having a couple of people jump out of a plane on an inflatable life-raft and survive is supposed to be realistic?  I didn’t have an issue with that.  Now, when people complain about Shia’s “monkey business” scene, I tend to agree:  That was stupid.

What about the rest of the film?  It’s not too shabby actually.  It moves at a fairly brisk pace, it’s action-packed and it doesn’t take itself seriously.  The opening scene where Indy escapes the Russians is pretty fun and Harrison Ford does most of his own stunts.  The scene in which Indy gets Mutt to punch a stuck-up preppy in the face is pretty amusing as is the following chase sequence.  The graveyard scene is appropriately spooky.  The centerpiece of action in this film is the jungle chase sequence.  While it borrows liberally from Raiders, it adds enough original elements to make a very entertaining event.  For example, Mutt has a sword-fight with Spalko between two moving vehicles.  I haven’t seen anything like that before, so it was pretty cool.  It was also well-choreographed.  Watching Indy engage in fisticuffs never gets old.  There’s a sense of humor throughout the movie that had me laughing on more than one occasion, so the writing isn’t terrible.  I know it sounds like I’m tearing down Indy 4, but the fact of the matter is, is that it’s not a bad movie at all.  It really isn’t.  I don’t think there is a bad movie at all in the series.  Temple of Doom is the weakest narratively, but strong in every other department.  Crystal Skull has a fairly strong narrative, but is considerably weaker in the visual effects department.  It’s not a perfect movie, but it’s certainly not the disaster that people claim it to be.  My final verdict is an 8.5/10.  While the film has it’s issues, its strengths outweigh its weaknesses.  Also, the title is just too damn long.

Release Date: May 1989

Directed By: Steven Spielberg

Rated: PG-13

Cast:
Harrison Ford: Indiana Jones
Sean Connery: Henry Jones
Denholm Elliot: Marcus Brody
John Rhys-Davies: Sallah
Allison Doody: Elsa
Julian Glover: Walter Donovan
River Phoenix: Young Indiana Jones

In 1981, audiences were introduced to one of the most iconic film heroes of all time: Indiana Jones.  The movie: Raiders of the Lost Ark.  It was a wild ride from start to finish with exciting action, great writing and an astounding cast.  It also boasted some awesome special effects.  It was such a success that a follow-up film was commissioned: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.  Released in 1984, Temple of Doom was released to mixed reviews with some praising it for being an exciting thrill-ride and others lambasted it for being too dark and overly violent.  I would certainly agree that the second film took a very dark turn as far as Indiana Jones goes, but it still retained that amazing sense of adventure that has become the trademark of the Indiana Jones films.  In 1989, audiences once again took another ride with Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  Only this time, Indy wasn’t alone.  He brought father along for the ride.

The movie opens in Utah in 1912 as a troupe of Boy Scouts are exploring southern Utah when young Indiana Jones(River Phoenix, Harrison Ford)comes across a gang of hooligans who have discovered the Cross of Coronado in one of the caves.  Believing that artifact belongs in a museum, he steals it and escapes with the thugs in hot pursuit.  Indy manages to escape the thugs only to lose the artifact to them when the “owner” of the cross wants it back.  Years later, Dr. Jones has been captured with the cross in his possession.  He eventually escapes and returns to his university when he’s contacted by wealthy businessman Walter Donovan(Julian Glover)and is told that there is a mission to reclaim the fabled Holy Grail.  Initially refusing, Indy learns that his father, Henry Jones(Sean Connery) who was obsessed with the Grail, has vanished.  In the previous films, each film centered around a particular supernatural object.  Raiders, dealt with the Ark of the Covenant and Temple of Doom dealt with the fictional Sankara Stones.  With Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the Holy Grail is the object which is being sought by the villains.  For Indy, finding his father is more important, and that’s one of the main reasons why Last Crusade is such an amazing movie.

Steven Spielberg once claimed that the James Bond movies were the inspiration for Indiana Jones, so he cast the original James Bond as Indy’s father, Henry Jones.  The casting couldn’t have been more perfect.  When Harrison Ford and Sean Connery are on the screen together, it’s movie magic.  These two bounce off each other incredibly well.  While Temple of Doom was a very dark chapter in the series, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade does a complete 180 and ends up being a much lighter film than the original and it works.  The father-son dynamic between between Indy and Henry Jones allows for some pretty hilarious moments.  It also works because while the characters are estranged from each other, the further into the film you get, the more these two begin to bond over the course of the adventure and it makes for an incredibly compelling story.  Along for the journey are returning characters Marcus Brody(Denholm Elliott)and Sallah(John Rhys-Davies).  Brody’s character is completely out of his element when he joins Indy on his quest to find his father, and some of the funniest moments in the movie deal with Brody’s “fish-out-of-water” situation.  The villains in the film are the Nazis again, with Colonel Vogel(Michael Byrne)as the villain that Indy gets to beat up.  Donovan is the main villain of the film, but there’s a twist regarding Indy’s love interest, Elsa.  Harrison Ford IS Indiana Jones at this point, nobody can take his place now.

The action in this film is simply spectacular.  Raiders of the Lost Ark had the fight around the plane and the huge desert chase scene.  Temple of Doom had the opening brawl in the nightclub, the fights in the mine, the mine car chase scene and the bridge sequence.  Each of those pieces were fun to watch and were extremely memorable.  Because of Sean Connery’s presence in The Last Crusade, the action is amped up considerably and makes it more personal for Indy.  From the opening train sequence in 1912 to the escape from the Nazi castle the film leads up to one of the most amazing chase sequence put to film:  The tank sequence.  From horseback to fighting on the tank itself as well as inside the tank, the action in the film doesn’t let up and it really makes it feel like Indy is in real danger.  The boat chase is probably one of the most exciting scenes I’ve ever seen.  It’s fast-paced, explosive and intense.  Obviously, there’s a whole lot to love about this movie.  If there’s a downside to the movie, it’s that it has to end sometime.

This being and Indiana Jones film, we rightfully expect to see some very spectacular set pieces.  I’m not talking about the action, but rather the sets themselves.  From the caves at the beginning of the film to the deserts, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade definitely cements Indy as the world’s foremost globe-trotting adventurer.  In fact, for the final action sequence, the cast and crew are on location in Petra, Jordan.  The city literally carved out of stone is one of the most visually unique places in the world, and Steven Spielberg uses it perfectly for the film’s climax.  There’s no CG or visual trickery.  That is Petra they are standing in front of.  The interior of the temple is obviously on a set, but the exterior is just phenomenal to see.  John Williams is the master of the film score, and his work on the Indiana Jones films is nothing short of legendary.  From the iconic March of the Raiders theme, to Henry Jones’ theme, the music to Indiana Jones is filled to the brim with adventure and excitement.  If there is a perfect movie to cap off a movie trilogy, it’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  Sadly, it wasn’t the final film in the series, as a fourth film was released in 2008.  But that’s for my next review.  At the end of the day, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is one of the best and most memorable action movies of the 1980s.  10/10 is as good as it gets.

Directed By: Steven Spielberg

Released: May 1984

Run-Time: 118 Minutes

Rating: PG

Cast:

Harrison Ford: Indiana Jones
Kate Capshaw: Willie Scott
Ke Huy Quan: Short Round
Amrish Puri: Mola Ram
Roshan Seth: Chattar Lal

In 1981, audiences flocked to a new action-adventure movie: Raiders of the Lost Ark.  The film introduced us to a brand new hero, Indiana Jones.  While Tom Selleck was strongly considered for the role, contract obligations forced him to drop out, and Harrison Ford from Star Wars was brought in.  Now, when anybody hears the name Indiana Jones, it’s synonymous with Harrison Ford.  It’s rather hard to see anybody else play the character at this point.  Raiders of the Lost Ark was a phenomenal success with an amazing cast that featured Paul Freeman, Karen Allen, and John Rhys-Davies.  It was such a success that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas began work on a follow-up adventure, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Opening in 1935 at a nightclub in Shanghai, we are first introduced to the singer, Willie Scott(Kate Capshaw).  After a dazzling opening number, Dr. Jones shows up to exchange the remains of an ancient Chinese emperor for a particular diamond.  Double-crossed and poisoned, Jones fights through a Chinese gang and jumps out the window with Willie in tow.  Waiting in a car below is Indy’s sidekick, Short Round(Ke Huy Quan).  They attempt to outrun the gangsters and escape in a cargo plane full of live poultry.  On their way across Asia, the two pilots who work for the gangsters dump the fuel and jump out of the plane.  Jones and company use an inflatable life-boat to escape only to end up in India a short while later.  Greeted by a mysterious shaman, they are taken to a remote village that looks like it has seen better days.  They learn that a sacred stone has been stolen along with the village’s children, so the elders ask Dr. Jones and his friends to help.  The first thing that one would notice about this entry, is that Temple of Doom takes place in 1935.  Raiders took place in 1936.  So the follow-up movie to one of the greatest adventure movies ever is a prequel?  Okay, I can go with that.  After all, Indiana Jones has had plenty of adventures in his life, so why not?

While Raiders was somewhat serious, it was very playful and had a grand sense of adventure throughout the entire film.  Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom retains these qualities, but it clearly has a different kind of tone throughout the picture.  It’s darker and it deals with some fairly disturbing topics, namely child slavery and human sacrifice.  The film was criticized mainly because of the level of violence in the movie.  Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom may be the most violent of the Indiana Jones pictures.  It certainly is bloody.  Watching somebody get their heart ripped out is something you don’t really expect in a PG film.  In fact, this movie is the reason why the PG-13 rating exists.  Steven Spielberg felt that the PG rating was too broad.  The level of violence in the film and the dark tone surprised and put off a lot of people.  They were expecting another grand adventure, but what they got instead was a borderline horror movie.  With that out of the way, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom still retained a good chunk of what made Raiders of the Lost Ark so memorable in the first place.  It’s got some very memorable characters.  I don’t care what anyone says, I liked Short Round.  He’s a better sidekick than Jar Jar Binks.  Roshan Seth does a fine job as the Prime Minister, but one of the real stars of the show is Amrish Puri.  This guy is terrifying as Mola Ram.  Mola Ram is probably one of the most evil characters that Indiana Jones has come across.  Unfortunately, one of the weak links in this movie is Willie Scott, played by Kate Capshaw.  I’m not faulting Kate for her performance of the character.  I’m faulting the writing that made the character an irritating shrew.  Constantly whining and screaming, she pissed me off a number of times.  Funnily enough, Dr. Jones makes note of her constant noise.  That’s pretty funny.

This is an Indiana Jones film, so there has to be action.  The action scenes in this movie are fantastic.  From the brawl in a nightclub that opens the film to the thrilling mine car chase to the bridge sequence, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom delivers on the action that helped define the character.  While this is a very dark film, it still has a sense of humor.  The film does get disgusting at times.  The dinner sequence is just revolting and has no place in an Indiana Jones movie.  There’s also a scene that deals with bugs, lots of bugs.  That was creepy.  If you can get past some of the main issues dealing with the story and the tone of the movie, there’s still a lot of fun to be had in this movie.  It is Indiana Jones.  While it is a dark film, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom has some pretty iconic moments.  That whole mine car chase sequence that mentioned, was actually supposed to be in the previous film, but they didn’t have time to film it.  Indiana Jones facing off against the giant guard is probably one of the best fight scenes in the series.  The bridge sequence is nothing short of brilliant.  When you see that thing collapse, that was done in one take with multiple angles.  It was quite an achievement.

Growing up, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was actually my favorite Indy film, even though it was clearly inferior to the previous picture.  I loved it because it was action-packed and it was fairly gory.  I’m a bit of a gore-hound so stuff like that doesn’t really bother me, even though I can see why some people were turned off by it.  But I think the violence actually added to the peril that Jones was in, and that made it even more intense.  When it comes down to it, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is not the worst movie or worst follow-up ever.  I’ve seen much worse.  But in the Indiana Jones series, it’s by far the weakest link, because it’s such a huge departure from the light-hearted and adventurous tone of the first film.  Some of the grotesque stuff like the dinner sequence really didn’t need to be put in there, and people in India were actually offended by how they were portrayed in this film.  Here’s an interesting tidbit: the government in India actually wanted Spielberg to change certain aspects of the movie, because they deemed those parts offensive.  So, instead of filming in India like Spielberg wanted to, he shot the film in Sri Lanka.  John Williams delivers on the music as it’s thrilling and spooky at the same time, but it still has that feeling of adventure that defines the Indiana Jones films.  Even at its worst, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is still a hell of a lot of fun.  I’m giving this one an 8/10.  Some of the glaring issues and departure in tone bring it down a bit.

Warning: It’s hard to talk about sequels without spoiling the original film, so if you haven’t seen the original Sin City, proceed with caution.

Released: August 2014

Directed By: Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller

Movie Trailer

Cast:

Mickey Rourke: Marv
Jessica Alba: Nancy
Josh Brolin: Dwight
Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Johnny
Bruce Willis: Hartigan
Eva Green: Ava
Powers Boothe: Senator Roark

Back in the early 90s, comic writer, artist and director Frank Miller released the Sin City comic books, which took place in a fiction city called Basin City in the American West.  The comic draws heavily on film noir, and as a result, had a very unique look.  Most of the pictures were in black and white with a few colors thrown in for some of the stories.  The comics won multiple awards throughout the years for it’s artwork.  It was very surprising when director Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller decided to adapt the comics into a movie.  By this time, a lot of comic book movies had been pretty successful.  Movies like The Crow, Blade, Batman, and X-Men, proved that you could have a serious film based on comic books.  In 2005, the movie adaptation of Sin City was released to audiences world-wide.  It was one of the most unique movies that anybody had ever seen.  It was a film that had multiple stories told over two hours, so it wasn’t a straight-line to the end of the movie.  Some parts at the beginning of the movie took place after events that happen towards the end of the movie, but it wasn’t hard to follow.  Utilizing an amazing cast, Sin City was one the best comic book adaptations ever made.  9 years later, we got a sequel.  Finally.

The film opens as local bad boy Marv(Mickey Rourke)sees a bunch of punks attempting to light a homeless person on fire.  Marv intervenes and kills two of them, he chases them around and makes it Old City where the other two are quickly dispatched.  The film cuts to a private detective, Dwight(Josh Brolin), as he’s preparing to set up a local business owner(Ray Liotta)for a black-mailing operation.  Later at a local bar, he’s visited by an old “girlfriend,” Ava(Eva Green).  At the same time, a mysterious stranger known as Johnny(Joseph Gordon-Levitt), shows up to play poker with the corrupt and powerful Senator Roark(Powers Boothe).  I’m going to try and avoid spoiling this movie, because it gets a bit….twisty.  Like the first movie, the film sports comic book-like visuals that are impressive and over-the-top.  It’s mostly in black and white, so that makes the carnage that much more ridiculous.

I touched on the visuals a little bit, but I’ll get more into that later.  For now, I’m going to discuss a particular issue with Sin City: A Dame To Kill For:  Continuity.  If you’ve gotten this far without seeing the original movie and don’t want it spoiled, I would suggest you hit the back button on your browser because I can’t really discuss this particular issue without spoiling the crap out of the original Sin City.  Still here?  Okay.  When I first saw Marv again, I asked myself, “Wasn’t he executed at the end of the first movie?”  Also, why is Josh Brolin playing Dwight instead of Clive Owen?  I guess you would have to read the comics in order to find out why this stuff happens, but for regular movie-goers, it gets pretty confusing.  I understand that in comic books, dead characters tend to come back to life, but Sin City 2 seems…..schizophrenic when it comes to particular details.  It seems to me that some of these stories in the new movie overlap with the events of the first film.  It strikes me as odd that this stuff wasn’t addressed properly, and some people knock A Dame To Kill For, because of that and rightly so.  This is the biggest problem facing Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, and it’s going to factor pretty heavily in my verdict.

Like the original film, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For sports a phenomenal cast.  Some of the characters were re-cast for obvious reasons.  The guard with the golden-eye had to be replaced by Dennis Haysbert because Michael Clarke Duncan passed away two years ago.  Josh Brolin takes over for Clive Owen and Jamie Chung is the new Miho, that was originally played by Devon Aoki.  Some of the cast changes may be….jarring.  But the others come back: Bruce Willis as Hartigan, Rosario Dawson as Gail and Powers Boothe as Senator Roark.  Everybody is fantastic in this movie.  It’s over-the-top, so the performances are either low-key or over-the-top.  Mickey Rourke is just fantastic as the deformed Marv.  Powers Boothe steals the show as the senator.  The character is clearly evil and Booth just chews the scenery like it’s nobody’s business.  He’s quite the villain.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a fantastic actor at his age, and it shows.

Visually, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, is a stunner.  Like the original film, this movie has great visual style.  From the action to the story, it’s got noir in its veins.  Most of the film is in black and white, while some characters and objects have some color.  A movie like this can also get away with far more carnage because of its color palette.  Speaking of violence, Sin City 2 is extremely violent.  I would not expect anything less from Robert Rodriguez.  It’s stylish and gruesome at the same time.  Like the first movie, this film is a comic book come to life and overall it is spectacular.  Aside from the major continuity issues that plague this movie, another issue is the down-time between action set-pieces.  There’s too many scenes where nothing really happens, and you end up looking at your watch.  The first movie didn’t have this problem, it was well-paced and didn’t center on a particular story-line for very long.

Robert Rodriguez is a fantastic director.  He’s directed a lot of fantastic movies including From Dusk Till Dawn, Desperado, and the Machete films.  He does a fantastic job here, and gets the best performances that can out of the cast, but I can’t help but notice the problems that Sin City: A Dame To Kill For has.  It’s not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination.  Far from it, it’s awesome.  But as a sequel, it just doesn’t quite live up to the original.  Then again, most sequels rarely do.  I was just hoping for a little bit more than what we got.  Will we get another movie?  It’s hard to say at this point.  The first Sin City is clearly the better of the two, so I suggest sticking with that one unless you’re a die-hard fan of these movies.  It’s stylish, violent, and has some awesome acting.  It’s just some of the issues that I brought up earlier drag it down.  Overall, I’m giving this one a  7/10.  It’s slightly disappointing.