Taking about good old Indy, last week, Carla and I watched all three of the previous films on DVD, fitting them in between our favourite TV shows. That was brilliant! ("Raiders" is one of my all-time favourite films, and we kicked off with that on a typical rainy bank holiday Monday.) The most criticised of them, "The Temple of Doom" proved to be great fun and much better than I remember it, although I still don't like Kate Capshaw's character that much, as she screams to much!
On Friday, our pal Mandy came to stay with us for the weekend, and so the three of us watched "The Last Crusade". That lead us nicely into Saturday....
That day, a whole load of us met up in Birmingham city centre to see the new film, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". Thankfully the weather wasn't to bad, so we didn't get wet. We all assembled a-okay at the Bull statue near to the Bullring shopping centre entrance, and then went off to eat a picnic style lunch in the park by the cathedral (lovely hummus and a fun silly chat, only marred by the mad homeless man begging for cash.) Gerald turned up after buying a few things at a local comic mart, and after lunch three of the gals went off to clothes shopping, and the rest of us did the usual trawl around sci-fi shops looking at geeky film stuff. I have decided to pick up some of the "Mouse Guard" comics when they are collected into a book, as I love the artwork!
Mark kindly booked the tickets for us for the 5:45pm performance at the lovely old Electric Cinema, Britain's oldest operating cinema. I love this venue, as it has bags of atmosphere and an evocative 30's art-deco look. We weren't seated long when two trailers played, and then the Lucasfilm and Paramount logos came on....Well, I'm happy to report that the film was wonderful - two hours of solid entertainment. That's all I wanted really! I absolutely *loved* the Paramount mountain dissolve into a prairie dog mound! What a great way to kick it off. The long start sequence in the Area 51 hangar and nuclear blast was *fantastic*. I really got into it. Harrison Ford was fine, back after 19 years as the weather beaten archaeologist. He seemed to be really enjoying the experience. The rest of the cast were good as well, although John Hurt's part was a bit of a missed opportunity I felt. It was nice to see Karen Allen back as Marion.
As a sci-fi fan I loved the 1950's Americana / aliens / technology backdrop which gave the film an interesting twist and feel. Unlike a lot of annoying internet fanboys out there, I have to say I was pleased with the end: ancient temple, inter-dimensional aliens, big "Close Encounters" style spaceship et al. I didn't have a problem with Indy and Marion getting married after all of that, in fact, it's a lovely way to wrap it all up. Generally good visual effects throughout as well.
(Picture here is of Mandy in the foyer at the Electric Cinema)
I did have some minor doubts about a couple of elements, like the 'Tarzan' moment and some of the editing in the jungle chase sequence, but on the whole I loved the film and cannot wait to see it again. Fab! :)
So where can they take the characters from here? Well, more of the same would be fine, but I also think it would be fun to see an 'Adventures of Mutt Williams' film, following Shia LaBeouf in the main role, with Indy and Marion as his supporting cast. Dunno what they could get Mutt to do, but maybe he could travel with Indy and Marion and then due to circumstances lead the adventure? I wonder if Lucas and Spielberg (aka the bearded ones) will produce it?On Sunday we watched 'The Mummy', as I was in the mood for more action adventure with a retro feel. That was one of my first DVD's I bought back in like 2000! Great cast, with Brendan Frasier on top form as the hero, and Rachel Weisz is so gorgeous in this film! I like her line, 'I am so proud to be a librarian!' The new film (to be released in August) looks interesting.
