After last week’s review, I got worried. Readers were commenting on their low expectations of Prince Caspian and because of my review, might go see it when they otherwise wouldn’t have. That worries me because I went into the movie with low expectations/little interest. If a reader goes to the movie with the expectations of how great I thought it was, they might be let down because they’re going in with a different view. If I had seen the movie where expectations were met, I may not have been raving about it as much. So, this being said – take my reviews with a grain of salt. They will skew your movie watching if you take them to heart and they are skewed by my own perceptions. See the movies with your own thoughts going into them so you can have the most accurate perception of them. If you can’t do that without my thoughts in mind, then it might be a good idea to wait to read my reviews until you see the movie yourself.
More specifically, take this review with a large grain of salt because I haven’t seen all of the Indiana Jones movies, nor remember anything of what I have seen, and therefore wasn’t as big of a fan as some of you may have been…so my comments and criticisms might just be how the Indiana Jones franchise is. But my views are strictly from outside of the Indiana Jones’s following, so don’t get your feathers ruffled up about it.
The movie pretty much met my expectations, which were low. The best way I can describe it is that it felt like I was on a Walt Disney World theme ride. The believability isn’t quite there. Take the safari ride, for instance. Even though you are looking out for poachers and end up chasing them, you really don’t believe it is happening – even with puffs of dirt shooting up around you to simulate bullets. But your safari tour guide sure does keep on trying, doesn’t he? That’s what I felt like in this movie. The story was sub-par and the overall feeling was over-the-top and somewhat campy. I never felt any sense of danger for our hero, Henry Jones, Jr. In fact, there were several moments where I thought, “This reminds me of something that would happen in a Scooby Doo movie.”
I thought Harrison Ford did a good job portraying his character, for as much as I could remember of how he used to portray Indiana Jones. Even in his age, he seemed rugged and tough and ready for a fight. And his character was even pretty close to his age – late 50s, maybe 60s. However, I couldn’t help but wonder – with all the (well-choreographed) stunts, what percentage was Harrison Ford actually in the movie?
Shia LeBeouf and Cate Blanchett’s performances were sub-par. The only thing going for Blanchett was her accent. Otherwise, I couldn’t take her seriously as an enemy. Unfortunately with Shia, it’s hard to keep from thinking about him as Louis Stevens. As much as I try to look past it, that’s just the way it is. Hopefully he’ll make smart moves about his character choices and become a great actor. Last night, I compared his possible future to that of Mark Wahlberg. Assuming he makes the right choices. His character in Indiana Jones, Mutt, was to “Fonz”-like for me and he didn’t pull off the tough guy act. However, I did really enjoy the fight scene in the diner with the greasers vs. the preppies. Nice.
Overall, I wasn’t a fan of the character interaction. Miles put it nicely by saying that it seemed they were more interested in the mystery rather than in their situation. Instead of being concerned that the person next them wants to kill them, they ask questions about what they know. And that person freely gives them the honest answers. It seemed to me, that it would have been more in Indiana Jones’s character to lead Irina Spalko on the wrong trail.
If you weren’t planning on seeing this movie, it’s probably a good idea to see something instead. If you’re a fan of the Indiana Jones movies, it’s a good performance by Harrison Ford as a last hurrah in this franchise.
Some little perks, The Janitor from Scrubs and Charles Widmore from LOST have small appearances. I give this a 3 out of 5 stars.
When we arrived at the Rausch Reunion on Thursday, about 18 cousins (and 2nd/3rd cousins) were set to go see Hancock, so we joined them. I enjoyed the first half of the movie. I hated the second half. And it seemed like pretty much all of the first half I’d already seen in previews. The second half had this odd twist that 1) I saw coming with the first very slight indication and 2) did not add depth to the movie, nor improved it.
