Indiana Rides Again

[browngirl]

WD kindly took me to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull tonight. My non-spoilery reaction: I still think Last Crusade is better, but I did enjoy this. Like the Star Wars prequels it gave the sense that it was striving to recapture the previous magic; unlike them, it was more successful at doing so.

The Bad:

• The technobabble was either completely f'ing wack or damn near accurate. I scoffed at the magnetic gunpowder bit; I was delighted by the real-life archaeology.
  
• This movie is a glorious round of cheese, complete with big wide-open plot holes.
  
• It was also sometimes meandering, occasionally random, and garnered more than one unintentional laugh.
  
• I feel as if I should be angrier at the portrayal of Scary Native Mooks than I am (or for that matter the Dirty Commie Mooks, who hearken back to a venerable tradition but I wonder if they annoy actual Russian people). The Indiana Jones movies tend to make me forgive them on that score, and I don't know why.
  
• Not bad but certainly intense: the ants eating people were scary! I covered my face with my hands!
  

The Good:

• Indy rides again! But he's older, maybe wiser, yet not so sedate that he can't ride out a nuclear explosion, survive going over a waterfall (three times!), punch out countless bad guys, and dispense academic advice while in the middle of a car chase. In fact, he certainly deserves his own 'Chuck Norris'-type list at this point, since he rode out a nuclear explosion in a refrigerator. I don't care how implausible that was, it was AWESOME.
  
• Marion rides again, too. I adored her here, even if I don't know if Indy deserves to have her back.
  
• Cate Blanchett's teethmarks are all over every set of the movie, her accent made WD and I trade Moose and Squirrel jokes, and yet she was utterly entertaining to watch.
  
• Little touches! The Ark! Docking Bay 96! So many gorgeous little references and nods.
  
• I wanted to pinch Mutt Williams' cheeks,all four of them.
  

The Just Plain Wrong:

• I really shouldn't write a story where Spalko tries seducing Mutt, right? I should be glad the movie didn't show a hint of going there, I should be pleased with the way she never resorted to 'bad-girl' sexuality, and I should not undermine that by writing a fic where she does. But it would be so hot. OMG.
  

All in all, 2.5 out of four. I think next time I see it will be with a drinking game in hand.