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I didn't know whether to put this in SW discussion or off-topic, but its about Lucas so I think it'll work here.
There's already talk of a 5th Indiana Jones film in the works and Spielberg and Harrison are willing to make one.
Now I love Indiana Jones. I immediately fell in love with the man in the hat when I was about 6 years old. Over the summer I was excited to see the new film and I thought it was okay. The first half of the movie was great. The warehouse chase, the American Graffitti like opening, the Nuclear bomb (yes, I like nuking the fridge), the chase through the university. I started to get a little bored when Indy and Mutt reach Peru. The whole scene where they find and skull and discuss the whole history of the skull (again) was boring. Indy already explained the skull in the coffee shop at the university, why does he have to explain more? Plus the revealing of the skull wasn't great. When they find the ark the music builds up and we have to wait until they remove the lid until we finally see it.
Another reason for my excitement about this film was Karen Allen's return. Karen is great actress who hasn't gotten a lot roles in many years. Marion Ravenwood was the best Indy girl and one of its best characters. But her and Indy didn't have a lot of interaction with each other. When they finally reach the temple (or whatever it is) its basically walking from one room to the next.
Overall I enjoyed it. Steven's direction was great (as always), the special effects (less CGI please), the stunts, the lighting, and of course Harrison (even though he has a couple corny lines).
What don't I like? George Lucas and David Koepp's writing. The Monkeys, the dragging plot. In the previous movies they spend one scene where detail the artifact. Radiers (university), Temple (village, jungle), Crusade (Donavan's Apartment, there are discussions about location of the grail but they're short and interesting). The scene where they're in the Russian camp went on too long.
So now George wants another. I'm drawn two ways. One: I want another to get Crystal Skull out of my mouth. Two: I don't want Lucas screwing up Indy like he did with SW. Lucas has said in an interview that Steven didn't really want to do another Indy film, which I can understand after doing Munich and Saving Private Ryan. But now Steven is excited about doing another film. Problem is that Steven wants to the next film the old way like the older films (you know, the good ones) and Lucas wants new stuff (like Crystal Skull). In the other films it was mostly Steven who mapped out most of the film's great action sequences. He story boarded the entire Airplane Fight in Raiders and the trap scenes from Crusade. Lucas primarly came up with the artifact and put his money in as executive producer, which he had should have done with this film. It was also Steven who came up with the idea of bringing Indy's father into the mix.
I have great respect for Steven. He's a filmmaker who still holds onto the 70's way of filmmaking. While he does use CGI, he likes to keep it down and still works on sets. Unlike lucas where EVERYTHING including the floor is CGI and green screen. I have some respect for Lucas too. After watching THX-1138, American Graffitti, and SW I felt that was Lucas was a master of storytelling and direction. And then I watched the trailer for Star Wars: Clone Wars.... need I say more? Lucas is always trying to make his films kid friendly. I watched Raiders when I was 6 and the melting head had no effect on me. I thought it was awesome. You don't see Steven putting a cute pink bow on Jaws.
So I feel that Lucas should let Steven do most of the storytelling in this film. Lucas he can play with your Yoda and Jar-Jar dolls all you want. But leave Indy alone! (I'm starting to sound like that "Let Britney alone" guy).
Anyone share the same opinion?
