Raiders112390
05-05-2008, 08:46 PM
Not long ago, I made a thread expressing my criticisms and mixed feelings toward LC. Now I figured I'd share my opinion on ToD, for those interested and maybe some people who will agree with me. For me, ToD, while it's campy, is the best of the Indy films. It's different. It's not formulaic and it's very original; it's the only film so far which strays from Judeo-Christian mythology.
Harrison is at his most energetic, fun, intense and most fit in this second adventure. He seems very comfortable with the role of Indy in ToD, whereas in Raiders, he seems like he's just getting used to the role, and in LC, he seems restrained, reserved. This is also the first (and so far only) Indy movie which has him thrust into the adventure; he's not willingly accepting this one. And it's Indy acting the most like himself. In LC, he had his dad by his side, and thus he had to act a little more conserved; in RoTLA, he was on a very important quest and was in the presence of Nazis, he had to act a little cautious. We also get to see a side of him not explored thus far: Indy as a father figure. Also, Indy is truly a ruthless badass in this one. He will stop at nothing to survive and to achieve his goal. The Bridge Scene, along with his rescue of the slave children, are among the best scenes of the series IMO.
The film is a perfect balance of humor and pulp without becoming a parody (one of LC's shortcomings, in my opinion). It also introduces a new element: Horror (something I wish was expanded on in LC). It's the least PC film of the movies and is the Beards using the success of RotLA to do whatever they wanted (in RoTLA, it was a new franchise so they couldn't do what they wanted; in LC, they scaled it back to being very family friendly because of Temple's negative response.)
That said, it does have it's faults; I feel the character of Willie could've been a stronger one, she's annoying (however her rapport with Indy is a redeeming factor). I realize how the portrayal of Indians could've been offensive, and it is the most implausible of the films. Also, while it does have horror elements, Mola Ram is too cartoonish to be frightening and is not as believable or threatening a villain as Toht, Dietrich, and Belloq were in the first film. Perhaps it's because Toht and Dietrich were Nazi's and the knowledge of how evil the Nazis were makes them all the more frightening or villainous. This portrayal of cartoonish villains continued in LC. But all in all, it's a pretty strong film imo, and is the film which lifts Indy from being a hero to an icon.
Harrison is at his most energetic, fun, intense and most fit in this second adventure. He seems very comfortable with the role of Indy in ToD, whereas in Raiders, he seems like he's just getting used to the role, and in LC, he seems restrained, reserved. This is also the first (and so far only) Indy movie which has him thrust into the adventure; he's not willingly accepting this one. And it's Indy acting the most like himself. In LC, he had his dad by his side, and thus he had to act a little more conserved; in RoTLA, he was on a very important quest and was in the presence of Nazis, he had to act a little cautious. We also get to see a side of him not explored thus far: Indy as a father figure. Also, Indy is truly a ruthless badass in this one. He will stop at nothing to survive and to achieve his goal. The Bridge Scene, along with his rescue of the slave children, are among the best scenes of the series IMO.
The film is a perfect balance of humor and pulp without becoming a parody (one of LC's shortcomings, in my opinion). It also introduces a new element: Horror (something I wish was expanded on in LC). It's the least PC film of the movies and is the Beards using the success of RotLA to do whatever they wanted (in RoTLA, it was a new franchise so they couldn't do what they wanted; in LC, they scaled it back to being very family friendly because of Temple's negative response.)
That said, it does have it's faults; I feel the character of Willie could've been a stronger one, she's annoying (however her rapport with Indy is a redeeming factor). I realize how the portrayal of Indians could've been offensive, and it is the most implausible of the films. Also, while it does have horror elements, Mola Ram is too cartoonish to be frightening and is not as believable or threatening a villain as Toht, Dietrich, and Belloq were in the first film. Perhaps it's because Toht and Dietrich were Nazi's and the knowledge of how evil the Nazis were makes them all the more frightening or villainous. This portrayal of cartoonish villains continued in LC. But all in all, it's a pretty strong film imo, and is the film which lifts Indy from being a hero to an icon.