Darth Zoidberg had a question on another thread that got me thinking.
Yes and no. It's racial and gender politics are a bit of a mess and much of its interesting material ended in Last Crusade or elsewhere (speedboat chase, tank chase, eternal life, <I>Attack of the Clones</I>'s colosseum sequence).
But with that said, there's good stuff. River pirates with a hideout behind a waterfall. The haunted castle opening, which I think we've a very good chance of seeing a version of. A Katherine Hepburn-esque academic. And, perhaps most of all, an interesting new environment in sub-Saharan Africa and mythology drawn from a prominent piece of Chinese lore. And actually, the night-time, under docks speedboat sequence could take a second go, <I>sans</I> propeller ending.
While I don't see Spielberg wanting to film in Africa, it's certainly uncharted territory for the Indy films. Heck, even for the Indy games and novels. The huge exception of Young Indy aside (the series is telling very different kinds of stories than anything with Indy as an adult), have any of the most high-profile Indy stories gone anywhere further south on that continent than the Sudan? Obviously, that could be flying straight into Haggard territory, among Indy's diciest progenitors, but I don't think that can't be finessed.
Possibly more problematic is the idea of telling a story about Chinese mythology in Africa, though a loose-handed blending of cultural sources and locations has always been an element of the how these stories are told. (Egypt and Mosaic stuff is pretty natural; El Dorado, crystal skulls, and aliens is a bigger jump, but no less valid.) Of course, Sun Wukong did go west. You don't want Africa to be just scenery, with the sort of third-world window dressing we've seen in, say, the recent <I>Casino Royale</I> and <I>Inception</I>.
The other thing here, of course, is that the China market's big now. Filming there isn't just possible, as it was the case when Indy II was made, it's practically become <I>de rigueur in big budget action films.
DARTH ZOIDBERG said:could the Monkey king still work for say Indy 5?
Yes and no. It's racial and gender politics are a bit of a mess and much of its interesting material ended in Last Crusade or elsewhere (speedboat chase, tank chase, eternal life, <I>Attack of the Clones</I>'s colosseum sequence).
But with that said, there's good stuff. River pirates with a hideout behind a waterfall. The haunted castle opening, which I think we've a very good chance of seeing a version of. A Katherine Hepburn-esque academic. And, perhaps most of all, an interesting new environment in sub-Saharan Africa and mythology drawn from a prominent piece of Chinese lore. And actually, the night-time, under docks speedboat sequence could take a second go, <I>sans</I> propeller ending.
While I don't see Spielberg wanting to film in Africa, it's certainly uncharted territory for the Indy films. Heck, even for the Indy games and novels. The huge exception of Young Indy aside (the series is telling very different kinds of stories than anything with Indy as an adult), have any of the most high-profile Indy stories gone anywhere further south on that continent than the Sudan? Obviously, that could be flying straight into Haggard territory, among Indy's diciest progenitors, but I don't think that can't be finessed.
Possibly more problematic is the idea of telling a story about Chinese mythology in Africa, though a loose-handed blending of cultural sources and locations has always been an element of the how these stories are told. (Egypt and Mosaic stuff is pretty natural; El Dorado, crystal skulls, and aliens is a bigger jump, but no less valid.) Of course, Sun Wukong did go west. You don't want Africa to be just scenery, with the sort of third-world window dressing we've seen in, say, the recent <I>Casino Royale</I> and <I>Inception</I>.
The other thing here, of course, is that the China market's big now. Filming there isn't just possible, as it was the case when Indy II was made, it's practically become <I>de rigueur in big budget action films.