I would like to see an escalation of the violence in Indy 4. While I wouldn't mind seeing Indy go Reservoir Dogs-style on some hostiles, I just don't think it fits with the rest of the series. That being said, I rather enjoyed the heightened sense of peril that the more violent Temple of Doom brought. I feared for Indy in a way I didn't in Last Crusade. I felt like anything could happen to him. He wasn't safe. He was up against some bad dudes who had no respect for human life. I was scared by and more intensely involved with the story because of the heightened violence swirling around in Temple.
Ditto Raiders. It had more than it's fair share of violence. Indy was shot, beaten and dragged. He was tore up by the end of the movie and we were more invested in him as a character because of it. We saw his suffering and sparked to his tenacity and heroism. The threat of violence is also tremedous in Raiders. The scene in The Raven where Toht holds the red-hot poker to Marion's eye is still thrilling and squirm inducing.
Violence is a key element of Indy's character and the series as a whole. Violence reveals character and provides more compelling action. In Crusade, I did not feel that heightened sense of danger because, in part, the violence was toned down (granted the tank scene was violent, but in a comedic way. Indy shot through three guys with one bullet). I feel the violence of the previous films had been toned down because of the backlash from Temple. Parents felt it wasn't appropriate for the kiddies. I believe this compromised the purity of the series somewhat. It robbed it of teeth to a certain degree.
I love Last Crusade, but I just didn't feel like I had been through the ringer by the movie's end like I had felt with Raiders and Temple. I want to be wrung out at the end of an Indy adventure. I want the tension to be unbearable at times. I believe the way this is done is by preseneting characters that we invest in emotionally and then precede to put them in the most genuinely dangerous and threatening situations imaginable. And don't just threaten; make good on those threats. Characters that we care about should be maimed and/or killed. Indy's journey should be as tough for us as it is for him.
Should the violence in Indy 4 be amped up or toned down. You know how I feel, what do you think?
Ditto Raiders. It had more than it's fair share of violence. Indy was shot, beaten and dragged. He was tore up by the end of the movie and we were more invested in him as a character because of it. We saw his suffering and sparked to his tenacity and heroism. The threat of violence is also tremedous in Raiders. The scene in The Raven where Toht holds the red-hot poker to Marion's eye is still thrilling and squirm inducing.
Violence is a key element of Indy's character and the series as a whole. Violence reveals character and provides more compelling action. In Crusade, I did not feel that heightened sense of danger because, in part, the violence was toned down (granted the tank scene was violent, but in a comedic way. Indy shot through three guys with one bullet). I feel the violence of the previous films had been toned down because of the backlash from Temple. Parents felt it wasn't appropriate for the kiddies. I believe this compromised the purity of the series somewhat. It robbed it of teeth to a certain degree.
I love Last Crusade, but I just didn't feel like I had been through the ringer by the movie's end like I had felt with Raiders and Temple. I want to be wrung out at the end of an Indy adventure. I want the tension to be unbearable at times. I believe the way this is done is by preseneting characters that we invest in emotionally and then precede to put them in the most genuinely dangerous and threatening situations imaginable. And don't just threaten; make good on those threats. Characters that we care about should be maimed and/or killed. Indy's journey should be as tough for us as it is for him.
Should the violence in Indy 4 be amped up or toned down. You know how I feel, what do you think?
