Go Indy!

I just had to talk about Indiana Jones 4 in one whole posting. That's because of 3 things:-

1) He is my first Hero and since I was 11.
2) He gets to visit all historical places where there are treasures that will give you fame and glory AND kick some ass
3) I look a bit like him

Raiders of the Lost Ark was the first movie I went to see without my parents and I took the bus with my cousin KLY (or Loke Yew, I keep forgeting which name I use. If I interchange, now you know its the same person). My parents were very protective and didn't trust me to take the bus or go anywhere on my own. I had to sneak out to a lot of places but with my 1-year older cousin, I was taking the bus for the first time to see a movie without adult supervision.

Now if we were in a western country, the Chindian in me would have gone to try to see if I can sneak into a R-rated movie. But since we are in a country where censors will censor even kissing scenes (what a bunch of depressing and deprived bunch of yahoos), we had to settle for Indiana Jones. What a show it was and this was back in 1981 in backward Malaysia! He was SO cool! He had a whip, he traveled to find lost treasures and historical artifacts and he was funny!

I enjoyed the part where he gunned down a bad guy with a really huge sword after he exhibited some impressive sword play. Temple of Doom was a little disappointing since it wasn't really based on facts but more of a legend. Still it was Indy and Short Round was a good complement. 2 parts I remembered:-

Short Round : You call him Dr Jones, doll!
Indy : That's my professional name

Short Round : Lei lor sei cheong pai (in Cantonese meaning "You took 4 cars")
Indy (in a very white man accent) : Ngo mou lor sei cheong pai ("I didn't take 4 cards")

Last Crusade I thought was one of the best movies from Spielberg and Lucas. How the show takes us back to the beginning of Henry Jones Jr and another one of my favourite actors Sean Connery, playing his part to near perfection, was genuis. I enjoyed the scene at the fire place when they were tied together. It also meant something more to me because from a historical point of view and interest, I am very interested in the Holy Grail. I read on all that I can about it though personally I feel that it doesn't exist anymore. The grail used by Christ was most probably disposed by the inn that they had the Last Supper in. Since no one knew he was the Christ then, I don't think anyone thought about keeping this Holy Relic. Still one can dream.

So it brings us back to Part 4. There is a lot of mystery surrounding the pyramids, nazca lines and ancient civilizations which seems to suggest alien presence and that was the pretext of the whole story. It brought us back to the US Army store where they kept the Ark of the Covenant from Raiders. The story line was more fantasy than facts or it wasn't even keeping close to the facts. So if you, like me, expected to see something in the similar vein of the other Indy movies, you will be a little disappointed.

Just treat it as another action flick. I know they are trying to pass the torch to someone since Harrison Ford is not getting any younger but I really cannot stand Shia LeBouf (I don't know and don't care to know how to spell it). Spielberg's dependance on him is also annoying. Anyway his character was really a non-entity. It didn't really matter whether he was in the movie or not. He didn't contribute to the plot, to the action and to the whole chemistry. The only reason he was there was probably as an intro to the next Indy Jones' plot. That makes me even more brain-explodingly, stick-rusty-nail-in-my-eye-ly, poke-hot-rod-into-my-brain-ly, circumsize-myself-with-a-chainsaw-ly and lick-the-sewer-walls-ly painful! God I hope that's not what's going to happen.

Anyway, the alien thing was a little far fetched but to me, Indy is Indy. A lot of the charm was retained and I thought they let him age gracefully in the movie, showing signs of ageing, weariness and patience but still enough action to tell the world Indy is still kicking!

The Chindian's view on this; you get to globe trot (does that mean you do it like a horse?), find treasure, use a whip, shoot people, go to all the historical sites, win the girl and just be the all round good guy. Thumbs up! Bad points; you get a son called Mutt! Who the hell names themself Mutt!!! Even if you want to name yourself after a dog, like Indiana, choose la some cool name. MUTT!! That's like naming yourself Pariah! Geez!

So ride on Indy and I hope they find a cooler Indiana Jones should Harrison Ford retires. In the meantime, I am going to put on my Fedora Hat and practice my whipping on the neighbour's cats.