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Indiana Jones Movie Cheatsheet

Here's a quick cheat sheet I threw together to differentiate between the four Indiana Jones movies so far. Order of items of interest: main nationalities, villains, the girl, the spectacular death, locations, sceneries; other notables.

1 - Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)

- Arabs
- Nazis
- Marion
- Death by melting
- South America and Cairo (and a little Nepal)
- Deserts and Ruins (and a little deep jungle)
- The one with the monkey

2 - The Temple Of Doom (1984)

- Asians/Indians
- Kali
- Willie
- Death by crushing
- India (and a little Shanghai)
- Tunnels and Temples (and a little dry jungle)
- The one with the Asian kid

3 - The Last Crusade (1989)

- Europeans
- Nazis
- Elsa
- Indiana's Dad
- Death by greed
- Europe (and a little US)
- Catacombs and Castles (and a little prairie)
- The one with the flashback
- Immortality

4 - Kingdom Of Crystal Skull (2008)

- All sorts of people
- Communists
- Marion again
- Indiana's Son
- Death by knowledge
- Peru and Brazil (and a little Nevada)
- Tropics and Exotics (and a little awesome)
- How to survive a nuclear blast
- Aliens

Indiana Jones 4 - Kingdom Of Crystal Skull (2008)

Indiana Jones 4 - Kingdom Of Crystal Skull (2008)

It's pretty cool how this franchise runs parallel with our time. Progressing, but never to the present. Always a step behind. Events from the past, but always more present than the former.

The fourth Indiana Jones movie ties back to the first one perfectly! They're back at the warehouse again, back to fighting Nazis (I guess they were back to that in the third one too), and back on track with Marion - from which both second and third deviated. Indiana isn't Bond after all, there's room for more than the one, but in the end the one's the one, right?

I'm also really happy they introduced Shia LaBeouf in this one! He's a welcome sight. Great actor. Fits right in. Looks a lot like the early Indiana too, and I still feel like this movie had the most convincing set of villains, and a pretty damn awesome introduction with the warehouse robbery/nuclear test site. Also pretty cool how they manage to bring back the 1950s atmosphere even in this day and age! It can't have been quite as difficult forty years ago, in the 1980 (when the first movie was made)s.

One notable difference between this movie and the others is that here: the treasure in unknown. In the others they're always searching for something that has a definite link to history, but this time it's not so. It's all the more awesome, though in difference from the previous this one didn't win an Oscar! So... maybe people dislike the potential twist for fiction. Which would be odd, since interpretations of historic relics in the previous have never been without elements of the supernatural. One more difference between this and the previous: Communists instead of Nazis.

Of course, this will probably never become the same cult classic as the originals, but it's not bad. I'm surprised people don't see as much in this as I did. Harrison Ford may be growing old, but if this ends up being his final play as Indiana, it was an impressive finale! And the CGI was all but mediocre too.

What are you do disappointed with, people? How does this not stand on par or more with most of the entertainment being made today? I liked it; I am hoping and looking forward to a fifth! And so forth! In whatever form it takes; whatever main character it features

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

Read on...

Indiana Jones 2 - The Temple Of Doom (1984)

Indiana Jones 2 - The Temple Of Doom (1984)

Indiana Jones is a funny guy! Feels like they picked up on the relationship drama from the previous movie, and really built upon it with this one, with the assistance of an Asian kid and a bunch of animals.

It starts elsewhere (Shanghai), but most of the movie takes place in India, features a hysterical girl (Willie, played by Kate Capshaw) and an evil cult of Kali worshipers who have in their possession one special stone. There's a bit of a loose end with how it starts with vengeance that... isn't ever fulfilled, but I guess they never learn do learn that Indiana is actually still alive. At least not in this movie... nor in the ones that follow. Bit of a loose end.

Disregarding potential plot hole, it was a good movie. Not as good as the last one, with new sceneries; plenty of animal life and people. It was exotic and foreboding in a way the previous wasn't, and features some impressive stunts, and memorable fights... even if they are mostly of the oldskool punch-swapping types. The music seems a little less Star Wars inspired in this one too, so I guess this is where the franchises branch apart.

I liked mostly everything about this movie, but I did like the former one even better. Just something about the Nazis, maybe? The ever so villainous and menacing? Was going to point out that I'd rather the former had won an Oscar than this, but it looks that one won four! I'm not alone. :O

Either way, this was worth the view, even if it's mostly underground; with few grand views of the former sorts. Compared to that one, it had considerably more comedy though; some entertaining train track trips and tunneling tragedies. And when they do finally get outside, the views are grand. Forget the crocodiles and their cloth-chewing endeavors, the heights are the real thrill. Great watch.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

Indiana Jones - Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)

Indiana Jones - Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)

The first Indiana Jones movie! The one that started it all! And yes, it was awesome. It starts in the jungle, just like you'd expect, with one grand and incredibly short trip into a tomb, but soon moves back to campus, and soon back to the wild again. This time it's to the sandy dunes of Cairo, where a search for the Ark of the Covenant (the one the ten commandments were carried in) is underway. It's not just a race to find the Ark, but a race to find it before the Nazis. Oh, and there's a girl too: Marion, played by Karen Allen. Harrison Ford is Indiana Jones (if you didn't know).

The music seems almost Star Wars inspired, the stunts are fantastic, the props realistic (all those spiders and snakes look pretty real though), and I'm thoroughly enjoying the oldskool milieu! This was the movie with the fabled face-melting scene too, incredibly well done; entirely without special effects. Even the occasional special effects don't look bad for a soon forty year old movie, from a time when special effects usually did look pretty lousy.

It's an adventure movie in class, with cleverness and comedy and great caliber. If my impressions are great because this is how I remember it or because it really is great is a different matter entirely, but considering this franchise has kept going strong for so long I assume it's the latter. Great watch.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

Ant-Man (2015)

Ant-Man (2015)

The latest Marvel work sounds kind of silly, doesn't it? An ant man? Can he really be a threat? He doesn't sound very threatening. Well guess what? You're right. He really doesn't seem very threatening either. Even when there's potential for great threat, they do their best to still make him seem like a... miniature hero. Assuming super is a size and mini is the antonym. The little, funny guy. The comedic sidekick. Only he's the main character. The antagonist does seem pretty threatening though, despite his limited size! The villainous miniature Darren Cross played by Corey Stoll is as ill a villain as you'll find! Lab mice, goats... what¨'s the difference? (There's actually a pretty interesting dual meaning there! They aren't really that different are they? In the sense that: all living creatures should be treated equally, not that they are all inferior.)

The story lets us follow the journey of cat burglar Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), as he gets out of prison and, for the sake of his daughter attempts to get his life in shape again. It doesn't quite work out at first, yet after a desperate (and failed) score, with the help of Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), he ends up planning and pulling off a heist that will save the world! And more importantly: reunite him with his daughter. And become Ant-Man. And beat up an Avenger. There's also Hope (Evangeline Lilly), the e4xpected romance of the story. Even if Scott isn't all that menacing a character, that's also what makes him a good character. He's normal - anyone can relate to him, and his heart's in the right place.

The miniature scenes are pretty awesome, and I can see a ton of potential for further footage here! Mixing together close-ups of real scenery and fitting in the Ant-Man in it, occasionally with some helpful CGI, just gives birth to... an endless amount of creative locations to explore! They do explore plenty, but I still feel like the bathtub and the railway fight are the only places where this potential is fully used, for some other scenes (like the battle in the briefcase) there is just too much CGI.

All in all it's a fun, charming story featuring an unlikely hero, whose progression we follow and partake in until... finally, he's ready to take on the world! It's like... like he sprouted Antennae? :P

Well, i's great. Also notable are the narrative scenes where characters are all filmed mimicking the narrators voice (the narrator in these cases being Michael Peña). It's a clever and creative tale featuring one of the Marvel Universe's minor heroes; still, one more great superhero movie! I'm curious to see how this particular character will tie in with the rest of the Avengers in time.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

Read on...

Blade 3 - Trinity (2004)

Blade 3 - Trinity (2004)

The Blade movie franchise has been on a steady decline since day one. The first received great reviews, second one received worse, and this one worse still. But... I like it! In addition to a convincing set of villains, among them the very legendary Dracula himself (convincingly played by Dominic Purcell), it also has the best credits music of the trilogy, and compared to the second movie the special effects are definitely better.

On the minus side, Whistler dies (yes... again) early on in this movie, and with him what feels like an important part of the atmosphere. A group of Vampire hunters called the Nightstalkers conveniently show up and help Blade in his time of hardship, effectively replacing Whistler. But soon after, most of them are killed off as well. One of the survivors is a girl (Whistler's daughter) and the other seems like an intended comedic sidekick.

I'm really not sure how all of this will play out in a sequel. Too many lose-ends. Too many non-recurring characters and loss of life just to pump up the plot a little, even if they do so efficiently. I wonder why they couldn't keep going on the same trail as the first movie. Whatever happened to Karen - the girl with the potential cure? Too convenient abilities for a sequel? This movie had a good plot overall, just a bit blown out of proportion.

Since #1 it's all getting a bit too messy, and I don't mean messy as in too much blood. When it comes to blood the first had boatloads to what the sequels have buckets, and maybe with that, also an entirely different authenticity about it. Vampires and blood go together like Earth and worms.

Well, setting aside my rant on continuity and unnecessary elements that don't make the movie any better, I did enjoy the fights, the chase, and the comedic values that Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds) brings along with him. It's not a bad watch. It's a little better than the second in some areas, a little worse in others, but in itself: as great a flash of vampire action you'll get this year. Great watch.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

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