Wednesday, May 21, 2008

We Named the Blog Indiana: Water, no thank you sir, fish make love in it

At this point there have been more than enough press screenings and early reviews up that one can a) get a good sense of what the movie is about and b) know that going with lower expectations rather than higher ones is probably going to be the way to go with Crystal Skull. I'm not going to make some declarative statement about the movie's quality without having seen it. I mean, I really dug Speed Racer despite a by-in-large critical thumping. The movie opens tonight for most people but I'll probably be seeing it tomorrow. I hope the crowds are still rowdy (but not rude). One of the things that I have heard about the film is that it will be making many nods to one of most beloved characters in the series, Marcus Brody. MINOR spoilers to follow.
The late Denholm Elliot's character apparently has pictures in Indy's home and even a statue now on Indy's campus. The museum owner and curator's depiction varied greatly in Raiders and Last Crusade and this "inconsistency" tends to drive a wedge amongst Indy fans. The fact remains that Brody can come off as entirely competent in the first film and somewhat bumbling in the third is entirely reconcilable. Sometimes people just don't work as well out of their element and Marcus Brody's element was in the hallways of the university and his museum. He didn't get lost, don't believe it. Apparently Spielberg was a huge fan of Elliot and was eager to work with him in an extended capacity after Raiders. He serves a valuable character function in the third film acting as a sort of mediator between the Jones' Junior and Senior. He also provides someone closer to Connery's age to bounce off of. He's funny, he's clever and yes he does bumble along a bit, but come on, how well do you think YOU would do in a tank chase, or in a completely foreign country for that matter?

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