It’s About Being Entertained
I’ve seen two movies so far this weekend: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. One was outstanding and one was so-so. I think it boils down to understanding that where Spielberg can tell a story, some other people know little more than how to pay a lot of money for CGI and slap a classic title on the result. Where Karen Allen stole every scene she was in, even the actor in the title role of Prince Caspian (whoever he was) looked as bored as I felt and as stiff as my back was after two and one-half hours in that theater seat. And while no one destroys a bad guy’s body as coolly as in an Indiana Jones flick (from the melting Nazis in the Lost Ark to the aging Nazis in the Last Crusade to the rampaging ants in Crystal Skull), Narnia’s creators really need to understand that Kenneth Branagh did the soldiers-and-archers battle scene better 19 years ago in Henry V, probably with a tiny fraction of the special effects budget.
Sure Indiana Jones had a few cutsey moments, and even got in audible groan in my theater when Mutt tried to wear the iconic fedora, but it entertained. Me likey.
I like jungle scene. Shia getting hit in the crotch with the flower plants was cool.