Confessions of an Indy apologist

So, what with all the Indiana Jones quotes I've been putting up, it seems pretty natural that I'd drop a review on you all. Don't worry, I'm keeping this one spoiler free, so feel free to read on. Yeah, I know. Most of you have seen it already.

So, I've seen Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull twice now. Yeah, twice. I guess that says something about what I thought about the movie, but don't make too many assumptions just yet. I decided opening night at the Ziegfeld was as good a place as any to experience Indy 4, and I was constantly geeking out about how it was being shown in digital projection. Turns out I shouldn't have been. The biggest negative impression that I came out with was, "it really could have used some film grain." The digital effects (especially the kooky lighting) mixed with the crystal clear projection just made the movie look so... new. And for an Indy movie, that just didn't fly with me. I was also a little worried by some of the dialog which seemed forced and a generally lightweight feel to the whole event. Thoughts like, "can't these people act?" and, "Indy would have never paused there," flew through my mind more often than I'd like. But, there were also parts where I couldn't help but smile and really feel like I was on another adventure with the coolest PhD ever to grace the screen. Though I didn't feel ripped off, as I left the theater I couldn't help but feel more than a little let down.

But...

Then I saw it a second time. I'd had a day to mull it over in my mind. It seemed as if every passing hour I grew to like the film better. After all, it was another adventure with Indiana Jones, right? It's not like these things come around all that often anymore. I met with some friends and headed to the Battery Park theater where, mercifully, the film was not digitally projected. Hooray for a dimmer picture and gritty film! Not being so nervous this time, I just sat back and enjoyed. And enjoyed! All the things that I'd had a problem with before just seemed to melt away. Gone were the strange exchanges between Indy and his costars. Gone were the cringes at kooky plot elements (except for one, but that's allowable). Everything just seemed better. Had I become that much of a movie snob? I mean, it's not like this was meant to be Wild Strawberries. This is Indy does B-Movies. Yes, the original three might have been canonized by many (myself included), but I don't think it was ever meant to be anything more than an entertaining movie. And I was entertained.

Of course, this is a debate that will most likely go on for decades. There will be the critics and the apologists. The ending of Last Crusade was a more fitting end to the franchise, for sure. It's going to take me a long while to think of Indiana Jones as a tetralogy rather than a trilogy. And yes, it's my least favorite of the four. But it's still pretty darn fun. If you'll indulge me the use of William Safire's famous term, I'd like to say to all those nattering nabobs of negativism out there one thing: see it one more time, then let's talk.