Board 8 > LinkMarioSamus's movie topic

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In this topic I will discuss the films I watch this year. I may occasionally mention some things about movies I saw last year (mostly recently) as well. Anyone else can feel free to discuss the films they watch.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

There is not a minute of this movie that is not fun. I can understand why some might find this film derivative/formulaic, but to me it didn't feel too overtly similar to the previous two. Right when the movie begins it sets up a premise and characters to make the following action scene feel worth it, and then the exposition scenes keep the plot moving forward without overstaying their welcome. The presences of Sean Connery and John Rhys-Davies are definitely welcome. Though Connery wasn't as good in this as I remembered, all he really does is just come along for the ride, express disbelief at the crazy situations Indy gets into, and show off his smarts. Felt a little underwhelming compared to his powerful performance in The Untouchables, but while the character may not be particularly compelling, he's definitely entertaining and still more likable than Willie in Temple of Doom (who in hindsight was herself reasonably effective as comic relief, at least compared to the likes of Jar Jar Binks!).

I was a little taken aback at the relative lack of ambition in the film compared to the previous two and the higher emphasis on comedy, but those are minor gripes. Similarly minor is that a lot of the special effects work in this film is pretty shoddy (beware the CGI Zeppelin!), but it rarely gets in the way of the action.

Overall a very fun film, better than Temple of Doom due to having a more digestible plot and a better sense of what it wants to be (Temple seemed to alternate between dark and funny scenes quite a bit), but I prefer the more serious approach and largely more memorable setpieces in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Skipping Kingdom of the Crystal Skull for now.
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