October 25, 2008

Two Quick 'Don't Watch It' Reviews

Street Kings - $1


This predictable action movie tried way too hard to be epic and ended up simply being not very good. Needlessly overdone violence and terrible dialogue dominate this story about cops who break the rules to get the bad guys.

Despite having a few actors in it that I like I'm saying you should skip this one, it's on the 'Don't Watch It' list and gets a value of $1.


Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - $4


Ok, full disclosure, I almost recommended this one. I grew up loving the Indiana Jones movies and really Lucas and Spielberg got a lot right with this newest incarnation of Indy. There was goofy dialogue and unrealistic action galore but really, those things were in the other classic movies as well. Harrison Ford is way too old to be doing this but at the same time the movie acknowledges and pokes fun at his age instead of trying to pretend he's still in his prime.

So while Indy 4 could have been a lot worse, it still wasn't good. I never felt the darkness and fear of the enemy that was prevalent in the old Indy movies. I never once worried that Indy was in any danger or that anything bad was going to happen to him. It was all just a little too simple.

Still, if you like Indiana Jones and you want a brainless and fun movie night, you'll have a good time with the Crystal Skull.

It's on my 'Don't Watch It' list though and I'm giving it a rating of $4.

7 comments:

Jon Coutts said...

yeah the old ones are cheesier when you go back and watch them, but the were sure captivating at the time. good point about how indy's 1 through 3 had an ominous enemy in them---if this one doesn't pull that off it really won't work as anything other than a novelty. given your review i am reminded that it is still a novelty i need to see.

Trev said...

Are the Russians, paired with an un-explainable phenomena, less ominous than Germans paired with an unexplainable phenomena?

Not that I'm trying to defend this movie (although I did enjoy it), but perhaps Toni, you were just much younger and more impressionable with the originals? At least that's definitely the case with myself. I wasn't just hoping to get Indiana back on the screen, I was also hoping for that same feeling. But of course, despite being sentimental, it never came....just like the Star Wars series. Hmmm, another George Lucas cheesy creation ;o)

Anonymous said...

I'm only curious about one thing. How/why did you get around to watching street kings? I sure hope that it was out of obligation or something.

Tony Tanti said...

Yes, Street Kings was a huge mistake. I was mildly intrigued because a) I like cop movies and b) it has Common in it.

Not cool though.

By the way, my word verification below is "preptard", best word verification ever! Let's see who can come up with the best definition.

Anonymous said...

I'm surprised that kings isn't spelled with a 'z'.

Preptard - A person who is always over prepared and consequently always late.

Tony Tanti said...

Preptard: A mentally challenged individual who wears argyle sweater vests.

Dave said...

This movie was the biggest disappointment of my summer. As a tribute to tonytanti I have created a watchityoutube blog - and this movie is the subject of my one an only post check it out http://watchityoutube.blogspot.com/