Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is a movie about two of my favorite things: archaeology and indiscriminate violence. It stars a young Harrison Ford as the illustrious Dr. Indiana Jones, a guy who kicks so much ass for the purposes of action and or adventure that I’ve no choice but to hand in my man-card. I could never be this guy, but I would love to be this guy. I’d love to traipse around the world, diving into obscure ruins, dodging poison darts, killing Nazis in cold blood, or frolic around in the grass the way Indy does; it really helps to woo the ladies.

So the premise of the film is fairly simple: Hitler is fascinated by the occult. He has sent a bunch of Nazi minions to Egypt to uncover the mysterious cosmic artifact known as the Ark of the Covenant. For those of you who don’t know, the Ark is the thingy that Hebrews hoisted around during Philistine times. It is thought to contain the original ten commandments as prescribed to Moses on top of Mt. Sinai, and was believed to bestow unlimited power unto its holders should they decide to raise an army.  Guess the Hebrews should’ve thought of that.  Anyways, Indiana Jones is sent by the U.S. Government to locate the lost Ark before the Nazis do, or else the world faces the greatest danger the world has ever seen: an unstoppable Nazi killing machine. And here I was thinking my job at Wal*Mart was hard.

As far as adventure films go, IJATROTLA is a pretty top notch effort. The story has a very clear beginning, middle, and end, and it’s pretty clear who we are supposed to root for the whole time. Combine that with classic Spielberg direction, where time gets extended in weird places and little tiny details and call-backs bring out the humanity of every character, and you get something that keeps you interested the whole time. It’s not meant to be incredibly deep.  Indy puts on his hat, punches a bunch of guys in the face, and bangs a girl at the end. It’s pretty much a James Bond film, only grittier.  And more awesome.  And with giant rolling balls.  And more awesome.

Also Alfred Molina is in it, which I thought was pretty cool.

A

The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

The Adjustment Bureau is a romance movie about a guy who discovers that there is a seedy underbelly to the world that we know: an organization is tasked to adjust people’s life events in accordance with a mysterious doctrine called The Plan. When he meets the woman of his dreams and falls in love with her in a chance encounter, he immediately questions whether or not his fate is just when it’s revealed to him that they are destined to never be together. The bureau has orders to stop him if he tries to make it work, and so begins his mission to defy the Plan and, by extension, his true destiny.

It was fun exploring the theme of fate as depicted in this film. Matt Damon isn’t doing anything particularly special (he runs a lot YAY!), but his female lead Ms. Emily Blunt is completely charming and can really light up a room. As a romance movie and by extension a “chick flick,” The Adjustment Bureau is par for the course in this respect and if you ask me, it’s comfortable.

The film is also designed to give away that warm and fuzzy feeling that maybe we ourselves can be held responsible for our own decisions, that an unseen hand does not control everything, and that maybe we can take charge of our own lives. After all, if we don’t like what’s in the Plan for us, we should have the power to change it and maybe break free from the Vice of God so we may forge our own pathway through the stars. But maybe defying The Plan is The Plan.  What if this is all a big trick?  My god, it’s full of lies!

B+