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.
ThomFiles 