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Wise-N-Himer
Reviews
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
great franchise showing its age
Count me among those who found this movie disappointing. And I really wanted to like it! First off, whatever chemistry there was between Karen Allen and Harrison Ford in 'Raiders' has long since dried up. Their attempts at rekindled romance here are just painful to watch.
I also wasn't too taken with the dynamic between Indy and the kid. They introduced the character of Mutt in very ho-hum fashion, especially considering that he would turn out to be Indy's son. (That revelation, by the way, took nobody by surprise.) Then there is the crystal skull itself. It took me about five minutes to figure out that it belonged to an alien. So how come it took the eminent Dr. Jones so long? Plus, his buddy the English fellow (name escapes me) betrays Indy to the Russians and then tells him he is actually a double-agent working with the CIA -- and Indy believes him! Credulity is strained right and left in this flick.
I could go on, but the bottom line is that they waited too long to make the movie. George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford are all, sadly, past their primes in terms of creativity and energy. That is not to say that they have nothing left to offer moviegoers, it just means they have run out of steam with this franchise. So be it. Nothing lasts forever.
One last thing. If, as it seems, they are planning to spin-off the Mutt character into his own series of films, they would do well to bring in some young writing and directing talent to go along with their new young star. Just a bit of advice, for what it's worth.
Savage Sam (1963)
Could have been better
I actually liked the book Savage Sam better even than Old Yeller. But the movie was poor and here are three key reasons why:
1) Dorothy McGuire, Fess Parker, and Chuck Conners were missing, even though their characters (Katie & Jim Coates, and Burn Sanderson, respectively) were key in the book. They were replaced by an uncle who came out of nowhere, played by Brian Keith. It really damaged the continuity of the two films.
2) Secondly, in the book Savage Sam was the son of Old Yeller, but in the movies this is obviously not the case. The puppy at the end of Old Yeller is clearly not a hound dog, and Sam is clearly not the offspring of a Lab mix like Old Yeller. The movie explanation of what happened to "Young Yeller" as well as where Sam came from? None is offered.
3) Finally, and most important, too much time had passed between the making of the films. Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corcoran were clearly too old to be playing the young Coates brothers by the time Savage Sam was made.
Pity, because it could have been a wonderful film.