My First Viewing Experience

The beginning of the movie is truly strange, an opening with no explanation of what’s going on or who any of the characters are. It is a pure action thriller sequence. I found it overly gruesome for my taste: it ends in multiple dead men and Indy escaping by the seat of his pants. And only after he does that do we get any kind of explanation of who he is. The subsequent sequences of exposition don’t improve the movie much.

The real improvement, and the area where the movie shines, is the scenes featuring Indy and Marion. The joint fight scene has more energy in it, and is far more believable because it isn’t just Indy holding off all comers by increasingly unrealistic means. Instead, both of them do battle and alternately save each other. They continue a relatively equal partnership and joint street battles. The scenes that hint at romance humanize the untouchable archaeologist, and his reaction to Marion’s supposed death is wonderful. I find Marion a better character than Jones: she’s pragmatic and not at all given to risking Indy’s life as much as he risks hers. I was shocked by his leaving her captive after finding her alive.

Temple of Doom is a bit better. Indy’s bond with the kid is a thread through the whole movie that adds something to it beyond action hero. It creates something beneath the façade; he seems far more human with that addition. He goes out of his way to keep Shorty from getting hurt, and never abandons him in unpleasant situations. It is fitting to this close relationship that Shorty is the one who brings Indy back from having drank blood. And I have to admit that shirtless evil Indy is extremely attractive. The relationships in this one make him seem more human and vulnerable.

What spoils Temple of Doom is the heroine. Marion’s desire to be running into things alongside Indy was a bright point in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and a heroine like her for Temple of Doom would have made the movie quite a bit better. Willie is something of an annoying character. She balks at everything she’s asked to do, whines about everything, and often causes trouble. She does save Indy’s life a few times, but a more adventurous heroine would have probably accomplished the same thing without balking about it. Of course, since Indy practically kidnapped her, I suppose she has the right to be a bit annoyed. And mixing a genuine heroine with Indy being vulnerable might be too much romance for fans to handle.

Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade

The Last Crusade is the best of the movies. We finally get to see the human side of Indy. The adventure he has with the cross as a child shows us so much of where he began, from the fear of snakes to the first use of his trademark whip, and even where he got that hat. The man who gave him the hat bears a striking resemblance to what he later becomes, except that Indy stays on the side of good.

We also get to see some of his relationship with his father. This time he is setting out on a human rescue mission. Instead of being after some ancient artifact or piece for the museum, he is simply trying to rescue his father. The scene on the blimp is priceless in its sentimentality: there they are, with the opportunity to make things up, and neither one of them knows quite how to do it. So they just brush it aside and concentrate on the grail. And the scene of his father being shot—and his reaction—is one of the most pivotal scenes in the movie. I really thought, once Indy got to the cave, that the price for saving his father would be staying there forever to guard the grail.