Quick Flicks: Indiana Jones, Run Lola Run, The Incredible Hulk

Here are three films I’ve seen in the past few weeks. I probably didn’t hate any of these nearly as much as it sounds but I felt that the cons outweighed the pros and that’s what made the final cut. I still can’t recommend seeing Run Lola Run or The Incredible Hulk unless you have a free screening lined up. Indiana Jones you’d see even if I said it was the worst film ever made so there’s no use trying to stop you.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Like many of you, I grew up watching the original Indiana Jones trilogy. Harrison Ford was the teacher we all wish we had since technically class would constantly be canceled. So when Indiana Jones 4 was announced I was a little skeptical. George Lucas has been out of his prime for a while and after he murdered the Star Wars franchise with three prequels I didn’t want the same to happen with Indy. Indiana Jones has always been more of a Steven Spielberg endeavor but this time around I think Lucas’ bad ideas rubbed off on Spielberg. After the ending credits of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull rolled, I felt it was about just as good as National Treasure - not the ground breaker it used to be.

Sure there are moments of classic Indy flare but when you have Harrison Ford put the cap back on again that’s inevitable. I’ll admit that I was surprised to see Shia LaBeouf do as well as he did; granted, my expectations weren’t very high. But I was even more startled to see Cate Blanchett come across so flat and uneven. She felt very 2-dimensional and scripted. I also had issues with the alien storyline, and that’s where George Lucas comes in. He wanted even more sci-fi elements to make the final cut (thanks to Harrison Ford and Spielberg we didn’t have to live through that) and they just become more and more ludicrous as time goes on. There were countless other issues but most of them can just be filed under the ludicrous statement so I’ll rest my case here.

Run Lola Run
Going into a movie titled Run Lola Run you expect a decent amount of running to take place. I just didn’t think this much running would be in the film to warrant its title. I didn’t go into the film with too many expectations; sure, I’ve read a few reviews that made it sound intriguing but not mind blowing. The plot is straightforward, Manni has fucked up the biggest money exchange of his life and his girlfriend, Lola has taken it upon herself to save him. Its approach is commendable but flawed. Like I said, the running sequences are too long to serve any real purpose besides exposing you to the latest set of cliché techno beats. It also features little departures that show you how the world changes during each of the film’s three runs. These are so mundane I fell asleep on my first attempt to watch the film. For a movie that prides itself on being a kinetic rush, this is a problem.

So, what did I like about Run Lola Run? I didn’t mind the idea of showing three different endings to one situation but to praise it on that feature alone is ridiculous. Clue did the same thing back in 1985 and I didn’t have to sit through all that mindless running. I guess I just found the film’s approach very pretentious and obnoxious. This is coming from a person that loves Gus Vant Sant’s long drawn out scenes and shows sympathy for David Lynch’s opinion on the iPhone. As you can tell, I don’t throw around those terms lightly.

The Incredible Hulk
Without even asking, everyone will automatically be told which version of Hulk is better. At this moment it isn’t a fair call but I’d still go with Ang Lee’s version. Despite that it doesn’t depict him how the fans had hoped for, I still believe it’s a superior film on its own merits. My concerns about The Incredible Hulk were realized even though months leading up to its release I had heard of some promising aspects. Both versions of the film are flawed and I can’t really say I enjoyed seeing either of them. Lee’s version, despite having a dreadful storyline, was at least interesting to look at - a true adaptation of the comics to the big screen. The Incredible Hulk suffers from horrible camera work, making the film’s CGI look more unrealistic than it should.

I guess the main problem with Louis Leterrier’s version is that it tries way too hard to make itself fit into the Marvel universe. It’s more worried about how the newest bad guy is developed than what’s going on screen now, what audiences are seeing now. It’s nice that the director made himself a little self aware of Hulk’s foes and offers some explanations to fans, but damn dude, keep it to a minimum. I also hated that they had Hulk speak, let’s face it, he’s not much of a communicator and I think he has the type of build that speaks for itself. Lots of poor execution just killed this one for me.