At the Movies: The Old and the New
Although I saw both Iron Man and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull right after they came out, it's taken me a bit to get around to writing about them. Each represents something about summer blockbusters, how they're made, and how they're marketed. I enjoyed both films in different ways, though felt that one was clearly superior to the other.
Iron Man is perhaps the new blockbuster: an original story (except for the part about it being around for decades) with new characters and a new premise of sorts: root for the greedy, selfish corporate arms dealer as he mends his ways. He's not brooding and dark like the Dark Knight. He's just a morally corrupt person. And it's interesting that the film never asks him (or us) to fully redeem himself for what he's done. Yes, he has a change of heart. Yes, he helps the little people he was so inconsiderate of before his transformation from Tony Stark to Iron Man. Yes, he kills bad guys in the end. But he's still selfish — narcissistic, even. He's still more focused on himself and his technology and his machines and toys at the end of the film than at the beginning. He's not a fully reformed person. He's just better, though almost by accident.
It's an interesting approach and not one that's immediately evident. I doubt most people look at it this way, the film being trapped in the standard "making of a superhero" arc. The film gets many, many things right, even though it has to follow a pattern for its story. I liked the fact that it ebbed and flowed in pace, that it gave itself room to breathe, that it said "These are adults on the screen, not adults acting like 18 year olds, so let's let them act like adults, and be flawed."
I also liked the fact that the film was all about iteratively prototyping design. It's the only way to make technology work, and it's rare to see that on the big screen. Usually, in the name of time and moving on to the next big set piece, the technology just works. Too bad everyday life isn't so easy.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal skull is very much the old school blockbuster: established franchise, established stars, megatalent behind the lens, and a hugely orchestrated marketing campaign that cost almost as much as the film itself. I know a lot of people found it deeply flawed, and it's hardly perfect, but if you take it for what it is, it's fun. Nuclear weapons and alien spaceships and communists all in the same story? Of course. It's a film set in the 50's that pays loving homage (with a wickedly modern set of effects) to films of the 50's where all these elements were present. It may appear grossly illogical, but if this is a 50's film (and I really believe it is), then all of those elements make sense as they were all inextricably linked as part of the culture of the time.
That's not to say that was a very good movie. It was fun, enjoyable, but lacked the gravitas and smarts of Spielberg's best action and fantasy work. It's no "Lost Ark," believe you me, and half the time it felt as if Speilberg was saying "Sure, we can do that. Throw it in there." When Spielberg wants to work, he's amazing. The jeep chase through the jungle is awesome and blends action, storytelling and effects in a way that few other than Speilberg can. It's easily the highlight of the film and one of the best sequences in the Jones series (and there are quite a few excellent sequences in these films). But sometimes, amidst the jokes about Harrison Ford/Indiana Jones' age and the mystical mumbo-jumbo, it feels like work and a good, escapist action flick should never feel like work.
Iron Man doesn't feel like work. Iron Man didn't tell the world "Hey everybody! I'm here! I'm back! I'm gunna be awesome and have the biggest opening weekend ever!" It was marketed, of course, but not as the second coming and never bought in to its own hype. It asked to be watched by simply being good, defying convention when it could, and asking us to like someone who's still fairly unlikable even at the end. That's a very 21st century approach and why it will, ultimately, do better than the last hurrah of the 20th.
