Indiana Jones 5. It's official.
- Thread starter Kelthaz
- Start date
Shut up and take my money![/Philip J. Fry]
Yeah, that almost had me fooled. Particularly because the actor has made a recent comeback. Actually, a Short Round and Sallah series would be awesome, I think.
Sallah is my preference.
I'm all in for a Short Round and Sallah series.
I'm glad he's making a career resurgence, and he was obviously treated badly by Hollywood and others over the years, but Temple of Doom is still the worst Indiana Jones film to me and I still really fucking hate Short Round and Willy. To be fair to the actors no one could have saved that script, but acting like Short Round was anything but an annoying little kid who yelled most of his bad lines, and who had no reason to exist as a character in the story, is kind of disingenuous. I want nothing but the best for the actor, but in Indiana Jones he played the worst character in the worst movie, and his later career having a big downturn doesn't change that.
I'd watch a Mutt film starring Shia Lebouf before I'd watch anything related to Short Round.
I'd watch a Mutt film starring Shia Lebouf before I'd watch anything related to Short Round.
Defenders of Lucas and Spielberg can go on and on with "t-they w-were just basing it on 1930s movies & serials just like the first film!! I didn't have a problem wirth it!" type of excuses, but Short Round was an astoundingly offensive stereotype Asian performers had tirelessly worked for decades to end, though not completely--evident in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Add the other non-white characterizations in the film, and the final product was an abysmal, cultural failure in the careers of Lucas and Spielberg.
I'd pass on both; Lebouf is intolerable and has his own history of unforgivable behavior / beliefs.
I'll give you the Indian Death Cult has issues, loosely inspired by the real Thuggee that the British did wipe out. But, what's wrong with Short Round? He's a just a standard kid sidekick who happens to be Chinese.
Just out of curiosity, did you Everything, Everywhere, All At Once? It's an outstanding movie, and Ke Huy Quan is absolutely fantastic in it.
He's based on 1930s - 40s Asian stereotypes, and yes, he had be experienced in a martial art (as if another fighting style for a child would be unbelievable).
You'll have to be more specific than that. As for his fighting style, I just checked the movie, Shorty gets into two fights. The first, with the young Maharaja, is explicitly shown to mirror Indy's classic punching style (while he's fighting Pat Roach). The second is after he snaps Indy out of the Black Sleep. We see two weak side kicks to two guards groins. Is that really all it takes to call him experienced in stereotypical martial arts? Am I missing another scene?
They (Lucas and Spielberg) channeled gross Asian sidekick stereotypes, where the person was utterly devoid of respect as a character. Similar to Quality Comics / DC's notorious "Chop-Chop" (from the Blackhawk comics), Short Round lacked the dignity of even having a spoken real name (usually, the naming conventions center on actions or references), and was the constant source of comic relief (as one of the "heroes" as opposed to walking annoyance Willie).
Regarding the fight scenes, Ke Huy Quan did have a martial arts instructor on-set, so he was intended to be skilled in that discipline, further fitting the long-lived stereotype about Asian people.
Which is unfortunately true, not only in Hollywood but in other areas as well, where Asians were treated badly in general. But Hollywood is slowly becoming better at this, more perceptive, and I think one one way to help them is by giving them better and bigger roles that in the past wouldn't have been available to them. If that means being the lead character in a series, then that would probably count as a win.
EEAAO is one of those movies that I can acknowledge is well made and probably objectively not a bad film, but it just didn't click with me. I like Michelle Yeoh in general and I thought that Ke Huy Quan was fine, but I just didn't like the film. I felt that it was a bit too incoherent, it felt 20-30 minutes too long and I just didn't care about any of the characters, even though all of the actors were fine. I'm glad that it has seemed to have a positive effect on the careers of the people in it, but it just wasn't a movie that worked for me personally.
Super Bowl spot:
For a mad moment, I thought that was Marion at the end. *sigh*
For a mad moment, I thought that was Marion at the end. *sigh*
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Did the Super Bowl teaser made anyone enthusiastic for this movie?
Not unlike Raiders' Flying Wing?
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