Baby Mamas and the Temple of Doom

Another light movie weekend. We only watched two this weekend, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and the new movie Baby Mama.

First, if you have read my movie post from last week, you will know that I am trying to watch the first three Indy movies before I go see the next movie in about a month. What I remember most about Temple of Doom is being terrified. Pulling hearts out of chests, freaky mind-controlling blood, giant bats, and, of course monkey brains. And, yeah, that's pretty much what this movie is all about.

I didn't like it as much as Raiders of the Lost Ark. There was no archaeology, no relics (unless you count a stone), and, most importantly, no Nazis. I think what makes Indy so fun is his discovering tombs and mysteries from the past. Temple of Doom does not do much exploration of the past, it deals with a modern cult. No, don't get me wrong, it is still a great movie. It is a ton of fun and the action set-pieces are phenomenal. This sounds bad, but these set-pieces made me even more excited for the upcoming Lego Indiana Jones (coming June 3rd!!).

I was afraid that I would be annoyed by Short Round, but I wasn't, I thought he made a great addition to the movie and he was fun to watch as he kicked butt and helped Indy. Kate Capshaw as Willie, on the other hand, was not nearly as entertaining as Karen Allen as Marion, and I look forward to seeing Allen again in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. This movie is great fun, and if for some reason you haven't seen it, then what the heck is wrong with you?! Check it out!
Okay, on to the new movie, Baby Mama. Again, as you remember, this was one of the 5 movies I was most looking forward to. Well, I have to say, I was slightly disappointed. I was under the impression that Tina Fey wrote the script, not Michael McCullers, the man who wrote such gems as Undercover Brother, Austin Powers in Goldmember, and Thunderbirds. The script wasn't bad, it just wasn't quite at the caliber of say, Mean Girls, by Tina Fey.

Baby Mama stars Tina Fey as a very successful business woman who wants a baby, but is infertile. So, she goes to a company that hooks people up with surrogates to carry their babies. This company, by the way, is owned by a crazy (and crazy-fertile) Sigorney Weaver, in an awesome role. Now, obviously, Tina's surrogate is Amy Poehler. The movie really doesn't get good until Amy moves in with Tina, when we start to get some fun Odd Couple scenarios (assuming Oscar was pregnant with Felix's baby). I have to say, Poehler's character is hilarious and truly acts like a child the way only Amy Poehler can.

The film does have one twist about half way through that was pretty surprising to me and changes the dynamics of the characters. There was also another "twist" at the end that I saw coming for at least half an hour. I don't like, and probably never will like, Dax Shepard who had a slightly too big role in this movie. But, I will say, Steve Martin, as Tina Fey's boss, was fantastic. He played such a fun and unique character that I think he needs to star in something again. I was very happy to see him be so great in this movie.

Baby Mama was a really good movie. As usual for me, my expectations were quite high, so I think I was a little disappointed, but ultimately, this is a really good movie and I would recommend it to you all.