Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
The newest Indiana Jones movie came out Thursday the 22nd, and around the world Indy and non-Indy fans alike...sorta packed theaters. (Side Note: Who the hell premieres a movie on a freaking THURSDAY ...in MAY?)
I walked into a nicely cooled theater that Thursday, not knowing what to expect. Would George Lucas butcher another legendary franchise? Would there be sickening amounts of CG? Most importantly.....would Short Round make an appearance?
Well...5 bucks and 2 hrs later....my general opinion of the movie...it was Ok.
Plot: The overall movie summed up is, the Russians look to return an alien crystal skull to El Dorado in some plan to control the minds of everyone on Earth, Indy of course tries to return the skull before they do and ultimately foil the Russians' plans.
There were a lot things which worked and just did not work for this movie.
What worked:
- Indy theme was played and you better believe I geeked out plenty when I heard it.
- Ark of the Covenant shown in a broken crate as Indy and the rest make their escape from Area 51. I was maybe one of four people that caught the reference in the theater but I was smiling the whole freaking time. It was a nice call-back to Raiders of the Lost Ark and in general a nice nod to the movies that came before.
- Marcus Brody statue, painting, and overall references. It's a shame that Denholm Elliott died before this movie came out but, I am glad they paid tribute to the guy.
- Harrison Ford working the fedora and whip, the man is still a bad ass.
- Shia LaBeouf. His portrayal of Mutt Williams was actually not half bad.
- Karen Allen as Marion....what the hell is this woman on, 57 and she doesn't look like she has changed hardly at all. Good acting from her overall from what few lines she was given
- The swordfighting scene between Shia's character and Cate Blanchett's character, as the two jeeps were speeding side by side....AWESOME! In retrospect the whole scene is a bit outlandish but, it's pulled off in such a way where you don't give a crap, you just think "Oh that's bad ass!"
What DIDN'T work.
- Indy escapes ground zero of an atomic bomb by hiding in a lead-lined refrigerator. Unfunny and just fucking stupid. The scene tested the lengths at which I will suspend disbelief for an Indy movie.
- Development on Cate Blanchett's character is poor. Initially the movie has her set up as having sorta/kinda telepathic/psychic powers, she even tries to read Indy's mind but...with no success. The whole psychic power aspect of Cate's character I thought would play out more later on in the movie but really it was just kind of a random thing about the character that had no real purpose for existing. The progression of Irina Spalko as the villain was just kinda left wanting. In previous movies you've had fully fleshed out villains, from René Belloq (Raiders) to Mola Ram (Temple) to Donovan (Last Crusade), all villain types have been written with a certain amount of substance and style, Spalko had a little style but not enough substance.
* Russians instead of Nazis. I understand that due to the time frame the movie was set in, and the age of Ford, the enemies had to be updated to fit the times but....let's be honest the Russians in this movie are like Nazi-Lite....their semi evil....quasi-evil. Russians just aren't the same as Nazi's in an Indy movie...this is more a bias on my part...and my love of Indy beating the crap out Nazi's in Crusade (tell me that motorcycle chase scene was not EPIC...oh right...review)
* The evil Russian plan was more an idea then a plan. Essentially the russians' evil plan is to use the power of the crystal skull to somehow control the minds of everyone on Earth. Irina Spalko (Blanchett's character) is kinda vague about the plan and the skull is never really hinted at as having the power to help others control others minds. In this aspect Kingdom of the Crystal Skull mimics Temple of Doom slightly, as Mola Ram's plan was to use the magic stones to somehow take over the world....again...the power of the stones really was never delved into....other then to say...all three stones glowed when near one another...which isn't so much a power....cool night lights maybe but...well yeah.
* Mutt Williams catching up to two speeding jeeps...by swinging from vines with monkeys. This is pretty much right up there with the atomic bomb scene...it wasn't funny....and it took me outta the movie.
- Location. I understand that we live in a world today where environments can be created quite easily with CG but, going to certain places on location gave the Indy movies a little something extra. The best example is something someone wrote about the sun lighting in Raiders compared to Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. You have that one scene in Raiders where they are working in the hot desert sun digging to find the entrance to this tomb...the Sun sets against a black backdrop Indy standing ontop of this mound..workers swining axes at the ground...it's a great scene cinematically. Compare the scene in Raiders to when Indy is outside the Area 51 hanger, the sun light thematically is mild and muted, and the general feel is....this is very CG.
Final Impressions/Thoughts
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a ok "movie" bottom line. I thought as a "movie" Indy 4 was fine...not great...just fine, it had some nice action sequences, a somewhat decent story and moderately decent casting.
AS an Indy fan, judging this among the other Indy films, this movie is last. The plotting, villain character development, humor, and many other aspects of this film are found far lacking when compared to the previous three Indy movies that came before.
I hate being harsh on an Indy movie...it hurts but, this just isn't a great one.
For those new to the Indiana Jones movies, check this sucker out and see what you think but to those ole' school Indiana Jones fans that remember seeing at least one of the original three films in a theater...I say....try to watch this movie as you would a NORMAL movie.. cause expecting it to be the next Raiders or Crusade is just gonna amp up your expectations too high.
B-
(Side Note 2: There is nothing after the credits...I stayed the whole way through....no Short Round, Sallah or anything)
Hey Nick!
Great review. I'll save room by saying that I'm right there with you on all the points about what worked, especially the references (hell, ANY references!) to the three previous films. One of my personal favorites was the shot of Indy's desk with pictures of Marcus Brody and Henry Jones Sr. when Indy grew melancholy about the fact they were gone.
You forgot to mention another thing that worked, which was the Mayan Temple where they sought Francisco de Orellana, and how creepy it was. Took me right back to the Hovitos temple in Peru at the beginning of "Raiders".
I agree that though Cate Blanchett is a tremendous actress, her character wasn't defined enough. She wasn't so much a villian, as she was more a pest. A thorn in Indy's side, if you will. The Russians as well did seem a bit ruthless, even for the Cold War. (A pity that Pat Roach didn't make his traditional cameo as the big bad heavy dude Indy has to get past).
As for the cinematography, you'd have to remember that Spielberg had Janusz Kaminski as his cinematographer, who has worked on every Spielberg film since "Schindler's List", many of said films incorporating live action and CGI effects, so they've managed to create a "look" that I'm now used to. I wasn't really bothered by that, because I knew that this would involve different styles of shots compared to the original Indy trilogy cinematographer, Douglas Slocombe. Just two different ways of doing the same job, and in my opinion, they both had their strengths and weaknesses.
The key thing I would disagree with you on, though, is where this movie ranks alongside the other three. I would place this third, after "Raiders" at #1 and "Crusade" at #2. I would put "Temple" at dead last for several reasons: The key things that "Temple" had going for it (i.e. the plunge out of a plane on a raft, the gong stunt in the Shanghai club, and especially the mine car chase, were all originally intended for "Raiders"! Take those away, and you have a big gross out fest and a treatise on child slave labor. Second, Kate Capshaw was the whiniest and most annoying of all Indy's women. Third, Indy didn't go out on this quest, it was thrust upon him. And so on, and so on, etc...
And to be honest, I knew even before going in to see the movie, that nothing would top "Raiders", because it had the best screenwriter (Lawrence Kasdan) and a very funny, clever original script that the other Indy films have had to measure up to. Nothing will ever top "Raiders".
I just thought it was great how everything in Indy's life was brought back full circle, with Marion returning, his teaching career taking off, and of course, ALWAYS having the fedora on. (The way he took it away from Shia at the end was PERFECT. This is not YOUR hat, Shia! LOL!)
So, overall, I thought the movie was good, and I came away whistling the theme song, as I have after seeing every Indy movie in the theater. So, it can't be all that bad.
B+
The alien and flying saucer ruined the whole movie for me. Absolutely ridiculous. I like that stuff, but not in an Indy movie. The other ones had a hint of super nature, but not like this. Leave it in Star Wars, Georgy boy. Didn't like Blanchett and the action sequences were alright, but not on par with the previous three.
It's a shame, though, because I liked the characters and setting, just not the story. I thought Shia was great as Mutt, I think that character is fantastic. I for one actually do hope for a Mutt Williams spin- off series, I really want to see more of him and I think they could re-capture the feeling of the original three if they learn from their mistakes in this one. Ford did great as Indiana too, it was cool seeing him figure out clues and what not on screen again.
So really I liked the first half of the film, but the crystal skull story ended up falling flat on its face for me. Considering the actors, characters, and wilingness to use the originals' techniques, I really think this flick could have been ALOT better