He chose poorly…
It should come, as no surprise that the latest Indiana Jones flick Indiana Jones and Search for Steven Spileberg’s Missing Mojo does not live up the previous three movies.
I say it should come as no surprise due to the fact that one third of the creative team: George Lucas already pissed all over a great franchise and our childhoods with the Star Wars prequels and the other two thirds, Spielberg and Ford haven’t had a blockbuster for several years.
And, unfortunately, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is not a blockbuster no matter what Box Office returns will be brandied about.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull starts off rather well and introduces us to the 50’s by way a tip of the hat to George Lucas’s American Graffiti and returns us to the last shot of Raiders, that long, long, long, long Hangar where the American Government has been keeping it’s secrets.
Doctor Jones is still at it with a new sidekick, Mac, nicely played by Beowulf’s Ray Winstone, and while his age is the brunt, of more than a few jokes, Harrison Ford still has it and so does the character. His foil for this movie is not a Nazi but instead a Russian, rapier wielding, psychic played nicely by Cate Blanchette. She has been tasked by Lenin in search of something that will lead her and her comrades to the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. And, Doctor Jones is the only one that can help.
The scenes inside the warehouse are perfect, moody and creepy just as any “discovery of something bad†scene should be.
The problem is the script after this point is a mess. Mostly due to the fact Indiana Jones manages survive a test of a nuclear device in of all places inside a fridge. Now, the setup of the nuke test was creepy and cool, the problem is: There’s no conflict. There’s no creepy set up of Jones and Co. ducking into a fallout shelter, bomb going off and then walking out much to the surprise of hazmat clad, Geiger counter wielding, Army Personnel.
Unfortunately, with Mac turning on Indy, Indy needs a new sidekick; enter Shia Labouef playing Mutt Williams a greaser looking for Jones due to his mother telling him to track him down since she has been kidnapped while looking for the skull.
Whew.
Now, instead of introducing Mutt back during Hangar scenes we get all this greaser intro, dialogue and the info dump about what the hell’s bells is the Crystal Skull. This info dump along with a quest to track down the Skull follows the standard Indy plotline of taking Pan Am to said interesting location and finding both trouble and clues.
Most of this isn’t so bad until Marion Ravenwood, Mutt’s mom shows up with the Russians and another Professor Oxley who has been searching the skull is introduced as well.
Marion Ravenwood is both good and bad, the good being she’s actually used instead of being killed off, the bad is: She grins too much, she doesn’t have a knock down drag out fight with Cate and Indy has waaaaay to many sidekicks at this stage of the game.
Oh and Mutt is Indy’s kid. Oh yeah, and did I neglect to mention the Skull happens to be quartz Alien Skull.
Yep. Aliens. As in Roswell.
Now, the introduction of aliens into Indiana Jones is not a deal breaker, I have no problems with since they are talked about in every ancient culture from one side of the globe to the other.
As for Mutt Williams being Henry Jones the III. I have no problems with that. It just adds to the recurring theme of absentee fathers.
The problems I have with this movie are the fact it is horribly shot. Go back and watch the other Indiana Jones moves and they were edited properly. The CGI sucks. In a trilogy that mainly relied on models and blue screen, the CGI is just too blatant. And, Mister Lucas can be blamed for that.
The plot grinds along when it shouldn’t, I don’t mind the info dumps, because when Indy info dumps the music swells and the shots zoom in on the character, it’s real and feels real. When Marcus explained what happened to the Ark to the Government Officials in Raiders that was creepy cool.
The laws of physics are defied more in this movie than the any of the Matrix movies. Sure, Indy gets beat up, but look back at Raiders, the scene at the Nazi Airstrip was ten times worst then any of the fights in this movie.
Oh, right and there’s out of place swearing too.
I’d love to blame the writer’s strike but the three 60 years old at the wheel are to blame more than anyone.
I recommend seeing it in the theater so you can see it. Then, I recommend going home, getting out Raiders of the Lost Ark DVD, fire up the Home Theater and watching what should been up on that big screen. And, boggle at the fact a movie made in 1981 can look cleaner and better than a movie made today.
In the end, Skull is just a great example of how great directors have fallen so far so fast that even a no brainer film like Indy could be easily and badly executed.
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