…of film making.
The old adage greater than the sum of its parts must have an inverse metaphor, wouldn't you think? It there is one, it would apply to the 4th instalment of the Indiana Jones series. Somebody has got to get George Lucas to retire! He just can't write a script that involves anything beyond marginally connecting set pieces together with a threadbare plot. Spielberg and Ford manage a little better but this a film that just didn't need to be made. It even manages to lower the tone of the originals.
There's no denying the first film's place as one of the greatest adventures in cinematic history and the first two sequels, while not great, still managed to keep us engaged. Not so with this latest entry. It wants to be everything to everyone but ends up being nothing much at all. The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is certainly big and loud, but in the race to harvest the earlier film's charm and swagger they fumble all the basics. Firstly there's entirely too much story, none of which is very compelling. Secondly, they give Indy yet another sidekick, this time it's Shia LaBeouf (aping Marlon Brando circa The Wild One). Thirdly, the Red Menace villain played by a moose and squirrel accented Cate Blanchett borders on Jar-Jar-Binks bad ….and the list goes on.
There are a few interesting bits scattered throughout, including a totally weird sequence in a nuclear-test-mock-town complete with plastic people, bungalows and mushroom clouds, but mostly it's just too much of everything. A bloated kitchen sink imitation rather than an homage to the originals. Harrison Ford comes out the least scarred by the whole affair and manages - at 65 years old no less – to bring a cinematic character revered by many back to life. Kudos to him for that. It's just too bad they couldn't pull together a half-decent story to let him sink his teeth into.
While it's hardly the worst film of the year (that would be Street Kings), it sure left me jonesing for the first one.
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8 comments:
i'm scared. hold me.
yeah, i agree not worst film of the year. Worst film of all time. Not because of it's quality but because of what it stands for; the molestation of my child hood, -i mean that in a Shakespearean way, no the biblical sense... ya know?
really... fucking aliens?
i got the new south park last night and the kids were trying to cope with seeing a friend of theirs raped in front of them They feel angry, and regretful and they have to help each other deal with it in their own ways. You find out that this friend was Indiana Jones and the say him raped when they went to go see the new movie. They end up getting Speilberg and Lucas arrested by the end. but it really said something... ya know?
god, i can't spell
i didn't mind this after all. sure it's not a masterpiece, but it was entertaining and it seemed like they had a good time making it. not great, but not as bad as the critics said. hated the cgi, though.
i was really willing to be entertained. I even saw this one second time in theatres but there wasn't much for me to hang onto to enjoy.
I will say the second time around was a little more enjoyable. Just... wasted chance ya know? Indy could have been funnier and the action sequences could have been a little more believable.
The monkey swinging scene alone may have murdered the soul of cinema.
i'm sure indy is funnier and the action scenes are more believable to 12 year old boys, to whom this movie is marketed. just like the originals were when you first saw them...
Joe, when i was twelve i was shooting MDMA cut with monkey piss through my eye balls.
These people (Lucas, Spielberg) don't know who their demographic is anymore.
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