New Indiana Jones fails to impress
Spielberg pulls out all the stops, but the result is lackluster
Jun 3, 2008
Anyone who has never seen an “Indiana Jones” film should find the fourth installment of the series, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” right up their alley. Walking out of this movie, I couldn’t stop thinking about how it stacked up against the other films, and asking myself whether or not I could honestly say I had as much fun at this Indy as I did at the others.
And “fun” is really the only word that matters when talking about the “Indiana Jones” franchise. Questions like “was it entertaining?” or “did you get your money’s worth?” are the ones most relevant when evaluating these films. These are questions that we ask of “summer movies,” a type of film that “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” the first Indy, was one of the earliest examples of.
Indeed, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were making summer movies before we even knew what they were, but does that let them off the hook from having to deliver with the latest Indy something that is not only fun but also a quality picture? The sad truth is pretty much.
The ironic thing about the long pre-production period on the fourth Indy (it has been close to two decades since the last installment, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”) is that, in the public’s eye, anything pretty much would have sufficed. Audiences want the hat, the whip, the boyish swagger, of Indiana Jones. They want ridiculous action sequences where tanks fall of cliffs and giant boulders roll down cave walls. Complex plot points about ancient artifacts and lost civilizations are also welcome. They want it all.
And with this Indy, the boys pretty much deliver. What the film lacks is the youthful energy and exuberance which made the earlier films such a discovery. All of the key parties (Spielberg, Lucas, Harrison Ford) are older now and no longer seem to possess the life force necessary for making an Indy film. The energy here all feels manufactured, or as if the filmmakers were depending on the audience to bring their own energy to the material.
Much of the problem rests with the decision to even make another Indy. Looking at Harrison Ford in this film, I applaud him for even making the attempt, but anyone expecting a shred of the sardonic, witty hero of the earlier films will be sorely disappointed. Ford plays the character as if there were a glint of Indiana Jones still there, but like it is some faint memory or voice in his head that he can hear but can’t quite access. And as he tries to re-channel Indy’s energy, I could almost see the mud being slung on the earlier films.
But with all that being said, the finished product is at least functional. The thing I enjoyed the most was the story, which centers around a series of lost magical skulls from a South American civilization that, if reunited, can trigger the release of inter-dimensional beings (no one say aliens). Regardless of far removed this is from earlier plotlines, I was surprised and how enjoyable I found it.
And regardless of the film’s shortcomings, the actors really do give it their all. Cate Blanchett is obviously having a blast as the villain, a Russian scientist outfitted like a Cold War dominatrix. Ray Winstone and Jim Broadbent also fit nicely into the John Rhys Davies and Denholm Eliot roles, and the superstar-in-the-making Shia LeBeouf makes good on his tremendous break and refrains from the obvious choice of playing the goofy sidekick, and instead plays it, for the most part, straight.
When all is said and done though, the energy and vitality is just not there. Indy 5? Probably not (particularly after the last shot of this film) and, I’m sad to say, I hope not. Let the horse die.
