Indiana Jones 4 Review

Okay… it’s officially time for my Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull review. And this may be very surprising for some of you to read. To be very honest, it was surprising for me to write. I almost feel disloyal... but this was how I felt as I left the theater last night:

I am a little disappointed. Perhaps I had built it up a little too much in my mind. Maybe I made a mistake by watching Raiders of the Lost Ark this week… I don’t know. I was hoping to see an Indiana Jones movie that had me hooked from beginning to end like Raiders and Last Crusade. What I got was… well… not that. In fact, as much as I hate to admit this… I think this is my fourth favorite Indiana Jones movie. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I liked Temple of Doom better than KOTCS… and that should speak volumes. That said… I’m going to get into some spoilery type of stuff here… so if you haven’t seen the movie yet… you may want to come back later. Also, this will be about double of the length of a typical post from me… so you may want to grab a snack or a soda before you pull up to your computer for the long haul.

My main gripe was with the story. And I should preface this by saying that I had no problem with the aliens aspect of the story… I am a big fan of the X-Files and Close Encounters… so that wasn't a big deal to me. I just felt that there were many, many poor story telling decisions and ommissions. For example, I didn’t feel the urgency in this film that I felt in the other films as it relates to the end goal. In Raiders, Indy was trying to find the Ark before the Nazi’s did. In Temple, Indy was trying to acquire a Shankara (spelling?) stone for a village that was dying without it. In Crusade, Indy was on a quest for the grail, (really, his quest was for his father…) and the urgency for the grail was heightened when Indy’s father was shot. In Crystal Skull, I never felt any urgency to find the Skull… or return it to the city. I know he was up against the Russians… but I never really understood what the Russians were going to do with whatever they found. If only you could take over the world with a super charged magnet... as that was about the only thing that was interesting about this skull.

I thought the dialogue was convoluted and, at times, confusing. Sometimes Indy would be talking about something that happened in the 40’s and I would wonder if it was important to know… and then miss something that I was supposed to know. It was also very plot-driven… rather than character-driven. I never felt like characters were given a chance to react or question their circumstances... the story just marched forward from one location to another. I'm not sure if this makes sense or not... but compared with Crusade, which was almost completely character driven... this film was almost the opposite. Indy was the only character that I felt for. I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t have cared if Marion or Mutt would have died… I was never really invested in them emotionally… even when I found out that Mutt was Indy’s son. Don't know why... I just wasn't.

Here are some nit-picking things about the story:
• For the majority of the second half of the film… Indy took his cues from a crazy old man that was ‘possessed’ by the Crystal Skull. The old man figured out most of the mystery… Indy just watched and then helped when he could. I sometimes wondered why Indy was even necessary.
• The ‘tarzan’ and ‘monkey’ scene was part bizarre and part dumb… and on a whole did not fit into the story.
• Where are the cool booby-traps? The characters were put into two ‘tomb’ type situations where Indy could have encountered some sort of trap resistance… and there was nothing. What made the other movies iconic were these types of sequences… the bolder in Raiders, the Spike Room in Temple, the blades and walk of faith in Crusade… there was really nothing like that in Indy 4… other than the collapsing steps.
• Only Temple of Doom had a worse opening sequence… and I really wasn’t a big fan of the A-bomb sequence… I thought they could have wrapped up the scene better. The warehouse scene was okay… and the homage to Raiders was very cool… from the music to the glimpse of where the Ark has been these past 20 some years.
• Kate Blanchard was good… but she didn’t even come close to some of the other villains: Belloq in Raiders and Donavon in Crusade were far better. I might even argue that Mola Ram was better…

Okay… enough criticism… here’s what I enjoyed about Indy 4:

-Harrison Ford. He was great again as Indiana Jones… he was definitely older, but the script allowed him to be. He did a marvelous job. I can’t even imagine how bad this movie would have been without him.
-The various homages to the previous three films.
-The sets and settings were phenomenal. The last set in the ‘temple’ or spaceship or whatever you want to call it was just beautifully done. There was also a burial site that was very well done. Very articulate… yet you felt like it was ancient.
-There were some nice humorous moments… like the quicksand part when Indy is offered a snake to pull himself out.
-John Williams, once again, outdid himself with the musical score. Tremendous.
-Most of the action sequences were good... the jungle chase was well developed and fun to watch.

In summary... I think Indy could have been utilized better. I think the dialogue could have been tightened up. I think urgency could have been built into the story better. I think the story as a whole could have been a lot better. Here's what we are left with:

It's a decent to good movie… but it just wasn’t near as good as the originals. Is it worth seeing in the theater? Yes, absolutely. It’s a fun summer flick and I am not sad that I saw it. I just think that it could have been infinitely better. I heard a rumor that they might make an Indy 5 with Shia LaBouef as the lead and Indy as the ‘Sean Connery’ type sidekick… to be honest, I kind of hope they decide against this type of scenario.

I probably need to go back and watch it again. Perhaps I'd like it better with another viewing. For now I’d probably give it a 6.5 out of 10.

If you'll excuse me... I'm going to watch the opening scene in Raiders again to remind myself of why I fell in love with these movies to begin with...