Summer Full 'o Movies pt. 3 - Indiana Jones
Entry posted by Nathan Strum
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Some of us skipped out of work today... I mean... took an extended lunch... to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
For an opening day, the theater was surprisingly not-that-full. Of course, being in the middle of a Thursday afternoon probably had something to do with it (also, they were showing it on three screens at the same time). And even though large opening-day crowds can be fun, it was still nice not to have to get to the theater two hours early and wait in long lines just to get bad seats. 30 minutes was plenty to snag the best seats in the house. But I'm sure tonight and tomorrow there will be some lines for it.
It's hard to review this film without really giving anything away. There are some hints in the trailers, and rumors floating around, but nothing I'd heard (and I was trying to avoid spoilers) quite captured... how should I put this... the depth to which they committed to the concept of the story. There's a couple of ways they could have gone in explaining... umm... things, and you either buy their explanation, or you don't. The nice thing at least, is they keep you guessing for pretty-much three-quarters of the film. Give or take. You can see where it might be going, but you aren't sure if they'll commit to it or not, until they actually hit the "point-of-no-return" (that's a joke, for those who've seen the film. Trust me - two or three people just got a really good laugh out of that).
Anyway, I didn't buy into the direction they went, and the last 1/4 of the film just really didn't work for me. I felt like I was watching a different Spielberg film. And I'm not referring to Saving Private Ryan. Or, mercifully, Hook. 
I think they could have gone a more interesting, different route. Maybe after the movie's out for awhile, I'll go into that a bit more.
That said - I still enjoyed most of the movie. Quite a lot, really.
Harrison Ford is still Indiana Jones. He still works in that character, and I still bought him doing the fights and stunts that he did. Sure, sometimes he looked a bit weather-beaten, but I wouldn't mind looking that weather-beaten when I'm 85. I mean, 65. It's hard to believe he hasn't had a hit movie in 11 years. They revisited some classic Indiana Jones territory, and even played up the fact this was just routine stuff for him, by having some of the action we've seen umpteen dozen times (like him taking over a car from a bad-guy) offscreen, so you just see people's reactions to what he's doing instead. Nice touch. I also really liked the fact that they explained a bit more about his past (including what he's been doing since the last film). It added some more depth and humanity to the character. One problem I have with this genre of films though, is that when they're looking over clues - it would be nice to give the audience even some sort of chance to be able to figure them out. Most of the time, the clues are so obscure or specific, that they're something only one person in the film could ever hope to solve. By at least making the clues a little more universally accessible, you're giving the audience more of a chance to get involved, by figuring some of it out themselves.
The action sequences were classic Indiana Jones - fast, fun, and patently ridiculous. But that's how we like 'em. It was also nice to not see an obvious over-reliance on CG effects. Yes, I'm sure they're actually there, all over the place, but the film didn't use them heavily at least until the ending. Even with that, it didn't seem "over-computery". The effects fit within the film, which generally looked refreshingly low-tech. (For what it's worth, Spielberg insisted on shooting Crystal Skull on actual film, over Lucas' insistence on using HD video cameras.)
One of my biggest concerns going into the film was Shia LaBeouf. Generally, he plays really obnoxious, irritating characters, who try to act funny and yell a lot. However, he's actually a good actor when he has a good director to reign him in, and that was the case in this film. They came up with a good character for him, and one grounded in the time period of the film (without seeming kitschy), and it all worked very well. He had some really good moments in the film (particularly during one car chase/fight scene) so my worries were unfounded. John Hurt was also very good, and it didn't hurt Harrison Ford to have someone around him who looked 20 years older than he does, either. It was also nice to see one of the classic Indy characters return, and allusions to some others. Sadly, and this isn't really a spoiler, since it doesn't have to do with something in the film - Sean Connery isn't in it. I had hoped they'd come up with a way for him to have a cameo, but Connery reportedly hadn't been in very good health, which I suspect is to blame. Also, neither series stalwarts Denholm Elliott nor Pat Roach are alive anymore, otherwise I'm sure they'd have been present.
The villains are okay, but they just aren't up to the level of the ones in Raiders. The series never managed to really come up with a worthy adversary for Indy again, the closest being the return of the Nazis in Last Crusade. But even then, there wasn't really a single villain who dominated a film like Belloq did in Raiders. Also, a couple of the villains in this film really don't have satisfying... conclusions. Again, it's something I can get into some other time. It's one of those things where there were better ways to handle it. Something that the audience would have rather seen. Something they were probably expecting, and should have been rewarded with.
I liked when they set the movie, since some interesting things were happening at the time, and where the opening scenes took place, for the same reasons. It always strikes me as kind of funny though, that Indy always starts out on one of these adventures as a skeptic. "It's just a story" he says. This from the guy who discovered the Ark of the Covenant, The Holy Grail, and three magical glowing potatoes? You'd think he'd know better by now.
Overall, Indiana Jones and the Extremely Long Title is a fun film, and for the first three-quarters of it, the time flew by and I really enjoyed it. It really was like picking right back up again with the same character. A bit older, but still in there throwing punches, swinging from his whip, throwing bad guys out of moving vehicles, and practicing his own unique brand of archaeology. It was a fun ride, and well-worth the price of the popcorn. Whether the heart of the storyline will work for you or not... maybe that's a completely personal preference sort-of thing. To me, it just didn't fit with the rest of Indy's adventures. But the rest of the film is a lot of fun to watch, and it's way, way, way better than Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It's almost up there with Last Crusade, but like Last Crusade, falls apart a bit too much at the end.
I'll give it... 8/10.
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