Review : Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (no spoilers)
Ah, the fourth installment of Indiana Jones. There must be a lot of people who are looking forward to George Lucas’ and Steven Spielberg’s latest offering. I went to watch it last night and didn’t quite like it. More on that later. First, the summary. For once I didn’t copy paste from somewhere else. LOL!
The year is 1957, and the movie opens with a row of military vehicles driving along a lonely road in a scorching desert. A not-that-young-anymore Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and his sidekick Mac (Ray Winston) is caught by Soviet agents lead by the ruthless Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett). They want something from him – the way to find the Crystal Skull.
Together with Mutt Williams (Shia LeBeouf), his mentor (John Hurt) and his mother (Karen Allen), Indiana Jones must race against to Soviet agents to be the first to find the Crystal Skull.
Okay, the movie was full of the usual exploring different countries and running into the forests and visiting old temples – like most of Indiana Jones’ movies. I expected something full of adventure and puzzles, much like movies such as National Treasure. Boy was I disappointed.
Everything was so easy, from the deducing of the clues, how they escaped the bad guys to deciding what steps to take next. Indiana Jones had kinda lost his edge, being much more ‘softer’. I’d expected someone who had great witty and sarcastic comebacks.
And don’t get me started on the ending, after all that swordfighting, punching people in the gut and bleeding noses, it was SUCH a letdown.
Lets hope the next installment of Indiana Jones – I think there is going to be one – would be much much better than this one.
Rating : (*)(*) 2 out of 5 stars
5 Comments
Ian
It’s easy because it’s DOCTOR Jones. He knows everything, since he’s :
1)done that adventure before but failed. he’s now redoing it. with help. Of course it’s easier.
2) Given his age, he should be a lot wiser than he was in the third movie. This also explains why he’s soft on some things.
3) He’s already a professor and an expert in these fields.
The movie was as expected. It’s simply an Indiana Jones movie to me. Just too much graphics fluff than usual (given the 19 year gap) but otherwise it’s a little expected. Also, Ford has gone creaky, exactly how an old Dr. Jones should be.
I think you’re expecting too much. I think it should deserve more than your review.
Icednyior
hurm, perhaps I did expect too much. Too bad it didn’t live up to the hype
Ian
I agree, it did not really live up to its hype, being overshadowed by its last 3 movies and the fact that it’s 19 years too late. Still, it’s an Indiana Jones movie, albeit a bit out of shape. Nothing out of the ordinary too, it’s the same basic story structure as the last three movies, not that this is a bad thing.
The comparison to National Treasure and Tomb Raider will be inevitable, but it’s Indy movies that started it all.
Ian
“did anyone else feel like they could’ve never done anything and it all would’ve played out to be fine anyways?”
A resounding yes. :D
MovieMagic
All Indiana Jones movies were never about deducing puzzles and what steps to take next, and Indy was not really witty all the time, but I’d agree that the script was a bit weak, and the use of whips was on par with Indy3 (oh, about – 2 times)
The only real problem with Indy 4 is Indy’s age and Mutt the tarzan. (Stupid tarzan monkey scene should’ve been ommited) Otherwise, it was pretty interesting for me, what with the late 1950s setting and all.
If you’ve ever followed the Indy franchise, he’s done adventures with weirder endings (Atlantis and its Gods, anyone?)