It has been 19 years since Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) was on his last adventure, with his father (Sean Connery) in "The Last Crusade". Much has changed since then. Most notably, everyone has gotten older.
The "Indiana Jones" series along with the "Star Wars" films help cement Ford's persona as a reliable hero. The film's box-office success continued Steven Spielberg's track record of one commercial hit after another.
But within those 19 years which have passed Spielberg has matured as a director. If we go through his career chronologically the first film he ever made which I liked would be "Schindler's List". Everything, that I have actually seen, had disappointed me. I never really cared for Spielberg's childhood fantasy movies. Spielberg always seemed like nothing more than a "hit maker" to me. Someone more concern with making mainstream films rather than artistic statements. And that's fine, if that was his intention. Everyone likes money. But we need to view his films within that context than and judge them accordingly.
As you can probably tell, I don't like Spielberg. I have been willing to give him credit when I feel he deserves it however. I placed "Schindler's List", "Saving Private Ryan" and "Munich" on my year end top ten list of their respective years. And I never liked the original three Indiana Jones movies. To be honest, they kind of bored me. I didn't find them to be fast-paced action adventure films. They didn't thrill me with excitement. I understand what George Lucas and Spielberg had intended, a throwback to 1930 movie serials but "Indiana Jones" never seem to have much charm to me. The films don't make me feel nostalgic for an era gone by.
"Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" (what the heck is the title so damn long for? I'm simply going to refer to it as "Indiana Jones" from now on) starts off with an exciting action scene as Indy and his partner, Mac (Ray Winstone) are captured by Soviet spies (the film's setting is the 1950s during the Cold War) headed by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett). They are after something called the "crystal skull" and believe Indy knows where it is hidden.
The scene then becomes action packed as Indy and Mac attempt to escape. And this leads to the major problem I had with "Indiana Jones". The movie feels like nothing more than a series of action sequences. I like action movies but no film can simply be told through action scenes. You have to have some sort of interesting plot. The plot in this movie is so ridiculous it could have been told in 20 minutes. There is very little of interest going on here.
This film has been rumored about for years. Spielberg and Ford always wanted to make another "Indiana Jones" picture if a good script came along. If this is seriously the best script they got what the heck did the others involve? Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?
But I can't look you in the eye and say "Indiana Jones" is a complete waste of time. Shia LaBeouf plays Mutt, who informs Indy about the crystal skulls as his mother has been kidnapped. He turns to Indy to help him figure out the clues which lead to the skull.
LeBeouf is okay in the movie. He has found a persona for him to work in. He is the smartalec wise-cracking punk who seems tough until danger comes his way. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I like him in small doses. Watch him in "I, Robot". I didn't care much for "Disturbia" or "Transformers".
Another thing about LeBeouf is, he reminds me of the Fonz, from "Happy Days". The beginning of the movie seems like it could have been in Lucas' "American Graffiti".
This leads to another problem. The screenplay for "Indiana Jones", which was written by David Koepp ("Spider-Man", "Secret Window" and "Death Becomes Her") plays like a greatest hits of Spielberg's and Lucas' work. You'll be thinking of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "American Graffiti".
I like the scenes with Karen Allen who reprises her role as Mutt's mother, Marion Ravenwood and Indy. They have a good banter between them. John Hurt as Ox, a professor who has been put under a trance is funny. It allows the movie some comical moments.
But these things are few and far between. I felt no joy watching this movie. I felt little excitement and nearly no involvement. I thought some action sequences went on far too long and took away from the plot.
Fans of "Indiana Jones" may enjoy this picture as will Spielberg fans. If for any reason only because they don't want to criticize their hero. But for the rest of us, I don't think there is much to enjoy here. Lets hope Spielberg puts these type of films behind him and gives us more movies like "Munich".
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