Opinion from a true Indy freak
Written: May 20 '08 (Updated May 20 '08)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Great fight and chase scenes.
Cons: Drifts away from the true spirit of an Indiana Jones movie.
The Bottom Line: Go see it, but know that for a true fan you will be a bit disapointed.
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| KPetzold's Full Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull |
First off let me say that I’m a diehard Indiana Jones fan…. I grew up swearing that I was going to be Mrs. Harrison Ford and every once in a while I still allow myself to live in that lala land.
When I first heard that they were making another movie in the series I was thrilled and couldn’t wait for it to come out…. When I was given passes to a sneak peek premiere of it I was elated!
The movie starts out like all previous ones in the series; you are playing catch up to a situation that is already going on. This time Indy has been kidnapped by what first appears to be US military, but soon you discover they are Russians, the “nemesis” of the US in the movie’s era.
In typical Indy fashion this movie is packed with fist fights, car chases and witty banter. The effects are a mixture of past practices with stuntmen and modern day computer animation.
Harrison Ford reprises his role as Indiana Jones, while he does a more then suitable job of acting for the role, you can tell that the years between the flicks have affected his physical abilities a bit when it comes to stunts. He still does them but more and more were done at a distance with the ability to sub in a stuntman.
Karen Allen returns as well as Indy’s love interest. However, this time around she seems more of an extra and a means to an end rather then a large part of the story,
New to the team is Shia LaBeouf as “Mutt”. For true Indy fans, there’s humor to be found in his name. In the “Last Crusade” we learned that Indian’s real name was Henry and that the family dog’s name was Indiana… so he literally took a dog’s name, just as Mutt named himself a dog’s name. (On a side note, director Steven Spielberg had a dog named Indiana who he based Ford’s co-pilot Chewbacca off of in Star Wars.) Shia did a fairly well job of filling in the Indy side-kick boots. He was quick with banter and handled the stunts rather well. At times it seems that the writers almost wanted him to upstage Ford.
Cate Blanchett is an actress that I adore. She poses grace and elegance and masters every roll she plays, but that didn’t come across so well in this flick. It’s clear that she tried to master the accent in her villainous role, but it kept eluding her. What you ended up with was over acting with a broken accent. She looked the part, but didn’t fit the role.
The plot itself starts to follow typical Indy story lines. There’s an artifact that the bad guys want and the good guys want to protect. The fate of the world hangs in the balance and Indy is the only one who can save the day. But, somewhere along the way it takes a wrong turn. While you expect religious artifacts, voodoo, black magic, supernatural beliefs… you really don’t expect sci-fi to work it’s way into the land of Indiana Jones.
WARNING: If you don’t want to know more about the plot don’t read on!
I’m sure that it sounded like a good idea to bring aliens into the mix, based on the obsession with martians that took place in the 1950s (the time that this movie is based)… but it just doesn’t fit. Little green men have no place in an Indiana Jones story, unless they are some sort of painted tribe in a far off jungle. I guess for those who aren’t so diehard into the series it wouldn’t be that big of a bump in the road, but for me it really was, I drifted and began to lose interest when I saw where it was going.
That being said, there are quite a few memorable moments in the movie. You will find a mix of references to previous stories… for example a quick flash of the “ark” in the super secret government warehouse… a comedy scene involving Indy’s fear of snakes and a reference to Indy’s former assistant and his father (who are now dead in the storyline).
Overall, a movie that’s worth seeing for the action and comedy, but a bit of a let down.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Action Movie
Viewing Method: Sneak Preview at My Local Theater
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Plot
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Epinions.com ID:
KPetzold
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Member: Karen
Location: Vassar, MI
Reviews written: 237
Trusted by: 47 members
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