Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Yes, we've been waiting 19 years for it, and we finally have a sequel to original Indiana Jones trillogy! Yesterday I braved the opening weekend crowds to get a taste of the latest in the Indiana Jones... uh... quadrilogy? Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull! (Or, IJATKOTCS for short)
Yes, IJATKOTCS has action. Yes, IJATKOTCS has adventure. And yes, IJATKOTCS has Indiana Jones! But sadly, that's about all it has that is of value. I think the best way to describe IJATKOTCS is that I came away from this move entertained, but disappointed.
I'm not sure if the expectation factor for this movie was just too high, or if it truly is a poor movie, but I'm leaning towards the latter. There is the usual Indiana Jones plot line here, with Russian Communists replacing the German Nazis, car chases, spooky tombs, and lots of creepy crawly creatures, but the movie just didn't seem well done.
I think the biggest problem with IJATKOTCS is that it was done by George Lucas, who seems to have lost all filmmaking ability sometime in the late 1980's. Much like the new Star Wars movies, IJATKOTCS took what was previously a mainstream, serious action series and created a new movie that is pretty much two hours of over-the-top slapstick comedy seemingly written for children as opposed to an adult audience. The comedy is oppressive, bad, and in-your-face. There were several points where the theater audience audibly groaned at the humor.
The cinematography in IJATKOTCS was also very heavy-handed and cartoonish, often relying on an overuse of CGI. It reminded me of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow at several points. Finally, IJATKOTCS lacked any suspense since Indy and his friends are basically indestructible super heroes that can smash through walls, be hurled 200 yards through the air to the ground, and plummet off of 20-story cliffs and waterfalls without suffering so much as a scratch. They might as well have slapped a Superman costume on him. There is literally a scene where the good guy befriends the monkeys of the jungle, swings from vine to vine to vine a la George of the Jungle in order to catch up to a speeding vehicle, then swings to the vehicle and has his monkey friends attack the Russians. I am not making this up.
Overall, IJATKOTCS was a poorly put together piece of film that suffers from many of the same faults the new Star Wars films do. It relies too heavily on fake-looking CGI and seems to be a slapstick montage designed for children instead of adults. The mere fact that it's Indiana Jones gives it a great deal of redeeming value in my book, so if it were any other protagonist, I would have rated the movie much lower. But is is an Indiana Jones movie, and Indiana Jones kicks ass, so I rated it a little better than it probably deserved.
SCORING: I give IJATKOTCS 2.5 Agent Smiths out of a possible 5.
Yes, IJATKOTCS has action. Yes, IJATKOTCS has adventure. And yes, IJATKOTCS has Indiana Jones! But sadly, that's about all it has that is of value. I think the best way to describe IJATKOTCS is that I came away from this move entertained, but disappointed.I'm not sure if the expectation factor for this movie was just too high, or if it truly is a poor movie, but I'm leaning towards the latter. There is the usual Indiana Jones plot line here, with Russian Communists replacing the German Nazis, car chases, spooky tombs, and lots of creepy crawly creatures, but the movie just didn't seem well done.
I think the biggest problem with IJATKOTCS is that it was done by George Lucas, who seems to have lost all filmmaking ability sometime in the late 1980's. Much like the new Star Wars movies, IJATKOTCS took what was previously a mainstream, serious action series and created a new movie that is pretty much two hours of over-the-top slapstick comedy seemingly written for children as opposed to an adult audience. The comedy is oppressive, bad, and in-your-face. There were several points where the theater audience audibly groaned at the humor.The cinematography in IJATKOTCS was also very heavy-handed and cartoonish, often relying on an overuse of CGI. It reminded me of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow at several points. Finally, IJATKOTCS lacked any suspense since Indy and his friends are basically indestructible super heroes that can smash through walls, be hurled 200 yards through the air to the ground, and plummet off of 20-story cliffs and waterfalls without suffering so much as a scratch. They might as well have slapped a Superman costume on him. There is literally a scene where the good guy befriends the monkeys of the jungle, swings from vine to vine to vine a la George of the Jungle in order to catch up to a speeding vehicle, then swings to the vehicle and has his monkey friends attack the Russians. I am not making this up.
Overall, IJATKOTCS was a poorly put together piece of film that suffers from many of the same faults the new Star Wars films do. It relies too heavily on fake-looking CGI and seems to be a slapstick montage designed for children instead of adults. The mere fact that it's Indiana Jones gives it a great deal of redeeming value in my book, so if it were any other protagonist, I would have rated the movie much lower. But is is an Indiana Jones movie, and Indiana Jones kicks ass, so I rated it a little better than it probably deserved.
SCORING: I give IJATKOTCS 2.5 Agent Smiths out of a possible 5.
Labels: Movie_Reviews
posted by Arizona Steve at
12:10 PM
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