IndyCroft.com at the Premiere of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
A few friends and I had the honor of attending the premiere of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull last night here in my home town. Here follows my summary of the evening and my review of the movie.
Like any Indiana Jones fan, I was absolutely giddy this past weekend preparing for the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Watching all three movies and feasting on Indy-themed snacks. Also brushing up on my knowledge of the Crystal Skulls. However, nothing could have prepared me for Monday night.
It was finally here, getting to see it three days before majority of everyone else. Attila the professor may not have been giddy, but I sure as hell was. I grew up with these movies and they inspired me to pursue a career in archaeology. So getting to see yet another Indy adventure was exciting. I even dawned my fedora for the event. Turns out I was the only one there that did. Except for one gentleman who we assumed was with the press, he came marching in dressed in full Indy-attire. Guess I wasn’t entirely alone.
We’ve been waiting nearly twenty years for this movie, the pressure was on. Could George Lucas and Steven Spielberg successfully bring Indy back without mass disappointment? Well, unfortunately the answer to that question is no. Though I was excited about seeing this movie, I did try to keep my expectations low. For one very good reason, fear of being disappointed. When a movie like this comes out, years after it’s predecessors, of course most people are going to set high standards for the movie. Like George Lucas said, this is basically the Phantom Menace of the Indy-verse. Although I have to say, I think I liked Phantom Menace better than the Kingdom of the Crystall Skull.
So what went wrong? For me, ultimately, it was the fact that the movie felt rushed. Nineteen years in the making, and it turned out as if they had worked on it for a few months, not really putting as much thought into as we know they had. There were a lot of plot holes, and some of the roles of the characters in the storyline seemed forced. For instance, Shia LaBeouf’s character, Mutt Williams, really was not needed in this movie. The storyline would’ve flowed just as well without him. I think mainly the only reason he was in there was for comedy relief, giving Harrison someone to pun at, but he really just came off as being kind of retarded. And then for the shock factor. Which majority of us already know what that is, considering the rumors that have been buzzing about it since LaBeouf first got the role. So therefore it doesn’t come as a shock, that is if you were paying attention to the rumors, it certainly didn’t for me. In fact what shocked me is that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg would use such an easily picked out plotline. I expected something more original, not just another cliche. Yes, I am trying to put this in a round-about way so that, if… if you happened to not be paying attention to the rumors, trying to keep things spoiler free, I don’t ruin anything for you.
Karen Allen’s role as Marion Ravenwood was great, however, she kind of faded in and out of the background. Not really playing a big role in the storyline. Like Mutt, it seemed like she had been put in there for a purpose that didn’t really help the storyline any. Another disappointment about Marion’s return was the reunion between her and Indy. Though the arguements were something I expected, what I didn’t expect was the lack of emotional involvement between the two. I was hoping for a more passionate reunion, which never really came through in the movie. Marion Ravenwood has always been Indy’s greatest love, and I expected after all these years there would be more to there reunion than there was. And because of this the ending kind of confused me. Not saying that it shouldn’t have ended that way, but just that it suggested that it only ended that way because of Mutt’s role in the story.
Cate Blanchett’s character, Irina Spalko, was a total disappointment. Being the first female villain Indy has encountered in the films, I expected so much more. Elsa doesn’t count, because she wasn’t really a villain, she was just a greedy back-stabbing tramp who bit off more than she could chew. Spalko was something else though. A hardened military soldier, one of Stalin’s top scientists, and though she was a toughy I felt that she wasn’t as bad ass as originally perceived. She came off as being less of a threat. My friend Chris said that he almost liked Elsa better. :/
Indy’s other sidekick in this movie, Mac, played by Ray Winstone, was a good character, however he kind of undermined Indy in a way. Made him seem like a fool and dumby. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Another thing that really bugged me was that Indy kept referring to himself as Henry Jones Jr. Yeah that is his name, but through all three previous films, Indy never referred to himself as Henry. At Pankot Palace in Temple of Doom, he even introduced himself as Dr. Indiana Jones. I felt that they were trying to disassociate him from the name Indiana, maybe so that someone else could take the reigns?
Then the Crystal Skulls, I was really looking forward to seeing how they’re powers were going to be portrayed and what kind of trouble Indy would get into over them. However, I was disappointed with the way they had been portrayed. It also made no sense, since referrences were made to the real Crystal Skulls. I really would’ve liked to have seen a greater quest come from this legend, finding more than just one skull and gaining some kind of enlightenment. George Lucas’ “McGuffin” was not an Indiana Jones adventure. Though it played it’s part in the Crystal Skull legend, it made the film seem too much of a sci-fi treasure hunt, which the Indy films never were. They revolved around a spiritual quest. Indy always sought something far greater than himself, and when he successfully found it he came back from the experience more enlightened and more aware of the unknown. I really would’ve liked to have seen this theme return, since the Crystal Skulls are connected to a deeper spiritual awareness, a higher form of knowledge.
Some parts of the film came off as being extremely hokey. Like a scene where Mutt is playing Tarzan with a troop of monkeys. It was just downright silly. But as hokey as it was, and as many negative things I have said about the film, there were some good things too.
Harrison Ford did a fantastic job. He acted a bit more his age, kind of taking on the wary persona of his father, Henry Jones Sr. Which was a little weird, and kind of un-Indy-like, but you know they do say you become your parents with age. He was in great shape and looked awesome. It was a thrill seeing him as Indy again.
The visual effects were awesome. One of the coolest scenes is the explosion of a nuclear bomb. The best chase scene takes place in the military warehouse, which you’ll note looks a lot like the military warehouse the Ark was taken to. Keep your eyes peeled, you might see something. They occasionally referrenced events that took place in the Young Indy television series and in the books too.
I truly do respect Steven and George for making this movie. As disappointed as I am, I’m not going to light up a torch and grab my pitchfork to hunt them down with a gang of other equally disgruntled fans. They did work very hard to bring us this movie, even if it turned out to be hokey. And I respect that. They tried, and well they can’t make us all happy. I’m sure that there will be a lot of people who enjoy this film. As a stand alone movie it’s not too bad, but in comparison to the original three films, it’s nowhere near the same level. Even going into this with low expectations, I still got disappointed. Which a lot of us are now saying “maybe they shouldn’t have even bothered”. Nineteen years is a long time to wait to make a sequel, maybe it was just too long. But for those of us that loved the originals and were greatly disappointed by this movie I would look at it as kind of closure for us all. We finally got the fabled Indy 4 and our hero lives happily ever after.
The End.
Or maybe not. With George Lucas now prospecting for two more sequels with Mutt Williams as the new Indiana Jones, and Indy playing second fiddle as the new Henry Jones Sr, can we really look forward to something like this? Sounds like a really bad idea if you ask me. But then again, I’m just one fan out of millions, who could possibly enjoy seeing the Indy films go into a whole new era. But for me, it just wouldn’t be the same. You can’t have an Indiana Jones movie without Indiana Jones. A Mutt Williams spin-off would more than likely fail, because he really didn’t bring that much to the Indy-playing-field. Kind of like bringing a knife to a gun fight. Shia LaBeouf’s been in a lot of great movies, and has done pretty well in a lot of them. However, his role in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull didn’t feel right. It was like he was being pushed out there to fill Harrison’s shoes, which is a difficult task. But when presented with the idea, the end of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull suggests something else. Indy isn’t quite ready to pass his signature fedora and bullwhip onto someone else. We can only hope that no one else is either, except for George, but you know, he chose… poorly.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will hit theaters May 22nd. So be prepared for either utter disappointment or a relatively entertaining and enjoyable film. The final descision is yours.
So you want to become an adventurer, you say? Well you’re going to need a bit of training first and who better to learn from than Indiana Jones.
Plus dozens of other crucial skills that may just come in handy when you’re checking out an old tomb or trekking through a jungle.
Cover from Play.com