Having survived the Temple of Doom, uncovered the Ark of the Covenant and embarked on a Last Crusade for the Holy Grail, Jones is now seeking the mysterious Crystal Skull of Akator.
Joined by lost love Marion Ravenwood and her son Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf), he must battle nefarious Russians (lead by Cate Blanchett's Irina Spalko), devious competitors, swarming ants and just a few angry natives to save the day all over again.
At sixty six years old this was never going to be easy for Harrison or, as the man himself says, 'not as easy as it used to be'.
Ladies and gentleman, the wait is finally over...
They say:
Variety: "Technically, film is every bit as accomplished as one expects from Spielberg."
The Guardian: "A retread from the VHS age."
The Times: "Welcome back Indy. Lord knows we've missed you."
We say:
Most fans have dreamed about Indy's outing number four since the credits rolled on Last Crusade in 1989. Spielberg's interest though was rekindled in 2000 after his son asked when he intended to complete the iconic series (five instalments were originally planned during the eighties).
Then began the process of developing a script, including the now infamously rejected 2007 draft by acclaimed filmmaker Frank Darabont, which apparently took a whole year to write and clocked in at over 180 pages - a three hours plus running time.
"Yes, yes, yes, this is all very interesting" you cry. "But is the new one any good?" In a word, yeah. It's good.
Though this is 'good' out of its thematic context. As a wildly far fetched adventure with terrific action and a typically deft Spielberg prologue, it seals the deal. Yet held alongside the rest of the Jones collection, it's a lukewarm, missed opportunity to achieve greatness. It's something producer/ writer George Lucas seems adept at doing these days.
Some of this movie is so implausible that it makes seventies era James Bond appear sensible by comparison. Moreover Ford has now become Roger Moore - he looks old because he is old, and with all the working out in the world, a man in his mid sixties surfing behind a motorbike is still a fairly preposterous notion.
Without disclosing any spoilers, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull takes a fanciful idea, as hinted at throughout the first half and in its final scenes gives up sense entirely to jump the shark towards a Twilight Zone fantasyland. This pottyness confirmed all we feared (and not in a scary Exorcist way) - that Skull is Indy's Moonraker.
The original trilogy was always at its weakest when venturing into the fantastical. Even with Raiders, its credibility almost comes apart when the Ark's evil spirits begin disintegrating faces - the same with Last Crusade and its 700 year old Grail Knight, ditto the live heart removal in Temple of Doom.
Would these have all been different, better pictures if supernatural forces were only implied and not confirmed? On the strength of this latest fanciful journey, that might have been a worthwhile precedent.
Supposedly only 30% of the visual effects are CGI - it is mightily appreciated too. The nostalgic air is authentic and familiar, from a hectic chase amongst rows of boxed government secrets to a "Truck? WHAT TRUCK?" inspired pursuit through dense South American foliage (actually created on a Mac, but it feels traditional).'
Despite being over the top silly, this is classic whip cracking fodder. And if you think the boat/ jeep toppling over the waterfalls is daft, just remember what happened to that dingy in Temple of Doom - used as a parachute, sledge, then drops 300 ft off a cliff.
Indy's fourth episode tone is pitched closest to the third in the initial trio - Last Crusade. It employs the same snip snap humour and banter, but struggles to retain energy during too many forced scenarios - constructed only it appears so that characters can blab out exposition. A flatly predicable revelation while two of the principals sink in jungle sand is especially amateurish and clunky.
We used to have our 'lost treasure' backstory sold to us like a chilling campfire yarn, now we get a sit down chat every few minutes to slam mythology into the narrative like dubious historical product placement.
However, reiterating our opening view, this is a good film - it's brisk and exciting and, until the plot goes patently mad, a worthwhile entry in the series. That said, it's a long way from everything you thought it would be.
If disappointment has a name, it must be Indiana Jones.
Extras:
"Steven really wanted this movie to be a surprise for the audience", so says producer Frank Marshall in pensive mood. He's not wrong there!
It's no great leap on our part to assume Indy 4 was not what you were expecting. It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't Indy - not how we remembered anyway.
Thankfully this packed double disc DVD does address some of the film's missteps with candid looks at the pre, filming and post production process. It's enlightening to discover for example that Harrison himself is not a fan of 'little green men', though concedes their context in the movie intrigued him. Well, he'd have to say that, wouldn't he?
There's certainly lots here to plough through on a rainy day (trailers, dreaded CGI look see, on set photos etc), most of it’s fluff of course, apart from a stirring set of feature length production diaries.
Here you'll see who the real hero of the picture was - British stunt coordinator Gary Powell. Forget getting tossed about by Harrison in the jungle or (figuratively) holding Shia LaBeouf's hand as he straddles a 600Ib Harley, the only thing that bothers East End hard man Gary is mosquitoes.
Cynicism apart, it's obvious that a lot of passion went into making this belated sequel, whether the finished result was anything like we'd hoped for or not. So this is definitely a worthwhile DVD purchase, even if it's just to get your enthusiasm back for one of the defining action franchises of all time - and it just might.
CAST
Cate Blanchett
Harrison Ford
Jim Broadbent
John Hurt
Karen Allen
Ray Winstone
Shia LaBeouf
DIRECTOR
Steven Spielberg
TIME
124 mins
POSTED...
Thu 22 May 2008 at 12:06am
