Rating:
3.5 out of 5
Short version: While it definitely had its moments and plenty of nods to the fans, there was also more ridiculousness than we’ve ever seen in an Indiana Jones film.
Ok, I’d really like an easy movie to review for a change…
Reviewing the first Indiana Jones movie to be released in 20 years and directed by Steven Spielberg is not something I take lightly. It’s no secret that I haven’t exactly been fired up for this film or a big cheerleader for it (our writer Niall has taken that upon himself here at Screen Rant), but I truly hoped it would be great even if I didn’t think it would be.
So was it awful? Of course not. But was it great? Unfortunately, no.
What it was is pretty ridiculous in more than a couple of places - but oh, how it tried to be awesome… (BTW, I tried to keep this review as spoiler free as possible.)
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From the start it seemed like they were doing things right with the opening credits matching the style of the original Raiders of the Lost Ark, and with the Paramount logo fading into a similarly styled mound of dirt. However I actually cringed when the writers credit appeared and one of the two names was George Lucas.
It opened up on a scene out in the Nevada desert that established right away the time period of the film with a bunch of 1950’s teenagers out racing their 32 Ford painted with flames. They come upon a military convoy and a bit of a race ensues that although the movie has just started, seems weirdly out of place. Shortly thereafter the tone changes to classic Indiana Jones and I’ll admit that I got a bit of a rush from seeing the scene in the trailer where Harrison first picks up his hat in its full context.
This time the villains are Communist Russians instead of Nazis, and they too are after some artifact that will give them ultimate power. We end up at a very familiar storage facility the first test of whether Harrison Ford can still pull off the role kicks off.
Can he still don the fedora, leather jacket and whip respectably? Yes, indeed.
As a matter of fact he portrays the character quite well and with more confidence than Jones displayed in the previous three films. It works because it seems he’s been “adventuring” for the entire time that has passed since we’ve last seen him.
Despite his age, the sequences are almost believable and at the end of the scene we get to see just how “buff” Ford is in the film, making it a bit easier to suspend our disbelief.
The problem with the movie however is just how FAR we have to suspend reality. The Indy films, while fantastic in their own way, have always had some sort of connection to reality both in the action sequences and the mythic basis for the stories. But here there are scenes and plot ideas that just seem way too over the top for an Indiana Jones movie. One escape by him shortly after the scenes I just described is:
A. Stupid.
B. Looks like it belongs in a superhero movie via the implausibility of his having survived.
From there however it gets pretty decent again as we meet Shia Lebouf’s “young tough” character, who seeks out Dr. Jones in order to save his mother and older family friend. Shia does a very decent job in the film and is enjoyable to watch. They were wise to not write him as a wide-eyed “Indy Jr.” in training.
One of the enjoyable things about the film are the many “hat tips” to the earlier films that real fans of the first three films will notice. I’m pretty sure that repeat viewings will expose more that the viewer may miss the first time around. In once scene we see a familiar artifact, and in another there’s a funny role reversal regarding Indy’s and “Mutt’s” (yes, that’s the name of Shia’s character) escape from some bad guys which compares to a scene between Harrison Ford and Sean Connery.
It was also great to see Karen Allen back in the familiar role. Of course she’s much older now but she still had that familiar sparkle. It’s too bad they didn’t make better use of her in the film.
There were a few moments that will charge you up, mainly due to the familiar John Williams music and the unique sound effects attached to anyone getting punched and the good old whip. But then there are other things that are laughable, and I don’t mean in a way that they intended to make you laugh. One of them involves Shia in the jungle (I won’t spoil it) and a big one is just who the mystery is about.
So in the end, will audiences like this? Yeah, I’m pretty sure they will. Should they have left well enough alone and not milked the franchise for another film? That’s a tougher question - I can see how it could have been really great and I would LOVE to know what the original screenplay for this was like. If they make another one and bring the action and story a bit more down to earth it might actually turn out even better than this one.
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33 Comments
Sorry gang, but I forgot to mention the dart in the throat scene…it deffinatly made me jump!
If you’re a true fan, treat yourself to a night at the theater.
Let yourselves and your imagination enjoy.
Kudos to all that made this happen.
so, I have seen this movie yesterday. And I must say, overall, it was not bad, but not that good too.
I really much liked the first part of the film, it was just what I wanted for this film. But than the second part, with the story of those aliens?? come on, that could have been way better!
Shia was good in his role, and it was really nice and fun to see Karen Allen again, she is just, wow :). And of course, Ford himself, he is just looking good as Indy!
So for me, it was ok, the first part I really loved, but the second part, no! Than again, it had really fun and great moments in it.
For the next installment, I really hope they don’t put Shia in a more bigger role. Ford should be left on his own, leading the Indiana Jones films. He IS Indiana, and Shia will never be ready for it! But as his son, he was pretty believable, and really enjoyable.
greets,
Steven
Way to throw a bunch of spoilers in there Steven. Glad I saw the movie already.
Loved it…
And yes, Cate Blanchett was pretty darn hot with her black hair… there’s just something about her.
I loved the film… it had some amazing moments, that is still very much burnt in my memory…
That nuclear explosion was awesome. When the town got blow to Kingdom come, it was incredibly horrific to watch, but then the scene with Indy looking at the mushroom cloud was really an awesome scene. Totally unrealistic but, then it’s an adventure film…
And then the silver disc UFO was just perfect. LOOOOOOVED it!
Now, a few things didn’t resonate well with me… the CGI Alien was too CGI, then seeing the Janitor or Dr. Jan Itor from scrubs in the same room as INDY, didn’t work for me. But that’s cause I am a big fan of Scrubs and seeing him in ANY role now, unless dramatically different, will always remind me of him as the Janitor. But then you know why he was in it right? One word… THE FUGITIVE….
Then the general was the mastermind behind the search for the Island… Mr. Whitmore? Hmm… took me out of the moment there for a second… but all in all… I love it…
This was a nice dinner… I think I’ll be asking for some more…
Well, I just got back from the movie and I have to say that I LOVED IT!!! But by deciding to love it, I had to block a few things from my memory. SPOILERS ARE ON THE WAY just to let you know.
First, things I loved:
I thought the intro and the warehouse scene was fantastic as well as the nuclear bomb scene, it was very cool and I thought a great opener to the film. One of my favorite parts!
Indy, acts the same, looks a little older, but pulled it off without a problem. I don’t think he did anything that was out of character for a 60 year old Indy.
The action scenes were awesome and the CGI during these points wasn’t too exaggerated, except maybe the part where Shia is standing on both cars and plants are hitting him in the crotch.
Speaking of Shia, he did a great job and the motorcycle chase scene was also very cool. I think that was my second favorite part and the fight that leads up to it. I thought the monkey scene was fun too.
I liked the change Speilberg made to have music like Elvis and others, playing at certain parts of the film. It was very un-Indy-like, but worked for me and the story.
The car chase scenes and quicksand scene were funny and both were my third and fourth favorite parts.
It was good to have Marion back and the relationship between her and Indy was rushed, but enjoyable and she could have had more screen time, but she did a great job.
The editing, sets and other actors were great. The music and sound was fantastic and all the elements of classic Indy were present.
I thought Cate Blanchett was pretty good looking.
The ending was awesome and well done too.
Now, the things I didn’t really like. The list is shorter than things I liked which is good:
First off, what the hell is this crystal skull and who cares about it! Although it looks freaking awesome. It might have just been me, but I was so confused, the McGuffin really bothered me. So if you posses it you have control over its power which is psychic abilities? Wouldn’t the Russians have rather had that A-Bomb and dropped it in Washington DC since they were already in the US. All the McGuffins in the series have some things we don’t understand and like in Temple of Doom, nobody really cares about it, but in this installment it plays such a key spot that you can’t avoid it. If someone could explain the McGuffin to me better I could love to hear about it.
Next point, what is the deal with taking the skull to the temple and sticking it up on that skeleton. What did we accomplish and how does that give anyone psychic powers, it looks like it just exploded and flew away to me.
Now my number one problem with this movie, that almost ruined it for me….., I love Sci-Fi almost as much as Indy movies so I was very excited for that element to be in this film. Having said that WHY DID WE HAVE TO SEE THE ALIEN??? Lucas should have seen Signs and realized that movie was ruined for the same reason. In the other Indy films we don’t see God, Shiva or Christ. We just see their power. So why did we have to see an alien that looks so flipping fake and really pointless to the story.
Now why exactly did the alien kill off Spalko? Was it because aliens are capitalists? I mean, she’s the one who got the skull “restored” and then the alien kills her off! Very confusing. Was it just because she was the bad gal?
These are key points for any film, especially an Indy one that had serious issues.
Now to end on a happy note, I am going to go see it again next week and hopefully I will understand it much better. There were many times that I could feel my pulse racing as I watched this film and it felt sooooo good to see Indiana back in action. It made me a little sad that we hadn’t seen more of him over the past 20 years.
It was a good movie and I enjoyed almost all of it. And I would recommend it to anyone, plus the moment I walked out of the theater, I wanted to go in and see it again.
Now to all of you…can someone better explain this skull to me and exactly what was going on at the end. I am sure that if I understood this part better I would enjoy this movie much more.
I had a very very good time!!!
-Bvance
PS: Could someone also explain what the Russians found at the warehouse. I know it was an alien corpse, but how did that help them at all? Was it just so they knew crystal skulls really existed? I might have missed that key point. Thanks
Spoilers;//
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How cool would it be if the next Indy film has to do with some group stealing the Ark from the Hanger 51 wherehouse?
Maybe the OSS? There could be a flashback scene showing them watching Indy and the Russians the whole time, and gives a reason why the Military didn’t move in…?
(Hey! That belongs in a secret military base, Damm it!)
@Bvance,
McGuffin? I don’t know what that means? Are you talking about the character that betrays Indy, like in every other film? (Yeah I hated that f__k). He reminded me of a bad 24 villian. The kind that Jack Bauer uncovers then teams up with, then of course later in the day the guy betrays him yet again… ;-p
Anyway…….
On the Skull and the mythos.
Unlike other Indy films, we get a beginning where Indy is a hostage. Who knows how he was kidnapped. From what I could tell the Russians were looking for that crate because they were looking for the Skull of that Alien. When they carved it up it was gone, as was the entire crystal skeletal structure. That was a clue that the crystal remains were taken from the corpse. By who, who knows???
The Russians believed the Skull would ultimatly lead them to power over the world thru mind control. (Or at least Spalko believed it).
« In real life the Crystal Skulls are relics from thousands of years ago.
Some believe they were created by Aliens and others say there relics from the Atlantian age.
There’s supposed to be about 100+ of the actual Crystal Skulls still in exsistance. They all look human. The Alien looking twist was a pure Speilberg…»
Anyway
Based on true Mayan beliefs, at one time way back hundreds of thousands of years ago, an Alien race came here to mine Gold. They used humans (Mayan slaves) to do it.
Going on Speilbergs take,,,,
Somehow the Mayans must have found a way to capture these Alien invaders. Due to the nature of their dimensional prison, the Crystal Skulls of these Aliens acted as keys.
Keys to their prison…
(Likey on quantum magnetic power)…
When the “last” Crystal Skull fell into the hands of man, it promised anyone that if they returned it, they would find the City of Lost Gold….
In the end, the City of Lost Gold was nothing more than a ruse (playing on mans greed) to get the Skull back and unlock the Alien from its cell.
The treasure and promise wera all lies. The Alien just wanted to escape back to its realm.
Spalko was killed because the Alien was evil. (We want to give you a big reward!!).
Indy had the sense to bail out of the ship before it took off into another dimension..
The scene where the ship takes off and all the debris “dont” hit Indy and friends you could say is because the ship was in another dimension…
(What a great shot that was btw).
Next thing were watching the throne room scene from Star Wars, ahhhccmemm I mean (wedding)..and the haunted Fedora….
(Trumpets.).
790…..>
Good stuff 790-
Regarding your reference to Atlantis…
“Some believe they were created by Aliens and others say there relics from the Atlantian age.”
Seeing as we’re all bouncing “what ifs” around, I have always wondered why George and Steven have never figured that Atlantis would be a natural local for an Indy flick? The title even sounds amazing:
“Indiana Jones and the Lost City of Atlantis”
Imagine the fun they could have with that one! Say, if the Lost city mysteriuosly rose from the ocean once more. They could include elements of the zodiac, the prescession of the equinox, and one or another kind of global threat related to the event that only our hero could solve…
Just food for thought.
Dare to dream…
Thanks Nowhereman, but do you think the Indy fans could handle it? Lol.
Gheesh they can barely deal with an alien and a ufo…;-)
I think to calm them down we might see Indy digging up Dinosaurs in the next film.
They could prob do a cool Atlantis film my only concern is that it might look a lot like a Stargate episode.
However…. I can dream of a plotline that involes the great Pyramid and Atlantis. Since (IMO) the pryamids and Atlantis are connected by Earths Lay lines. Indy could stumble on the some group trying to assemble the weapon that destroyed the City back in the day millions of years ago…….?????
One thing I’m looking forward to is Mutt getting a real name and Indy making him take the GED test. Lol.
Shia did a great job!!!!!
Now that it’s been about 25 hours since seeing this, I can unequivocally say:
This movie sucks, the more I think about it. Fantastic is one thing–and I expect that. Implausible is another thing.
As opposed to, say, Speed Racer, which I appreciated more as time went on.
Interestingly enough it’s been 48 hours since i’ve seen Indy 4 and unlike Jimmy, the more I think about it, the movie is really growing on me. Same with any of you other guys?
I think that probably like others, I already had imagined how this film should be and since it wasn’t, I was pretty disappointed. BUT, after remembering parts I laughed at, and action scenes I enjoyed I really want to see this movie again so I can focus more on the plot and fun dialogue.
Maybe it wasn’t as bad as I had originally thought it was. I come to this reasoning because I have a BIG desire to go and see it again.
SPOILERS AHEAD, CHILDREN!!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
When the “last” Crystal Skull fell into the hands of man, it promised anyone that if they returned it, they would find the City of Lost Gold….
In the end, the City of Lost Gold was nothing more than a ruse (playing on mans greed) to get the Skull back and unlock the Alien from its cell.
The treasure and promise wera all lies. The Alien just wanted to escape back to its realm.
790, that’s not what I got from the film. The promise was that they would receive a great treasure, which many perceived as the City of Gold. In actuality, the great treasure was knowledge, which the villian received but was consumed by it.
The movie was good but is slightly below Temple of Doom, IMHO, which makes it the worst of the series. We know that James Bond has been played by different actors over the decade; is it possible to have an Indy movie with another actor playing Indy? It would be a major undertaking.
Wow Vic, giving it a 3.5 out of 5 is way generous coming from you! Before reading your full review I thought you disliked it altogether.
Yeah, I think I was influenced by love an nostalgia for the ones that came before, and some doubts based on thinking that maybe I was being too picky. I probably should have gone 3/5.
Vic
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