Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy explains why Indiana Jones 4 didn’t work. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas teamed up in truly epic fashion when in 1981 they unleashed upon the world the action classic Raiders of the Lost Ark and its iconic central character Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford’s Jones would later return for a pair of sequels in 1984’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
It seemed appropriate indeed that 1989’s Jones entry was titled The Last Crusade, as most thought Spielberg and Ford had retired the character forever. It was a surprise then when the pair elected to return for 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, with Lucas also on-board as a main creative force. Unfortunately, the consensus is that Crystal Skull was a major failure and a black mark on both the Indiana Jones franchise and Spielberg’s legacy. For her part, Lucasfilm president Kennedy has a simple explanation for why Crystal Skull failed to bring back the old Indy magic. As she recently told Empire, it’s all about the story – or rather, the lack of one:
“You never set out to do anything except make a great movie. And sometimes you hit that perfectly, and sometimes you don’t. In the case of ‘Indy 4’, I don’t think there’s any specific thing that any of us looked back on, except that we may not have had as strong a story as we wanted.”
Why Indiana Jones 4 Failed
With a worldwide box office gross of $790 million, it’s hard to say that Crystal Skull exactly failed. But its cultural reputation is as a disastrous mishap that fell far short of expectations, and the blame for that failure often falls squarely at the feet of producer Lucas. The common line is that Lucas was the driving creative force behind the movie, and that his weird story ideas pushed the film into the sort of childish silliness that also ruined his Star Wars prequel trilogy for many fans. Crystal Skull writer David Koepp more-or-less upheld this line when he said that he tried to talk Lucas out of using his bizarre alien skull story ideas.
The Indiana Jones character is of course known for being plunged into wildly absurd misadventures that he somehow survives by the skin of his teeth. But Crystal Skull pushed things beyond the pleasurable action-adventure silliness of the '80s Indiana Jones films and into territory that was too broadly cartoonish even for such an inherently ridiculous franchise. Another negative factor often cited by Crystal Skull non-fans is the film’s over-reliance on CGI in a Dark Knight-era moment when fans of genre films seemed eager to re-embrace the kind of practical magic the original Indy movies were known for.
Kennedy’s assertion that story was the main problem with Crystal Skull is something few will argue with. And perhaps with a better story, Spielberg and company would have felt more confident staging the kind of bone-crunching old-school action scenes the franchise was previously known for. But it’s also possible that Spielberg himself was just not into staging that kind of action anymore, and would not have been the right director for Crystal Skull even had the movie boasted a stronger story. Spielberg may not have been as responsible as Lucas for Indiana Jones 4’s flawed conception, but he certainly bears responsibility for its weak execution. Indy fans are certainly hoping that the upcoming Indiana Jones 5 will avoid the mistakes of Crystal Skull and deliver a truly satisfying experience.
Source: Empire
