Matt Shea
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David O'Connell
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Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
May 21st 2008 22:36
It's been a long time since Steven Spielberg and George Lucas sat down together to give adoring fans another hit of Indiana Jones. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" came out in 1981, as a fun side-project for the two directors, but ended up being a massive hit, resonating with the legions of young boys and girls that crave adventure.
"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" extends the trilogy into a fourth entry, using the fact that Harrison Ford is getting old to its advantage. This Indiana Jones is older, stiffer and surlier; nonetheless, in between teaching classes at some remarkably beautiful university, he still has time to don his trademark hat and whip in search of mythical archaeological treasures.
One thing that Spielberg and Lucas bring to the show is the big budget, and Spielberg, in particular, seems obsessed with replicating the look of the era, 1950s America, when the Cold War was warming up its chilly tendrils and anti-Communist paranoia was whipping up into a frenzy. As a period piece, it's almost unmatched in scale, with the street filled with classic cars, and the buildings restored to their nostalgic glory. It's a pleasant departure from the typical Americans-vs-Nazis plot that filled the previous three movies, and there's even a little McCarthyism thrown in.
All of this is quickly discarded, though, as the story buckles down for the action. Soon, Indiana and his new sidekick, Mutt, played by rising star Shia LaBoeuf, are flying to Peru, where they hope to track down Mutt's missing mother and Indy's colleague.
Fortunately, Indiana Jones is apparently able to read ancient Mayan languages and decipher complex riddles with a snap of his fingers. This avoids the audience being forced to follow Indy to the library and attend conferences, which leaves more time for wisecracks and motorcycle chases.
The audience is yanked along a trail of clues and secrets until they find themselves deep in the Amazonian jungle, dragged along by a cohort of nasty Russians, led by Cate Blanchett. In tribute to previous Indy movies, there's a furious car chase in the jungle, with the same fist fight on a moving vehicle that we've come to associate with Indy. Fortunately, Harrison's age doesn't stop him from going toe-to-toe with a huge Russian soldier, nor does it slow him down when avoiding machine gun fire.
Spielberg has always had an eye for dramatic landscapes and he puts it to great use here, offering up incredible shots of the jungle. Much of it must be enhanced with CGI, though, as there are a few moments when it doesn't look quite real - or believable.
The touch of George Lucas is everywhere in this movie, even appearing as if he wrestled away the director's beret from Spielberg in the last quarter of the movie, taking over and punching it through with his own style, even going as far as quoting himself from Star Wars.
"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" attempts to serve up an epic summer blockbuster and goes all out, seeking to fill the frame with non-stop intrigue and action. It's evident that the filmmakers set out to make a movie to please fans of the trilogy and spared no expense to do so.
Elsewhere on the Orble network: Check out Salty Popcorn's review of the movie!
I say: Hmmm. If you've ever really wanted to see Indiana Jones mashed up with the Star Wars prequels, with the stamp of George Lucas all over it, this is the movie for you.
See it for: Incredible realization of the 50s in America. All the vehicles, the costumes and hairstyles, wonderfully recreated. There are a couple of attractive students in Dr. Jones' class, with their retro style lighting up the screen...
*this image is from IMDb
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Comment by Tyronne
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Comment by Cibbuano
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Comment by Jayne Kearney
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I named my daughter after Indiana Jones!! I was so in love with Harrison Ford back in the day - although I much preferred him in Peter Weir's Witness, one of my all time favourite films!
I'm not hurrying to see the latest Indy as I have sort of moved on from this type of blockbuster but I'm sure I'll catch it at some stage.
P.S .I didn't really name my daughter after Indiana Jones - I just loved the name. She's getting a bit of a buzz seeing it written all over the place at the moment. Although I must admit when she was born seven years ago I never really thought she would have to contend with a sequel!!
Comment by Cibbuano
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jayne, named your daughter Indy? Heh... didn't Sean Connery say that Indy was named after their dog?
Comment by Jayne Kearney
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Anyway, my daughter wouldn't care - she's mad for dogs. Haha
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Personally I was disappointed. All very silly, much sillier than Raiders of the Lost Ark.
I wanted one of those Indy hats the ushers were wearing!!!
And it really annoyoed me the movie started half an hour late, plus having to wait to get my damn mobile back, it meant I missed the encore screening of [rec] at the spanish film festival!
... hmmm, where's JD's Indy review I wonder?
Comment by Cibbuano
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Janye, no biggie, I'm sure many people are named after movie characters named after dogs.
Comment by Bryn
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Comment by Jason King
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What was the Star Wars quote? Was it "I've got a bad feeling about this?"
Comment by Tracy
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Tracy
Comment by Bryn
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Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
I'm worried I'm going to be disappointed...
I'll watch out for Cate's dodgy accent!
Comment by Wayne F
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The one thing that really pissed me off was the scene that followed the first scene where Indy first runs into the Russians - I don't wanna spoil it for others who haven't seen it. It really shit me because I thought it was going to be a vision of things to come, and by that I mean heavy CGI effects. Thankfully it wasn't the case.
Very good movie, not as good as the original trilogy, but awesome none-the-less. Awesome to see Ford kicking major ass in a movie again
Comment by Ayda
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Comment by Cibbuano
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tracy, I don't think you would have liked it!
wayne, while the CGI wasn't as invasive as the Phantom Menace, I thought it did take away from the atmosphere.
Ayda, hmmm, the Dark Knight. I liked Burton's Batman, ridiculous as it was. Batdance!
Comment by Ayda
Phantasmelodia
As for Prince's Batman Soundtrack in general...
well...
uhm...
LOL??
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
It was a fun night in movie land wasn't it, I'm a sucker for the red carpet premieres.
As for the movie itself I was underwhelmed but it still had some good moments. My review will be up today for the latest adventure.
Comment by cinemabanana
I haven't read a single positive review yet so as the worlds biggest Indy fan I'm nervous.
Going to see it over weekend.
Lots of m m's and coke might dull the pain.
Comment by Cibbuano
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I see a lot of positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes...
Comment by Lilla
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Well he is a trained archeologist, versed in many languages of antiquity... we've come to expect no less from Indy over the years...
This sounds exactly like the type of film that I would go and see for entertainment value for my buck...
Thanks for staying neutral on this one... I was s'posed togo this morning, but something came up and I couldn't make it ...and now I have to wait until next Friday!
It'll seem like an eternity ...*sigh*
Comment by Ahmed
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Did that make it into the movie?
If so I will never watch it much less recgonize it as Indiana Jones.
Indiana Jones does not ride bitch.
Comment by Spennies
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Comment by Miswanderlust
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I am going over the weekend to see it. Great post I am looking forward to see it. Great review!
Mis
Comment by Sounds-of-Sydney
Just read in the paper that Russians are being urged to boycott both the movie, and Cate Blanchett.
The quote from a Russian read something along the lines of "Harrison Ford and Cate Blanchett are both second rate actors"
Comment by Ahmed
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Damn him for ruining Indiana Jones!
Comment by Sounds-of-Sydney