187. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
So what are you, a triple agent?
Title: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Date Watched: 12/24/2012
Original Ranking Out of 10: 8
Revised Ranking Out of 10: 7
Synopsis: Indiana Jones and his son unite on a quest to uncover something related to the Roswell landing.
The Good: Some really impressively filmed action sequences. Easily the best looking of the Indiana Jones movies (courtesy of cinematographer Janusz Kaminski). Indy's back!...sort of.
The Bad: It's been too long and Harrison Ford looks his age. The CGI is often obvious and feels out of place. Ending is anti-climactic and there's too much between the action. Also: Fridge nuking sequence.
Why Do I Own This Movie?: Indiana Jones blu-ray box set from Amazon's Gold Box.
Should I Still Own This Movie?: I guess so. I don't hate it as much as everybody else.
What Did I Notice That I Didn't Notice Before?: Cate Blanchett has a tough time with her Ukrainian accent.
Other Impressions: There are a bunch of issues that people have with this movie and, for the most part, I agree with them. Aliens don't really belong in the Indiana Jones universe (or, I'm sorry, are they inter-dimensional travelers?), the stunts this time around are more ridiculous than anything in the other three movies and Indy performs them in his mid-50s, Shia LaBeouf isn't exactly my favorite actor in the whole wide world, and so on. But, beneath it all, Indy's back and several of the sequences do capture some of the same feel as the original trilogy. The car chase through the jungle, for instance, stands out as a highlight: though the sword fighting on top of moving vehicles is pretty ridiculous, I also happen to think it's pretty cool.
The main issue is that they waited too long to make the movie and, possibly, tried too hard to do something different while still retaining the same structure. Many of us grew up with Indiana Jones and we have very specific ideas of what an Indiana Jones movie needs to be (we also may have an inflated opinion of the first three, but, then again, maybe not) and, frankly, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull doesn't completely meet our expectations. And, rather than defy them or go in a different direction, it underwhelms. Wrong direction, guys.
The movie is still moderately entertaining -- though many may disagree -- and fun, though not nearly as much as it should be. Though many complain about how ridiculous this movie is, I think that the amount of talk and underwhelming climax are the bigger issues. I'll probably watch Kingdom of the Crystal Skull again at some point in the future, but I'd rather think of it as an unfortunately coda rather than the finale to the trilogy.
If Lucas and Spielberg want to attempt a 5th Indy, however, I'd probably still be on board. Just because this movie didn't match the excitement and inventiveness of the first three doesn't mean that they won't knock it out of the park next time around. I think they've abandoned that possibility at this point, though. Oh well.
The List
Title: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Date Watched: 12/24/2012
Original Ranking Out of 10: 8
Revised Ranking Out of 10: 7
Synopsis: Indiana Jones and his son unite on a quest to uncover something related to the Roswell landing.
The Good: Some really impressively filmed action sequences. Easily the best looking of the Indiana Jones movies (courtesy of cinematographer Janusz Kaminski). Indy's back!...sort of.
The Bad: It's been too long and Harrison Ford looks his age. The CGI is often obvious and feels out of place. Ending is anti-climactic and there's too much between the action. Also: Fridge nuking sequence.
Why Do I Own This Movie?: Indiana Jones blu-ray box set from Amazon's Gold Box.
Should I Still Own This Movie?: I guess so. I don't hate it as much as everybody else.
What Did I Notice That I Didn't Notice Before?: Cate Blanchett has a tough time with her Ukrainian accent.
Other Impressions: There are a bunch of issues that people have with this movie and, for the most part, I agree with them. Aliens don't really belong in the Indiana Jones universe (or, I'm sorry, are they inter-dimensional travelers?), the stunts this time around are more ridiculous than anything in the other three movies and Indy performs them in his mid-50s, Shia LaBeouf isn't exactly my favorite actor in the whole wide world, and so on. But, beneath it all, Indy's back and several of the sequences do capture some of the same feel as the original trilogy. The car chase through the jungle, for instance, stands out as a highlight: though the sword fighting on top of moving vehicles is pretty ridiculous, I also happen to think it's pretty cool.
The main issue is that they waited too long to make the movie and, possibly, tried too hard to do something different while still retaining the same structure. Many of us grew up with Indiana Jones and we have very specific ideas of what an Indiana Jones movie needs to be (we also may have an inflated opinion of the first three, but, then again, maybe not) and, frankly, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull doesn't completely meet our expectations. And, rather than defy them or go in a different direction, it underwhelms. Wrong direction, guys.
The movie is still moderately entertaining -- though many may disagree -- and fun, though not nearly as much as it should be. Though many complain about how ridiculous this movie is, I think that the amount of talk and underwhelming climax are the bigger issues. I'll probably watch Kingdom of the Crystal Skull again at some point in the future, but I'd rather think of it as an unfortunately coda rather than the finale to the trilogy.
If Lucas and Spielberg want to attempt a 5th Indy, however, I'd probably still be on board. Just because this movie didn't match the excitement and inventiveness of the first three doesn't mean that they won't knock it out of the park next time around. I think they've abandoned that possibility at this point, though. Oh well.
The List