The adventures of Indiana Jones

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

First of all I'm a big fan of Indiana Jones, so I was happy as a kid in a candy store when I heard they were making another Indy. But as the news and rumors of it started to pour out, I got a bit scared of what the outcome might be. They had dozens of writers working on the script and one by one they got dropped out until finally David Koepp got the job to take what was best of the previous scripts and mix it to a new script under the supervision of George Lucas. That didn't sound too good to be honest. So when I went to see it I was kinda cautious of what to expect. Well the movie started off quite great, in no time Indy was back in action slashing the whip and shooting one-liners. The location of the first action scene got me a bit worried of what might come of this and actually was a bit of a giveaway of the ending. Anyways the action was plenty and mostly as good as before, thou there were a few scenes that went a bit too much over the top, especially the one with the fridge. Then again unfortunately I guess you have to do that in order to compete with the rest of the modern action adventures. More and more spectacular action no matter how ridiculous or impossible it would be. Anyways back to the story. There was so much happening and things changing without any connection, or very slim at most, that I really got the feeling that there wasn't any scrip. Just a list of stuff they wanted to squeeze in there and put Indy somewhere in the middle of them. The "mysteries" got solved with the same formula as before, but this time they didn't even bother to put any effort into them. The late 50's era with the cold war rising was a good setting for the film and replacing the nazis with soviet military was a good touch too. I didn't like the very end of the movie after the action settled down, can't tell much of it without spoiling anything, but lets just say it didn't fit the legend so to say. So the script wasn't the strongest part, but then again it isn't in the previous movies either. Strongest carrying force of the movie was the cast and mainly Harrison Ford. Yes, he has aged a lot and you might think he's too old for this shit. But no, right from the first moments you see him you know Indy is back. The aging is handled with some quite funny comments about it and even thou he still swings around with his whip and delivers punches he does it in a way that you see that he's older, but still it doesn't bother a bit. Shia LaBeouf was surprisingly good as Mutt Williams, a nerdy version of Marlon Brando's character in The Wild One. I was also happy to see Karen Allen back as Marion, another compliment for the old movies which you can see plenty in this one. Rest of the cast, mainly Ray Winstone and John Hurt were really good also. Cate Blanchett as Col. Dr. Spalko looked good for the part, but as she says the first words, I was unintentionally laughing at the accent. Anyways the final thoughts of the movie was Indy is surely back, the old magic was still there and Harrison Ford is not too old for the part. But the movie itself wasn't really a good movie, bad script mainly and at points the action was just too much over the top. I mean after seeing it I was happy to see Indy back, but then again I could have lived without it too. And for those who think the ending is too much "out there", I think it fit the story quite well. I mean how do you top the cup of christ or the ark of the covenant? Definitely a must see for true fans, but don't keep your hopes up too high.
60%

Since we're talking about Indy here it's a perfect time to recap the old ones too.



Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

This just works brilliantly, every piece of the puzzle is there and fits the whole perfectly. A true definition of an action adventure movie.
99%



Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

The darkest of the lot and that is where this movie fails. Indy movies are supposed to be funny and entertaining, not scary and disgusting. Of course there's lots of comedy and action in this one too, but still for example ripping people's hearts out doesn't really belong to these kinds of films. Still a good movie and definitely worth the watch.
76%



Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Classic masterpiece that stands time no matter how many times you see it.
100%