Shawn's Indiana Jones Review

2008 Movie #58 - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I'm still not sure what I think about that title to be completely honest. Well anyway it's almost hard to believe but just last night I actually watched a new Indiana Jones movie in theatres, a day that I never thought would come. I had hyped this movie up to ridiculous amounts in the past few months and it was definitely the one movie this summer I was looking forward to the most. It had some pretty high expectations to meet and while it did meet some of them, in the end I sadly have to say that I left the theatre feeling a little disappointed.

I should probably wait a few more hours before even typing up this review because I still haven't even quite pinpointed what it was about the movie that bothered me. It does have the same feel as the other Indy movies but at the same time something seems to be missing. The old Indy charm just doesn't seem to be as on full display here.

The story was definitely one of the larger problems I had. In the past Indy went searching for a specific item and there was always a sense of urgency around him finding it. In this one, the item is kind of thrust upon him and at the same time this takes away a lot of that same urgency. Nobody ever seems to be in legitimate danger in this one, and if they are they can do some borderline superhero things to get out of it.

Which brings me to my second point, the movie is just way too over the top. I mean it's fine for an adventure movie to be silly and god knows the other Indiana Jones movies have certainly never been grounded in reality, but this one just takes it a little too far. Scenes involving a refrigerator, some vine swinging monkeys, a series of waterfalls, a car in a tree, cartoonish prarie dogs and the finale itself actually are all ridiculous to the point where it almost takes you out of the movie a little. It's fine to be over the top of course (Shoot 'Em Up being a great example of that) but you have to find a good balance and I felt that this movie took things too far over the ridiculous line. This I think is going to be most highly debated aspect of this movie amonst fans.

Also, Indiana as well as the others take some epic beatings that would kill just about any normal human being. However they always come out of things smiling and without a single scratch or wound on them. The fact that nobody reacts to any of the things that happen to them again really takes the feeling of risk and danger out of the movie. I mean you obviously know the heroes aren't going to die but the other movies had moments where things really looked bad for them and the characters were generally concerned. This movie never has those moments and it kind of hurts the movie at times.

There are of course some good sides to the movie. Harrison Ford is back in full force as Indiana Jones which is great to see. Shia does fine in the role, with his character having a few of the more ridiculous moments (aka monkeys) in the movie. It's also awesome to see Karen Allen back as Marion but they gave her almost nothing to do in this movie. If you're going to bring back such an iconic character in the series after this long at least give her a prominent role. She just feels so underused here. Their relationship was always interesting but here it seems they're falling for each other purely because they're there.

As ridiculous as the action scenes are, they're still for the most part entertaining. There's a sequence involving ants that I was actually pretty into. As I said I don't expect the movie to be realistic in any way but there's just a few too many "ok really?" moments. Man, this is the first review where I feel I actually have to defend my opinion.

It sounds like I flatout disliked the movie, which is certainly not the case.The whole thing is entertaining enough, but it just can't shake a feeling of being a little unneeded. We've been waiting 19 years for a new Indiana Jones movie so when one finally arrives you expect it to be amazing. This one just doesn't quite do it. I guess I'm just a victim of my own hype sadly.

This may be the first time I have to review a movie on here twice because I know I'm going to see it again but this time knowing I wasn't a huge fan of it. Maybe that way I can see it in a new light and come out a lot happier. This could be the most painful score I've ever had to give a movie on here...

***/5