Heavy-Handed, the Latest 'Indy' is Short on Fun
Posted on: Thursday, 22 May 2008, 09:00 CDT
After 19 years of talking, delays and highly hyped secrecy, we expected more than what we get from "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," which opens today.
Known in some circles as "Indy 4," the third sequel to the well- remembered "Raiders of the Lost Ark" is at best just OK. We wanted to welcome it like a wonderful reunion with an old friend; instead, it's more like a noisy overstatement that meanders in an unfocused flurry.
The best things about it are the familiar holdovers - the worn fedora hat, the sturdy bullwhip, the hero's inordinate fear of snakes and, most of all, John Williams' soaring score that tells us it's time to get excited. It isn't easy.
Cate Blanchett steals the film as Irina Spalko, "Stalin's favorite scientist," who marches about in a short haircut and issues orders in an accent that resembles Natasha from "Rocky and Bullwinkle." She's the best villain yet in an Indy film, even if she is more funny than threatening.
In fact, what this film most needs is more fun. We miss moments like the one in "Raiders" when Indiana (named for writer-producer George Lucas' dog) drops his whip and merely shoots an adversary, or when the monkey gives a "Heil, Hitler!" salute, or when heroine Marion Ravenwood kisses Indy in all the places that don't hurt.
Instead, we have a lot of noise and too much exposition about a Mayan crystal skull with supernatural powers that will allow the Russians to rule the world if they can grab it.
Things lead to Peru and the lost city of El Dorado, a place that has been used in animation and live action movies so often that we believe we've been there. During a long stretch, Harrison Ford, returning at age 65 for yet another paycheck for a surefire hit, goes on and on to explain the riddles and rules of the search for the Crystal Skull of Akator. Movies that ask characters to describe what we are seeing aren't doing their job.
The skull itself looks like a piece of plastic with lights inside - pretty cheap to be the center of attention.
It was a bright, likable touch, though, to have Indiana reunite with Marion from "Raiders." Karen Allen returns after 27 years - maybe one of the most delayed comebacks in movie history - to again display her freckles and tomboy carping. She's 56 now. Although her role is no more than predictable, it's a welcome nod to the original.
A film, though, that is stolen by its female leads is in trouble. After all, Indiana is, according to the American Film Institute's polling, the second greatest screen hero of all time, trailing only Atticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird."
Ford is fine, but rather unexceptional. One strongly suspects that the very existence of this chapter is because he has not had a hit in 11 years. If you've churned out "Six Days Seven Nights,""Random Hearts,""What Lies Beneath,""K-19: The Widowmaker,""Hollywood Homicide,""Water to Wine" and "Firewall," it's time to go back to one of your hits. One can only be awed by a list of flops like that, particularly since he got a $20 million salary for many of them.
He's adept here in the necessary assignment of making fun of himself, commenting at the outset, "It's not as easy as it used to be." He needs more of that rascally charm, though, that was a part of the original Indy . The scene when he has to grab a live snake to be rescued from quicksand is the token nod to his well-known phobia.
Initially, Indiana is kidnapped by the Russians and held in the same Nevada warehouse used at the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." His escapes seem way too easy. The Russians, in full uniform, move with incredible ease across the United States and to Peru. And we complain about leaky borders now!
Ruskies are not nearly as much fun as the Nazis when it comes to being fiends, even if Blanchett is an effective she-devil. Perhaps it's because they are not as distant, or maybe because it was just a "cold" war.
There are some nifty efforts to bring back the 1950s feel with Howdy Doody, "I Like Ike" slogans and references to the wealth of Howard Hughes, as well as Robert Oppenheimer and atomic tests. More would have been even better.
Added, perhaps as insurance to draw young moviegoers, is Shia LaBeouf as Mutt Williams, a James Dean type who combs his hair and wears a leather jacket. He is the heir apparent for other sequels, but the producers have their work cut out for them in making him a hero. (Then, it worked for Robert Downey Jr.). LaBeouf usually plays the Everyteen. Here, with enough pancake makeup to serve breakfast, he is being groomed as a leading man.
LaBeouf gets the telltale line: "For an old man, you ain't bad in a fight. What are you, like 80?"
John Hurt plays the resident crazy man, Professor Oxley. "How much of a human life is lost in waiting?" he comments, possibly in reference to the 19 years between films. Jim Broadbent takes over for the late Denholm Elliott as Indy's college friend.
The best action scene is a chase through the jungle via trucks and motorcycles near a perilous cliff. (The jungle must have a terrific road system). There also is a drop over three waterfalls that is exciting.
Fears that technology might make this look more slick than nostalgic are justified. Computers are evident, although there are some nice moments that look as if humans are present, such as when Indy catapults from a motorcycle through the window of a speeding car, out the opposite window and back on the motorcycle.
In contrast, the worst effect is the giant ants, which look too large and resemble no ants on record. "The Naked Jungle," vintage 1954, had much more terrifying ants, and that was before computers.
Apparently, though, there was an inordinate fear of being too campy. As a result, everything is more heavy-handed than fun. Closeups of a monkey and a computerized gopher supply the sparse humor.
It raises the question of whether director Spielberg can live up to his posturing as Hollywood's elder statesman. With sequels like this and his "Jurassic Park" repeat, he seems more adept at recapturing his adolescence than his youth. The last time he directed was "Munich" (2005), a misfire with the critics and the public. Come to think of it, his partner Lucas didn't score any triumphs with those revisits to the bank to cash in on "Star Wars."
While we welcome this "Indiana Jones," as we would any visit from an old friend, we wish we learned more about the characters and less about the technology. Let's hope Spielberg nevers make a sequel to "E.T." Give us our memories untarnished.
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Mal Vincent, (757) 446-2347, mal.vincent@pilotonline.com
"indiana jones and the Kingdom of the crystal skull"
Cast Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Shia LaBeouf, Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Jim Broadbent
Director Steven Spielberg
Screenplay David Koepp, George Lucas, Jeff Nathanson
Music John Williams
MPAA rating PG-13 (killer ants)
"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"
Cast Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Shia LaBeouf, Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Jim Broadbent
Director Steven Spielberg
Screenplay David Koepp, George Lucas, Jeff Nathanson
Music John Williams
MPAA rating PG-13 (killer ants)
Source: Virginian - Pilot
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