The Sci Fi Guy

I struggled with the title of this post … It was a tossup between the shortened version of the official movie title (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), “George Lucas has lost his mind”, or “Indiana Jones has jumped the shark“.

Truthfully, Indy 4 was a let down, on several levels. I know this review is a little late, but if you haven’t managed to see Indiana’s latest adventure, all I can say is wait for the DVD. The rest of this review probably contains spoilers, so if you do want to see it and don’t want to be surprised, move along (lots of other great posts to peruse ;))

Harrison Ford is one of my favorite actors of all times, and much like Will Smith has been involved in a long line of great science fiction (along with action & drama, etc). Let’s not forget he’s the original Indy, and the original Han Solo. George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, also great creators of fine science fiction. But somehow all these people got together with rooms full of other intelligent and creative people and produced something that just doesn’t represent the Indy franchise well. And ultimately, much like the latest Star Wars trifecta, it seems like Lucas and company are straining to replace plot, character, and dialogue with fancy computer generated effects that aren’t convincingly real and aren’t adding to the story as a whole.

The Indy story opens at the “Area 51″ vault filled with all the treasures of the past - including a cameo appearance by the Ark of the covenant courtesy the first movie. Action ensues as Indy tries to keep our valueables from the Russians, including car chases, gunfire avoidance, and … oh yeah … a freaking nuclear explosion. Ahh, the 5o’s were great, huh? And Indy discovers that in the event of a nuclear detonation, all you really need is a Frigidaire model 205 lead-lined fridge and you’ll walk away from a nuclear blast unscathed - even after being tossed a kilometer across town. 50+ Harrison Ford doesn’t even get so much as a leg cramp.

The story continues as Indy gets caught up in a spy-game trying to outdo the Russians to get to the prize - a crystal skull supposed to reveal amazing powers of psychic abilities. The Russians are after it. Apparently the Americans aren’t. Shia LaBeouf channels Steve McQueen and is the heir-apparent to the Indy franchise. Poor kid. It’s a shame that River Pheonix died as a young man - he was already lined up to become the adult-replacement for Ford… Sorta like James bond never ages nor does Jack Ryan (of the Tom Clancy stories). LaBeouf is competent but so stereotyped that as an audience-member I don’t even care.

So, there you have it. Overall, if you were a fan of the Indy trilogy, just keep it that way. It’s a trilogy of movies that should stand by themselves. Don’t count this one in the tabulation - it’s the same series in name only. The adventure and fun of the first three have been replaced by a facade of it’s former greatness.