Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

05/19/08

SYNOPSIS: Indiana Jones is back in a new globe-trotting adventure, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Harrison Ford as Indy, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" features an outstanding cast, including Oscar(R) winner Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Oscar(R) winner Jim Broadbent and Shia LaBeouf. Frank Marshall is the film's producer. George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy are the executive producers. The screenplay is by David Koepp from a story by George Lucas.

REVIEW: When the news came out that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg were teaming up again for another Indiana Jones, fans from around the world exploded of excitement knowing that the ultimate action adventure hero was coming back, but at the same time there was sense of worry that the new film would not meet the standards of previous installments of the franchise. I'm just here to tell you that nineteen years after " The Last Crusade" Indiana Jones is back in "The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". Bringing back the mystery, the action, the adventure and comedy that will show movie goers the excitement of a true action adventure film.

Going into the film, like many Indiana Jones fans there were some things that I was looking forward to see in this new chapter of franchise. What would be the feeling watching the film? Would I believe I'm watching an Indiana Jones movie? Those question were answered 20 minutes into the movie. It was very relaxing to see that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg did not try to deviate from what has made Indiana Jones an iconic action adventure hero.

In terms of special effects like it was expected they have evolved. The old stun scenes are gone and the used of CGI is more evident in this new installment, This innovative technology gave Lucas and Spielberg the ability to create more impressive scenes. Don't get me wrong I don't want to diminished the special effects from the previous films, but it was nice to see an Indiana Jones movie made with use of new computer technology. The signature of Lucas can be easily appreciated in some of the scenes. Like the car chase scene around the cliff of the mountain. So don't expect to see to many regular stuns like the old days.

The approach taking by Lucas and Spielberg when it came to the character creation and casting for the "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" was just what the fans were hoping and that we haven't seeing since "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Bringing back Karen Allen character was something that was missing in "The Last Crusade" and Temple of Doom". She was part of what gave "Raiders of the Lost Ark" special flavor, But the ice on the cake was Cate Blanchett who played in my opinion the best villain of the franchise. It was amazing to see her transformed into a Russian leader. The only worry that I had with the casting was the idea of having Shia LaBeouf in the film as Indiana sidekick. I didn't want to see another annoying "Temple of Doom" Short Round, but since the beginning is very clear that he it is not.

Overall like Yoda would said " Bright the future of The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is "

MORE MOVIE REVIEWS >>>

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

BetaFett

A Indy 4 really never stood a chance of meeting the hype; I can think of only three or four cases where a film that's been in development for so long has actually spawned a decent movie. Lucas apparently had the idea for the movie's Macguffin (what he calls the artefact that begins Indy's adventures, e.g.: The Ark of the covenant; the Shankara stones; the Holy Grail, and now the Crystal skull) straight after Last Crusade was finished. But Spielberg and Ford were supposedly underwhelmed by the idea, and so it languished for years in that dark place that spawns stinkers: Development hell.

Lucas, seemingly unwilling to admit defeat hired writer after writer to knock out scripts for his project while he did more important stuff.... like make the Phantom menace--the job passing through the hands of Frank Darabont (Shawshank redemption; Green mile) and M. Night Shyamalan (Sixth sense; Signs) amongst others. Each script was rejected for various reasons by the big three who counted: Lucas, Spielberg, and Ford.

That was until Spielberg's Paean, David Koepp, was hired for the job. Because if Spielberg had faith in anyone, it was him. It's easy to imagine that Spielberg may have vetoed any number of scripts until he got his man on the job; they have had a working relationship for a few years now, with Jurassic park and War of the Worlds among the projects they have worked on together. With Koepp knocking out a script that the big three all agreed on, the bank was rolled and so did the cameras....

So that's the background. Here's my thoughts on Indiana Jones and the
Kingdom of the Crystal skull:

Pfff. Meh. Blegh.

Utterances of the underwhelmed cinema goer.

No, wait... I can do that better. Let's see....

Okay, okay. I got it. What do you get when you hand a bunch of old men the GDP of a third world country and a film camera?

Answer: Indy 4.

From the beginning Indy 4 was never going to live up to expectations. What kind of hoodoo Lucas weaved on Spielberg and Ford to agree to a idea that never appealed to them for a start, I will never know. However, agree they did when all laid eyes on Koepp's script.