Re: Theatrical Review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

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just exactly what is so "bad" about it?

If you have to ask, you won't understand the answer.

How about this to start? Sallah and Brody are turned into pathetic, downright embarrassing caricatures of their "Raiders" incarnations.

And if you pick the Top 10 action scenes in the first trilogy, none would come from "Crusade."

The only saving grace of the film is Connery's performance - he is the one and only thing that keeps it from being an all-time turkey.

sallah was very capable in both "raiders" and "last crusade". we didn't really see much of brody in "raiders", so what was wrong with showing how inept he was in the field in "last crusade"?

the venice boat chase and the tank chase are awesome, and alison doody has much more chemistry with harrison ford than either karen allen or kate capshaw. one of the worst aspects of "crystal skull" was watching how mis-matched ford and karen allen are--again.

"if you are scottish lord, then i am mickey mouse!"

I saw it today and it's certainly not as bad AS OTHERS HERE are making it out to be. My daughter and I enjoyed it the whole way through. I was never expecting or anticipating the film to be greater or better than any of the previous installments -- I expected it to be an Indiana Jones film and that's exactly what I got. For all the griping I've heard over the backdrop nature of the movie, I say to those people, you need to go back and look at the culture of the late 50's and you'll see the film captures that persona perfectly.

There really isn't much to complain about in this obvious popcorn, Saturday matinee movie. If you went in expecting The Godfather . . . well, duh! Of course it's not that nor would even I expect it to be that. It's certaily no master piece, but it's no dud either. It was the usual fun and adventure, full of action, wit and charm we've seen in other Indina Jones films. Aside from the obvious age differences, there really wasn't anything overly original, but as I said, I wasn't expecting anything better. If all Speilburg and Lucas intended to do was give us an entertaining summer blockbuster, then they did their job well. However, if you were expecting them to exceed the excellence of the previous films and expect this new installment to actually shift the axis of the planet, then be prepared for disappointment.

7.5/10

Tim's 7/10 rating for "Crystal Skull" seems about right to me. I'll be reviewing the DVD and BD when they appear, so that's about the score I was thinking of giving it. True, I didn't like it as well as the first three Indy films, but I didn't think it was as awful, either, as the original poster did.

However, it's not that I found Harrison Ford too old. He just seemed tired. And Spielberg and Lucas seemed tired as well. I know they were all trying hard to recapture the old magic by providing exactly what fans wanted to see and not straying from the old formula, but I think they went too far that direction. There was virtually nothing new (except the kid) in "Indy 4," both a blessing and curse. And, really, although the plot was inconsequential, it was pretty convoluted and far out, even for an "Indy" flick. I could never figure why the ending had to be so bizarre and inexplicable. Oh, well, as Tim says, it still gives you a better time at the movies than most adventure films do.

John

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There was virtually nothing new (except the kid)

Actually John you could argue that the kid wasn't even that new because it was almost a recycling of the dynamic between Indy and his dad from last crusade. Accept now the roles were reversed. However I liked the movie it gave me exactly what I wanted and I wasn't disappointed.

tim,

i was expecting the greatest thing since sliced bread, so yes, i was disappointed.

eddie

Good point, Movelover. Yeah, with Connery refusing to come out of retirement, the filmmakers had to replace him with something, like another father-son relationship. But at least it was a new relationship of sorts, and, who knows, it could lead to further things down the line. If....

John

I've been saying it before, and I will say it again, Shia LeBeouf is GREAT...

Disregard the first 15 minutes of KOTCS, and you'll be in for another Indiana Jones episode in the series...and I agree, the ending IS bizarre...and it's great that you and your family enjoyed KOTCS Tim!

john's favorite was the aborigine who kept swinging around like a banshee and shooting poison darts from a reed pipe.

"john's favorite was the aborigine who kept swinging around like a banshee and shooting poison darts from a reed pipe" --Eddie

Clearly, you never grew up with Commando Cody or even Al "Lash" La Rue. (Now that I think about it, today that name sounds like a porn star. )

John