November 13, 2008

Indiana Jones Crystal Skull Review

Indiana Jones review

Well, the new Indiana Jones film will be out on DVD next week, but those who saw it at the cinema will probably be giving it a miss.

The film itself is more form than substance, with lots of CGI that looks like CGI, pointless supporting characters (John Hurt - utterly wasted), and dialogue that adds nothing to the movie.

Indiana Jones is a classic character, but like too many re-visitations on earlier trilogies, this film is mediocre at best.

It starts poorly enough - Indy already captured, double-crossed, then leads the villains to exactly what they want. There then follows a silly chase that ends with an even more pointless nuclear blast - all showing off that Spielberg can do special effects - which we knew anyway - and adding nothing to the film.

We then get some cantankerous kid looking like Brando, but without the same coolness or audience sympathy, and we just end up with a little more chasing.

The first hour and a half are quite missable - watch it with the sound off and you’ll not miss a thing.

The last half hour or so are more entertaining - there’s a tank chase and punch up on top of a cliff (and as I’ve done tank driving before, maybe adds an extra dimension for this viewer). However, it continues to require heavy CGI use to fill in for plot failings, and the ending is pointless, overdone, and involved no real input from Indy.

Overall, Spielberg shows a sense of fun in this, but it often seems self-indulgent and at the expense of the audience’s credulity. Harrison Ford himself isn’t exactly bad - despite criticisms about his age, he still has energy enough, but not enough to make a dull script come to life.

Something perhaps to watch in passing, but at the end of the say, a sad anti-climax to the Indiana Jones films.

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