Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull - Review Thread

[BStecke]

Ok, I just got back. I'm not going to write a full review until I see it again, however. Unfortunately that's not because I'm absolutely dying to see it again (which I'm disappointed in), but because I want to review the movie once I've seen it without 19 years worth of anticipation.

But, I will say this: the story is good. Very enjoyable story. Harrison Ford is awesome, even though it was still hard for me to hear new lines coming from Indiana Jones. The story is a departure from any of the previous films, but it's intriguing. It is definitely a fantasy story, but no more implausible than any of the previous films. The ending scene is ALMOST cringe inducing, but gets saved at the last second and turns into a great moment.

The negatives: There are two scenes that actually made me uncomfortable they were so bad. I don't know if it's just me, but occasionally I'll see something in a movie that is just so bad that I actually feel embarrassed, or uncomfortable watching them. I guess to some degree I take a sense of ownership, and I get embarrassed and uncomfortable because I'm actually watching this happen. Like I said, there are two such scenes, fairly close to each other, both involving Shia LaBeouf. I guarantee you'll know the scenes when you see them, and once you see the first and think it's over, the second is even worse.

My main complaint is that Spielberg said they were keeping CGI to a minimum. My ass. Much of the film, especially compared to the originals, feels like you're watching people in front of a green screen. Even the opening scenes in the desert feel like they're shot on a soundstage. The scenes I mentioned above are directly attributable to the presence of CGI, the most laughable one incontrovertibly so. As such, I didn't feel the sense of danger that I felt in any of the action scenes of the originals, and this disappointed me. The action, and therefore the characters, didn't seem as real to me.

One thing I want to clarify is that I have no qualms about the fantastic elements of the storyline, and neither of the scenes I mentioned are a product of that. Indiana Jones has always had a certain amount of fantasy to it, and the story is just as plausible as any of the others. However, Indiana Jones has always had VERY realistic action, and it's always been about a very real guy SURROUNDED by fantasy, but not a fantastical character himself. He (or anybody else) never did anything that takes you out of the movie because he's doing something that is just totally impossible for a human being. Is that stuff likely? No, but Indy always felt like a real guy doing stuff that is difficult, but possible. Again, both the scenes I mentioned are because they're just TOTALLY unbelievable from a human physicality/common sense standpoint.

Sorry this is kind of jumbled . . . it's late, and I'm really just trying to pour my thoughts out before they leave me. Overall, it was great to see Indy back, but I need to see it again in order to determine how much I actually liked it.