Quick Note On Indiana Jones 4
So I did it. I finally watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull tonight on DVD. My reaction may not be as venomous as some, but the lack of an emotional response to the film says more about Indy 4 than any series of expletives. Indy 4 is a simply movie that no one seemed to want to make. It was as if Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg just said to George Lucas, “Fine, George. We’ll make the damn thing. But we’re not going to enjoy it.”
If Spielberg was really interested in making the film, he wouldn’t have chosen Janusz Kaminski as the director of photography, a man who can’t shoot a blockbuster for his life. Give Kaminski something with teeth, a Munich or a Schindler’s List, and he’s a damn fine cinematographer. But we know what his War of the Worlds and The Lost World looked like. In a word, uninspired. (Hmm…maybe he was the right guy for this job.)
I felt bad for Ford, who looked every bit his age playing Dr. Henry Jones, Jr. He looked like he’d rather be flying his helicopter than fighting the Reds. There just didn’t appear to be much action left in this action hero, which may be why they make a nod now and then to Indy’s kid, played by Shia LaBeouf, carrying the Jones family torch.
My strongest reaction doesn’t have much to do with the film itself. It has to do with the audience who saw it. I haven’t talked to one person who liked the movie, many of whom acknowledged that it was going to sucklong before they spent $10 to see it. It’s your money people, all $700 million of it, that is going to keep this soulless franchise going. I snagged Indy 4 using a free rental code, and I still feel like I betrayed an old friend. If you paid for to see this movie and you don’t feel guilty, then all I have to say to you is enjoy Transformers 2.
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