As we mentioned in episode 104, we were interested to see what filmmaker and Paunch Stevenson Show guest Scott C. Clements thought about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. He wrote to us:
“Regarding Indiana Jones 4, to be honest, I was so disappointed in it, it’s hard for me to even think about it. It was quite a bummer for me.
I remember when I was interviewed on your show, I expressed how skeptical I was about Indy 4 because I had lost faith in George Lucas and I was wary of Harrison Ford’s age and the 1950s setting.
As reports came in about Steven Spielberg’s attempts to refrain from the Lucas school of film making by sticking with old school action techniques instead of relying heavily on computer graphics, I started to think the project could actually be good. Also, the publicity photos of Harrison Ford and Karen Allen were incredibly flattering and the 1950s setting started to appeal to me because of its roots in George Lucas’s early work, American Graffiti.
However, my hope turned to dread as I sat through the movie. My biggest problem was with the villains. They didn’t do anything particularly horrible, so it was difficult for me to fear them. It took a second viewing to even figure out that they wanted to rule America with the crystal skull’s mind control powers. If I don’t fear the villain, there isn’t much drama. For example, when Nazi henchman Toht is about to burn Marion’s face off with a red hot poker in Raiders of the Lost Ark, my adrenaline starts pumping like crazy. He’s going to disfigure her, for God’s sake! Same when the Thugee priest Mola Ram, from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, rips the heart out of a poor villager and laughs with glee as the man’s heart ignites into a ball of flames in his hand! This is one sick bastard and I’m terrified just thinking of what he’ll do to our heroes if he gets his hands on them.
This sort of danger was lacking a bit from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which was why that was the weakest film for me…until Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Cate Blanchett and her Russian henchman did little to make me take them seriously as a threat to Indy or the world. Cate had a rapier, but she didn’t stab or torture anyone with it so it was a pointless prop, in a character building sense. I have a strong suspicion that Lucas and Spielberg felt they had to play down the villainy of the Russians for political correctness’s sake. We all know the Russians were no Nazis. The Nazis were undeniably evil, so it was quite fitting for Indy to bash the living heck out of them in his previous adventures. But, he did little of that in this film, which really took away from the grittiness a true action film needs. Instead, this played as a mostly comedic Jones family reunion special. Put most simply, this “action” film had no spine.
And don’t even get me started on the fact that Indy almost never used his whip or gun! That was absurd! I also hated the lame comedy, including the ridiculously cartoonish-looking CGI gophers and pompadour-sporting monkeys. And what was with the friggin’ fridge scene? LAME!!!
I could go on and on bashing this piece of garbage; I am shocked that the critics have been so kind to it. I think they expect so little from Lucasfilm these days, that they’ve just thrown their hands up in surrender and said, “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”
Spielberg and Lucas have become too diplomatic in their old age. They’ve lost the rebellious edge they had in their younger years. I really think they should leave the action blockbusters up to the next generation. Movies like Pirates of the Caribbean (Gore Verbinski) and Spider-Man (Sam Raimi) leave Indy 4 and the Star Wars prequels in the dust. It’s a sign of the changing of the guard.”
– Scott C. Clements
scarletavenger.blogspot.com/
Thanks for your review, Scott! Even though we enjoyed the movie, we know a lot of fans didn’t.
We’d like to know how our other listeners feel about the movie, too. Leave a comment and let us know what you think!
My thoughts: Even though the villains weren’t menacing, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull still worked and there were several great action scenes (the motorcycle/car chase, Mutt’s duel through the jungle, etc.). I agree that Indiana Jones should’ve used his whip much more often, but I enjoyed the humor and think the only part that should’ve been improved was the alien scene at the end. It was confusing and out of place.
Keep in mind, I haven’t seen the old Indiana Jones movies, so I can’t compare this one to those.
Joe from Belleville has returned to the Paunch Stevenson show, ya dig??????
Ha ha. Thanks to Scott for chiming in! I kind of expected him to be disappointed. I certainly empathize. I’ll mention the “discovered” Frank Darabount script in an upcoming episode, but suffice to say, the problems in this script have existed in almost every iteration going back to 1995. George Lucas simply wouldn’t come off his Alien angle, and Spielberg for some reason didn’t want any violence in this film. It did come off really weird.
As for bad sequels, I finally saw Spider-man 3 the other night on cable, and that is one of the worst sequels to previous good movies I’ve ever seen. How is it the CGI on Spider-man got worse? As for Pirates of the Caribbean, I agree with Scott, those were good movies, although the third one wasn’t too swift and the story went off the deep end. Same thing happened in the Matrix.
I have mixed feelings about this movie. My father and I saw this movie on opening night and afterwards, my dad said, “It was a typical Indy film, some humor, temples, and that feeling that Indy is making it up on the fly.” In that regard, I think my dad nailed it on the head.
However, I thought some of the humor was forced. Remember in Temple of the Doom, when Willie asks Indy if has flown a plane before and replies in that great Harrison Ford wry smile, “No, have you?” I still chuckle at the scene today and it was moments like these that made the original films so memorable.
The artifact was terrible. Crystal skull? People can relate to the ark of the covenant and the holy grail, both of these items have meaning to people. The Sankara stones? People can’t form a tangible attachment to this artifact, hence one of the reasons why Temple of Doom is widely regarded as one of the worst Indy flicks, if you look at reviews and box office receipts. I think Atlantis, the Staff of Moses, Tower of Babel, etc. would have made a better artifact and better story.
Too much CGI. Sometimes it worked like with the Shia LaBeouf fencing scene. The ants, monkeys, and alien were way too much and seemed forced to me.
The setting: Sometimes it worked and other times I thought the filmmakers threw it down our throats. In the older films, I felt setting did not play a huge role. I know it was set in the past, but there weren’t sight gags like in the new film. The greaser/jock showdown in the cafe, too much.
The alien: I didn’t think there was a need to see the alien. I think you guys mentioned this, but if I was writing the script, I would’ve had the skull activate the space ship and have it fly away with Cate Blanchett inside. Therefore, leaving a little mystery left to the viewers like with the other films. How the 12 skulls morphed into one alien was not explained at all and made no sense.
I think Spielberg did the best with what he had in the script. The final verdict on how the movie was will be in future viewings. If the old Indy films are on TV, I’ll stop changing the channels and watch for a bit and I’ve seen these movies at least 40 times already. Will the Crystal Skull DVD sit on my shelf collecting dust like my Star Wars prequels?
Joe, welcome back!
Greg, I saw Spider-Man 3 last summer. A few things ruined it for me: the singing and dancing, Thomas Haden Church as Sandman, Topher Grace as Venom, and the over-the-top computer graphics.
Dennis, thanks for sharing your thoughts. You’re right about the crystal skull artifact. I don’t think it ruined the movie, but it was pretty cheap looking, like it was made out of plastic. Maybe it looked good in person, but it looked stupid on film.
You’re right about some of the humor, too. A few of Harrison Ford’s lines felt forced, but overall, I enjoyed the comic relief.
Despite its flaws, Indiana Jones 4 is a masterpiece compared to the Star Wars prequels. Episode I was decent, but I almost fell asleep during Episode II and III.
1. Joe you’ve got about 2 years of episodes to catch up on.
2. Rob, I did fall asleep during Star Wars Episode II and almost did on III.