Let me say first that it isn't all bad. Harrison Ford is in perfect shape. He slips into Indy as if its been 20 minutes not 20 years. His chemistry with Shia LaBeouf is perfect. His chemistry with Karen Allen is still there. He was a sight for sore eyes — a little older, but still Indy.
For the most part the acting was fine. Everyone delivered solid performances with the exception of Karen Allen. I like Karen Allen but for some reason she was just not any good in this movie. She always seemed to have some silly grin on her face like she was just too happy to actually have work to try to do anything else in the movie except smile. Granted, some of the back and forth between her and Indy was reminiscent of Raiders, but she never really fell back into Marion. Her character felt really tacked on also.
Shia LaBeouf was a welcome addition. He was funny and serious and put everything into his character. My money is on him returning for the next one. Cate Blanchett was fine as usual. I don't think she is capable of giving a bad performance even if she is playing a completely useless character.
Let's tick off a couple more good things:
- The chase scene through the college was classic Indy, exciting, fun, funny. Perfect.
- The quicksand scene. Silly, I'll admit, with a hokey rubber snake but funny and again a peek at the classic Indy we all missed.
- The very last part of the last scene in the movie. I won't spoil it but I enjoyed it.
I pretty much felt my heart hit the deck when the nuclear bomb went off. Yes a nuclear bomb goes off in an Indiana Jones movie. Apparently, Lucas wanted to cram every possible thing he could into this movie. The worst thing is I never really felt like I was watching an Indiana Jones movie. I felt like I was watching a movie which shoehorned Indiana Jones into it.
Article comments
1 - ILoz Zoc
You bring up much of what I found lacking in the movie. The CGI also gave it a "neat" look, and neat and Indiana Jones don't quite fit together. The script framework is good, keeping in step with the time period, but you're right about the scaling of events and Jones being shoehorned into them. The climax was anticlimactic and just happened. No suspense at all.
Spielberg's direction seemed casual, possible due to all the CGI action, and you zeroed in on the main flaw, there's no adventure. It just all happens. But the cemetery scene is good, the chases fun, and seeing Ford handle the role again is priceless. I also would love to see more about the war adventures he received lots of medals for, as alluded to in the film.
Lucas does seem to have a knack for killing a good script. Hopefully he'll butt out of the next one enough to let a solid movie happen.
2 - ANGEL BURGOS OLIVEROS
'DR. JONES': IN THE SAME UNIVERSITY CAMPUS WHERE YOU ARE 'PROFESSOR',YALE UNIVERSITY, WHERE IN YOUR LAST MOVIE YOU APPEAR RIDING A MOTORCYCLE, YOU SHOULD TRY TO FIND SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE INCAS EMPIRE, I'M SURE YOU WILL FIND A LOT OF INFORMATION IN ORDER TO NOT MAKE RIDICULOUS PLOTS ANYMORE. IN YALE UNIVERSITY IS ALL THE TREASURE SOME 'ARCHEOLOGIST' STOLE IN MACCHUPICCHU, CUZCO,PERU.
ONE MORE THING PANCHO VILLA NEVER SPOKE QUECHUA, HE SPOKE SPANISH, HE WAS A GREAT MEXICAN LEADER.
SPEILBERG YOU HAVE DISSAPOINTED ME.