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- Review count1
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- First reviewMay 22, 2008
- Last reviewMay 22, 2008
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IndyFan's Reviews
Overall rating
2
/
5
A far cry from Raiders
PostedMay 22, 2008
IndyFan
from Los Angeles, CA
I, like any movie lover, thoroughly enjoyed the first three Indiana Jones movies--heck I loved them--and appreciated those films for bringing to the screen adventure stories that are, in my opinion, completely unique and unequaled in film history. When I heard the fourth installment was being made, I was excited, yet concerned that twenty years later, this franchise was going to be resurrected to make a few bucks. And given George Lucas's track record with resurrecting old franchises, I had reason to be concerned.
To get right to the point, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" was--let me put it this way--a far cry from "Raiders of the Lost Ark," or even "Temple of Doom" for that matter. It was an overdone mess of a Hollywood big budget movie.
One of the reasons why the first three movies were so enjoyable was that Indiana (as well as the other characters) were human, and if you see the movie, you'll know what I mean. The lines "I survived a nuclear blast" should never be uttered by a character in any movie.
The story was lacking and the dialogue could have been stronger. Raiders and the Last Crusade did a terrific job of making old religious lore into something believable, and thrived on the battle between good and evil. The only way to describe this movie is that it was somewhat emotionless, not as engaging, and certainly less exciting (and keep in mind, excitement isn't only generated by intense action sequences). I don't know if anybody remembers what they felt when they were watching Raiders of the Lost Ark, and they saw Indiana go into the map room and hold the staff that pointed out the location of the Well of Souls in the city of Tanis. It was captivating, and this is a feeling that must have been left on the cutting room floor during the editing of "the Crystal Skull."
This is showing the movement of Hollywood big budget flicks--explosions and cheap dialogue are more important than overall storyline. If you are like the majority of the American population and liked Transformers and National Treasure 2, then you will probably love this movie. You will be like the other 75% of the people in the theater I was in that applauded this movie. Go see it, enjoy it, then talk about how wrong this review was. But if you liked Raiders for all the right reasons, it'll be hard to appreciate much from "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."
Bottom Line: this movie only passes because it's character and the movies before it are so beloved, and because there were moments that reminded us of what the Indiana Jones franchise was and should be.
No, I do not recommend this movie.
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