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Reviews
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Indiana Jones and the ultimate disappointment!
OK, its been two days now since i saw this film and for those two days i have been thinking hard, and re-watching the originals trying to articulate why this film which i had been looking forward to like no other film is so unbelievably bad. I loved the originals and am a huge Spielberg fan, which i suppose makes this film twice as depressing. I think it will be easier to address the mountain of reasons this film is so bad by separating them into four points. So with a heavy heart and a deep breath, here goes.
1. STORY
The story is terrible.Aliens? Who in gods name thought it was a good idea to cross Indian Jones with the x files? It doesn't work, it doesn't feel right. And at the finale(and bear in mind i went opening night, these were people who really wanted to watch this film) people were laughing in disbelief at the out of place, over the top cgi mess of a flying saucer that popped out of the ground and flew away. And a few actually walked out!! Hes an archaeologist, we want him looking for something old and from this planet, it doesn't really matter what, its the adventure and the character interaction that matters and this was lacking.
2.CHARACTERS AND DIALOGUE.
Worst character and worst acting goes to Miss Blanchett. Possibly the worst and most misjudged baddie ever, complemented by the worst accent ever, a strange mix of polish Australian i think! In the previous films the baddies and co stars have been largely unknown, maybe there is something to be said for this. Generally an uninspired character with no depth. Indy. I wanted so badly for him to be able to still pull this off but alas he did seem just too old. And a bit feeble at times. But it wasn't just the age i don't think ford really got the character right. At times he did but at times he seemed like a bad caricature of himself. His dialogue didn't help. Clunky and lazy at best. The sly humour of the original films a distant memory. Mutt. This character committed the biggest crime of all, Spielberg and Lucas desperate to try to establish him as the new Indy thrust him upon the film with such heavy handedness that at times Indy feels like the co star in his own film. He is a crap annoying character Mr Lucas so scrap any plans you have. Your creativity peaked 30 years ago then dropped off pretty sharply. The rest of the co stars just had no depth whatsoever and were hampered by bad dialogue and worse directing. How Spielberg looked at the dailies and liked what he saw is beyond me. I was excited when i heard Karen Allen was back but she was terrible. And the scenes between her and Indy were very unnatural and forced
3.C.G.I
I believed Spielberg when he said "we will only use cgi when something cannot physically be done" Which i suppose in a way is true. But he neglected to mention that the action would be so pathetically and laughably over the top that there would be shoddy cgi splashed all over the place because none of it could be physically be done! One scene sticks in my mind like a computer generated turd! The character of mutt and the polish/Australian baddie standing on separate vehicles which are racing through a rain forest decide to have a sword fight! Then at some point mutt ends up with one foot on one vehicle and one on the other for about five minutes.....while still engaged in the sword fight! WTF?????? Then a little while later they amazingly out do the awfulness of this scene by having mutt get back into the convoy he has been separated from by swinging Tarzan style from vine to vine with an army of monkeys. Laugh/cry, Laugh/cry I couldn't decide. When we didn't have cgi, i personally think that the lack of technology acted as an unintentional yardstick for film makers. Unintentional but reliable. If it went too far you couldn't physically do it. And that was that. But that was a good thing. If it cant be done then maybe it shouldn't be done, maybe you've got carried away and its time to reign in your imagination. One thing that stuck in my mind throughout this debacle was that the simple but brilliant motorbike chase in last crusade was better than any of this cgi mess being served up to me. When will people realise that cgi doesn't look real and takes all the excitement out of action sequences?
4.OVERALL Spielbergs deft hand and instincts for fun and comic moments are gone. Sure he can still make good dramas and political message films, but we are saturated with directors who fill that quota. Spielberg was the great entertainer, making popcorn movies of the highest calibre. When i picture my childhood i see his films. And i suppose in a way going to see this film i was secretly hoping that it would be a return to form and maybe lead to a return of his making these kind of films. God knows we need some fun in this world! But sadly this is not the case. I would have been disappointed if it had been an average film, but for it to be this awful is difficult to comprehend.
Maybe I'm being to harsh and you have or will enjoy the film, and if so more power to you. But if you are a fan of the originals and you are going to see it my advice to you is this, Have one of the original films and an alcoholic drink of your choice at the ready for when you get home. Trust me.
Judgment Night (1993)
Gripping action film, sadly underrated.
The first time i saw this film a friend of mine had taped it not really knowing what it was, so we put it on, not really expecting much. When we had finished watching it the first thing that struck me was that i could not believe i had never heard of it in the two years since it had been released(undeservedly straight to video!). It was just a great action film that gripped me from beginning to end in the same sort of way that films like Die Hard had. I have heard it said that the plot is simple and predictable, but if we are completely honest with ourselves Die Hard isn't exactly brain surgery. But action films don't have to be. However they do have to be done well as this is and as Die hard is the master of. The cast are all on top form, with special mention for Dennis Leary in a fantastically deranged performance. The film is shot with a touch of class and really conveys a sense of detachment from the safety of normal society. And all this is underpinned by another brilliant score from Alan Silvestri. If you haven't seen this film then you must. And if you have seen it then why not watch it again! Special mention for Stephen Hopkins, to have crafted a film of this calibre and received no credit or even a theatrical release for his troubles seems unfair, especially considering the sparkly garbage that seems to make it to the big screen all too much these days. Top film!