Older, not Better
5/18/2008
Posted by Dellamorte
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Reviewed by Andre Dellamorte
For some the act of going back to the well means that whatever comes next should meet or best what has come before. In films – in almost all art - this rarely happens. In fact most film series get progressively worse as they go along. Only Sylvester Stallone seems to buck this trend, but then also, it’s easy to make a movie that’s better than Rocky V.
But the idea of going back to Indiana Jones after three movies either raises expectations based on the pedigree, or completely deflates them based on the series’s diminishing returns. I’m of the latter camp, and after hearing the bad buzz surrounding the project, I expected nothing, perhaps less than nothing. I expected a film as bad, as soul crushingly terrible as Attack of the Clones. That the film is better than that proved to be something of a relief, and I was able to enjoy myself watching the film. After 19 years, essentially what has happened is that Lucas and Spielberg got the band back together. As such, there’s nothing artistically relevant or challenging about what they’ve accomplished, there’s nothing all that new or exciting about the film, and everything that makes the film good was done better by the same people in the 80’s. This is a reunion tour, with all of the hair loss and broken waistbands that that implies. At the same time, there’s still pleasure to be had from watching the boys do “Hotel California” one more (and hopefully last) time.
The plot is a straight-up, no-shit mess. It’s 1957, and Indiana (Harrison Ford) and his sidekick Mac (Ray Winstone) have been taken prisoner by the Russians, who are led by Cate Blanchett’s Irina Spalko. The Ruskies are on the hunt for some actual alien artifacts, which Jones leads them to, and then escapes. But the Russians stay on his tail for most of the film in ways that makes you wish Indy wasn’t so helpful to them (it does allow for some exposition, though). When he returns back to his campus in upstate New York, he’s suspected by the FBI of dealing with the commies, and therefore gets in trouble with his university (but then he’s followed by Russians… this thread never goes anywhere) As he’s about to leave, he’s met by Mutt (Shia Labeouf), a greaser who’s dressed like Marlon Brando and who gives Indy a letter to translate. The two head down to South America to find more crystal skull related business, and also in the hopes of helping Professor “Ox” Oxley (John Hurt). But then there’s those pesky Russians after the same thing, and they’ve got Mutt’s mom Marion (Karen Allen). They’re all heading to the temple where the crystal skull does stuff.
That’s basically the movie. And from the opening Mountain gag, there’s enough little things to keep the viewer reasonably engaged in the product, as long as you go in expecting nothing of great merit. Ford, while still looking like a grand-dad, and with much of his dialogue sounding looped, is up for the job… for the most part, while Labeouf is actually pretty good in this. But of all the supporting players, John Hurt, playing crazy, comes off the best. Otherwise, the supporting cast are not given enough to do to impart much of anything (Jim Broadbent, Winstone and Blanchett are pretty blank), while Karen Allen is terrible. For much of the movie, not only does she have nothing to do, but has the glaze of an old boxer, smiling and shaking hands at the opening of a car lot, and just happy to be there
The script, sadly, is the film’s biggest failing, and may make this the worst Indiana Jones film. There’s so much that just goes nowhere, or sets things up that don’t pay off. From a character’s death that is shockingly badly staged, like laughably so, to the film’s final moments, the ending is the very definition of lackluster. Spielberg is occasionally engaged, but the Harrison Ford and Labeouf do most of the film’s heavy lifting. One of the interesting things about the film’s first section is how Spielberg and Lucas have recreated the 1950’s through archetypes. There are ideas here that go shockingly unexplored, but it’s interesting how the film (though following twenty some years after Back to the Future) has fun with those tropes. Quick question: in the Indy world, has Mutt seen The Wild One, or does it not exist? So much seems set up to be paid off in bigger ways than expected (Mutt is good with a switchblade, but that never really comes to much purpose), and having heard that the final product was the collision of five scripts strikes me as about right.
I saw the film this morning, and walked out reasonably satisfied, and I just read some reviews that reminded me of something I thought was good in the film, and had already forgotten. It’s the very definition of ephemeral, and that’s probably its greatest strength – for better or ill. That’s not the most heartening thing in the world to say one of the best elements of an Indy movie is its forgettable-ness, but considering how awful I thought this would be, it’s not the worst thing. The film is pointless, so at least the plates spin fast enough to distract. It all depends on one’s expectations, and that this isn’t as awesome as it was twenty years ago seems to be an unavoidable fact, and hoping for that seems absurd. It may be unfortunate to suggest this was never going to be a good movie, especially when there was at least one draft that I thought was pretty kick ass. But the truth is, this was probably never going to be a great film, and so that it plays like a medley doesn’t bother me. It’s a reunion tour, so what more could be hoped for? At least the clothes seem to still fit.
Want another review of Indy? Click here to read Matt's review.
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