So Dr Jones is back in action after more than a few years in the wilderness and, like an old estranged friend, his return is pleasing even though he isn’t quite as you remember him.
Essentially this is old school adventure cinema made by a master of the art. There are goodies, baddies, double-crosses, stunts, spectacle and a dash of good natured rough and tumble comedy – so far so Indy. Spielberg has delivered a decent family film that mixes an old fashioned sensibility with modern cinema conventions.
The story has moved forwards in time and we are now in the post-WWII period. Jones is a more weary individual with unspecified war heroics under his belt and a healthy disregard for his country’s obsession with reds under the bed (the parallels to the modern US are hardly subtle at this point in the movie and there is a sensational satire of small town living in the age of the atom). This early portion of the film is by far the most successful as the sight of such an iconic character so lost brings to mind work such as The Watchmen and The Incredibles. Soon the arrival of young greaser / new sidekick Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) kicks the plot into gear and Indy once again sets off for some daring-do.
Admittedly the film does slacken a bit when things get under way (with the influence of George Lucas being a little too apparent and the Soviet baddies not nearly menacing enough for my liking) but it still carries you along at a decent pace and there is plenty of fun to be had thanks mainly to the game performances and some well placed observations about ageing.
If, however, there was one thing that disappoints it has to be the decidedly more fantastical tone. The original films (forgetting the truly awful Temple Of Doom) were very solid creations that delved into meaty legends linking grand themes like good and evil. Sure, they were yarns but there was something very basic and earthy about them. This latest chapter has a new-age woolliness and a scenario that makes it more like an entry in The Mummy series, which despite having similarities to the Jones films are very different animals indeed.
Grumbles aside, Spielberg has set out to make an entertaining piece of cinema and has succeeded. Myself, I enjoyed the film and will enjoy it when they show it on TV one future Christmas but unlike the previous entries in the trilogy I wont be buying the DVD.
6/10
yeah pretty much agree with the review, some good idea’s plot wise and some strange one’s as well, just wonder why Spielberg did it? watched it at a matinee performance so must of the dialogue was drowned out by kids rustling sweets or chatting
got my word a day from urban dictionary the other day, it was nuke the fridge: “the precise moment at which a cinematic franchise has crossed over from remote plausibility to self parodying absurdity, usually indicating a low point in the series from which it is unlikely to recover. A reference to one of the opening scenes of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, in which the titular hero manages to avoid death by nuclear explosion by hiding inside a kitchen refrigerator”