“Do svidaniya, Dr. Jones!” – Cate Blanchett
Nearly twenty years after the last adventure, a sixty-year-old Indiana Jones comes back for one more round. At the very least, he still knows how to kick butt! The film is surprisingly loaded with lengthy and awesome action sequences; the whole middle of the movie is a brilliant sequence as Indy and the gang chase, fight, and explores the jungles of the Amazon all at once! And with a plethora of quality special effects, the film is a sight to behold. Some of the action is quite absurd and unrealistic; it doesn't bother me that much, but it might agitate some viewers.
But how does the story hold up? Pretty iffy. It does have many merits; seeing Indy in the 50s offers a lot of interesting insight as he struggles with cultural and political changes (as well as his old age and mortality). The film explores UFO-lore, the paranormal, and ancient history in a fairly solid fashion; I just feel that its delivery falls a little flat. I blame the writing for the most part; the first three films were brilliantly written with the right amount of exposition to explore the historical and cultural backgrounds of a given artifact. In this case the exposition is scattered, and provides very loose connections that don’t feel all that cohesive. As far as character development goes, the film does its best to connect the past and the future of the character, and tie things up in a pleasingly sentimental fashion.
As a film, it’s got plenty of nice photography. Acting is solid; Harrison Ford is still the man after all these years, Karen Allen still plays her role well enough, I like Cate Blanchett as the villain (although I do think her voice and accent are a little forced), John Hurt plays a good crazy guy, and Shia LaBeouf plays his typical type of role for better or for worse. Although some of the dialogue is amusing, I find the writing to be quite weak. Production value is high, and there are way more overloaded special effects than I anticipated. Most sets, props, and costumes are top-notch. Music is not bad.
But how does the story hold up? Pretty iffy. It does have many merits; seeing Indy in the 50s offers a lot of interesting insight as he struggles with cultural and political changes (as well as his old age and mortality). The film explores UFO-lore, the paranormal, and ancient history in a fairly solid fashion; I just feel that its delivery falls a little flat. I blame the writing for the most part; the first three films were brilliantly written with the right amount of exposition to explore the historical and cultural backgrounds of a given artifact. In this case the exposition is scattered, and provides very loose connections that don’t feel all that cohesive. As far as character development goes, the film does its best to connect the past and the future of the character, and tie things up in a pleasingly sentimental fashion.
As a film, it’s got plenty of nice photography. Acting is solid; Harrison Ford is still the man after all these years, Karen Allen still plays her role well enough, I like Cate Blanchett as the villain (although I do think her voice and accent are a little forced), John Hurt plays a good crazy guy, and Shia LaBeouf plays his typical type of role for better or for worse. Although some of the dialogue is amusing, I find the writing to be quite weak. Production value is high, and there are way more overloaded special effects than I anticipated. Most sets, props, and costumes are top-notch. Music is not bad.
Although I generally agree that this is the weakest film in the series, I enjoy it enough so that individual nitpicks don’t bother me that much. I know most viewers really harp on the infamous refrigerator scene, before bashing the actors, the story, and just about everything else. If you really let these things bother you, then you might certainly loathe this film. As for me, I wasn’t bothered the same way most others were, so I learned to just sit back and enjoy the ride. As such, I can only recommend it as a rental to interested parties.
4/5 (Entertainment: Very Good | Story: Average | Film: Good)
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