Dr. Jones

OH Indy.

Maybe it's just a confluence of events that results in near perfect movies; circumstances that can never be repeated or recaptured. But it certainly hasn't stopped people in Hollywood from trying over the last few years.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is not a terrible movie, but even if you do your best to hold back lingering expectations from the first films, it doesn't hold up so well. The script for another Indy movie has been bounced around and remade and redone for a long time now, and that indecision seems to show. There are all the winks and throwbacks that make us laugh or think back to the other films, but whats the point. I'd prefer a solid film to a tacked together nostalgia trip, where no on seems to know what exactly to do.

And that's the problem, it feels like they got everyone back together, and they're all kind of awkwardly shuffling their feet, unsure of the next step. There are scenes or moments when it all comes together, but most of it is a mishmash. And some of the scenes are so far over the top, that they seem out of place, or laughable.

The original movies (save #2), had a great balance. The action was over the top but never out of bounds, the supernatural was present, but not ludicrous, the amount of characters and plot you had running at any one time was sometimes complicated but didn't feel weighed down.

Here... nothing feels as crisp or lean, or even real. The film's just a little cold, missing some of the life that was breathed 18+ years ago. I've read two separate reviews, one going my direction, and one with glowing praise. The comments on each review tend to point to many many people putting on their fanboy blinders. I love the Last Crusade, its a movie I've watched over and over again, but even I can admit this new film didn't hit the mark.

I'm certainly going to give it a chance on DVD, but I know a better Indy film could be made.