It’s perhaps a bit unfair to have to judge this film against the franchise it is part of, the lengthy delay of anticipation or the seemingly impossible expectations it has. Yet despite some problems here and there (that “fridge flight” for one), it’s marvelously entertaining.
Writing: The McGuffin for this story is a little bit out there, even for Indiana Jones. And it never completely works, particularly in the final act. It’s also a little bit too esoteric for the genre. Still, it keeps the movie moving forward and gives the characters a situation to play around in. And while the character writing is a little bit obvious, the cast brings it to life and really makes it work. We do get some great little touches, such as a reference to the criminally underrated Young Indiana Jones series. It’s also great fun to have Marion Ravenwood back in the mix. And I must admit that the Shia LaBeouf material turned out much better than I was expecting. Overall, this put forth a nice progression of the Indiana Jones character. It didn’t change him much, but it gave him a slightly more intellectual edge and a feeling of history. We do get some mention of previous characters, such as Marcus Brody and Henry Jones, Sr. And hey, George Lucas manages to sneak in a little bit of his American Graffiti obsession (and Spielberg gets to play with one of his obsessions, but I won’t say which).
Production: There’s plenty of action sequences and big, crazy set pieces on display in this film. Do all of them work perfectly? Not quite, but they’re still loads of fun. The previous Indiana Jones films were also something of a similar mix. You had the awesome in-camera stunts and sets combines with a mix of daring effects work, with varying degrees of reality. This one drops into that mold successfully. There are some logistically ambitious sequences that are great fun. Sure, most of them easily strain credibility, but you just gotta learn to enjoy the ride. Ben Burtt’s sound design is one of the most spot-on aspects of the production for matching previous entries in the franchise. All the punches in the fights have that Indiana Jones specific punch sound, etc. Janusz Kaminski’s cinematography is slick and stylish. Editor Michael Kahn, one of Spielberg’s most tenured collaborators (at the age of 72), still knows how to keep things moving. Overall, it’s got a great adventure movie production design.
Cast: There’s no need to say that Harrison Ford is fantastic in the titular role, but I’ll say it anyway. He’s still got it. Absolutely. And as I already said, it’s marvelous to have Karen Allen back in the mix as Marion, and as a main character no less. Shia LaBeouf does a surprisingly good job as “Mutt.” Not that I have anything against LaBeouf’s acting in general, it’s just that role like his don’t often work too well, but he really slips into the character quite well, and has a good chemistry with the rest of the cast. John Hurt gets to go off the rails a bit and have some fun with his role, and since he’s pretty much incapable of not turning in a performance that’s not at least entertaining, he definitely makes his role in this movie work. The great Cate Blanchett is the primary reason that the role of the main adversary works as well as it does. It’s a bit of a loosely defined character, and without somebody as engaging as Blanchett performing it, things probably wouldn’t work as well as they do. Toss in some other fine actors like Ray Winstone and Jim Broadbent, and you’ve got a well rounded cast.
Music: I’d listened through the score CD a half dozen times or so before seeing the film (but avoided reading the track titles, as usual). I’d grown to quite like the score, and it definitely works very well in the film. While I don’t quite consider it likely to stand out as well as the scores to the other films in the franchise, it’s a great score none-the-less, and it has that John Williams shine to it. It leans very heavily, directly or indirectly, on the previous three scores. The action cues sound very much like Indiana Jones action cues. We get treated to a number of previous themes from the franchise. The Crystal Skull theme is quite nice, though I can’t help but think it sounds just slightly like Jerry Goldsmith’s Basic Instinct score (a masterpiece). There are some nice touches in the score, like Williams playing around with the Raiders March during the closing of the end credits. I’d love to give a new Indiana Jones score my top spot on the film score list for the year, but I can’t quite give it that top position. It’s definitely a healthy contender, at the very least. Like the movie itself, it benifits by the simple nature of its pedigree.
I reserve the right to change my opinions and placement after I’ve seen the movie more than once, and have let it sink in a bit more…
