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Reviews Film / Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull

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Wackd Since: May, 2009
09/18/2015 08:42:32 •••

Has serious committment issues

Going for sci-fi was a smart move. Brilliant, even. It's twenty years later, so the idea that Indy would no longer be living a 30s adventure serial makes loads of sense and adds another internal conflict: on top of getting on in years, he has to cope with a genre he wasn't designed for and has no experience with. Throwing an Adventurer Archaeologist at a bunch of 50s aliens should be interesting, if nothing else.

The problem is that the movie has trouble sticking with this idea. It's too attached to what an Indiana Jones movie should be—exotic locales, evil Europeans, ancient artifacts, etc. Which creates a huge tonal clash: the movie expects the tropes of one genre to work, with minimal alteration, while inside another genre entirely. That's a lot to ask of the characters, let alone basic plot beats, and the movie flounders because of it, flipping wildly across the two eras while unable to plant its foot firmly in either of them.

And so the entire thing collapses in on itself, satisfying neither folks who wanted a nostalgic romp or a new take on the franchise. Just different enough to be irritating and just the same enough to feel repetitive.

SpawnofKong Since: May, 2009
09/18/2015 00:00:00

Agreed, particularly the whole idea of Indy tackling a genre/era his character seems at odds with. If the movie had pursued that theme more, it might have gone down better with fans.

Don't stand there gawping! Like you've never seen the hand o' God before!

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