Movies I wanted to like #2

2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) directed by Steven Spielberg


Why I wanted to like it:

Well it is Indiana freaking Jones! I, like most others, love the whole Indiana Jones trilogy for its fun action adventure storylines. The last Indy movie was released in 1989 and fanboys have long heard rumors that there would be another Indy movie once George Lucas and Steve Spielberg had the time. Since Lucas was working on Star Wars again it seemed as if the long awaited 4th movie would never materialize. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull had to be one of the most anticipated movie ever for me! I just knew that having Indiana Jones back would be awesome, no matter what he was doing. Once they previews were released the movie looked decent enough and since it was Spielberg directing I knew Lucas could not single handily be in charge of messing this one up. I was so eager to see what Professor Jones has in store for his rabid fans! I went to see the midnight showing of this, just so I could say that I was there when it was first opening.



Why I didn't like it:

Well, the magic had just somewhat vanished from the Indiana Jones of old. Harrison Ford looked much older and tired but that wasn't the main reason I didn't like the movie. I guess it was mostly the plot that involved Jones looking for a skull that was tied up with aliens. Jeeze Spielberg, we get it...you love aliens!!!! Okay, so I know that the Indy movies are not realistic by any standard but it was cooler when Indy was after artifacts that actually were rumored to exist or were lore. I just felt Indiana Jones and aliens was not the mix I was looking for.

The movie also reeked of Lucas, too many over the top sets and you could tell when CGI was used. For having almost 20 years between movies you really think they could have done a much better job. Not that Spielberg did his best work here either. Shia LaBeouf (who I like in some roles) was made to be the long lost son Indy never knew he had. I thought they were just trying to set up this monkey swinging kid to take over the mantle of his dad. Once again like Superman Returns I did not care to see if the hero had a kid. I would rather see the hero return to what he does best, kicking some Nazi ass.

The movie did go on to make a killing at the box office. Sure I own the dvd but have seriously never even thought about watching it. A few months back the movie poped up on some cable station and I started watching it again. It does have definite moments that are well done, like the car chase through the jungle scene but even those scenes have to throw in some cheesy moment. Overall the wait just wasn't worth it.