Indiana Jones: R.I.P.

Well, I finally got to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I'll admit, I was curious how they would make Indy relevant and exciting given that Harrison Ford is over 60. And I don't mean that in a disparaging way, but it's tough to have an action adventure film when your hero is approaching retirement. Suffice to say the movie is terrible. In just about every action scene you're looking at Indy from behind so you can't see the stunt double's face. Which is odd considering that I felt like most of the movie was people being filmed and reacting in front of a green screen, why not go all the way and just digitize his face onto the stunt double. But there are only so many action scenes you can watch where the hero's face is conveniently obscured before you start sensing a pattern (in case you're wondering, for me I reached this point about 10 minutes into the movie).

This movie for me failed on just about every conceivable level. The acting is subpar, the action scenes are fake beyond belief, a significant portion of the action scenes in the movie are CGI'ed, the traps they have to overcome make no sense, and the "plot" (if you can call it that) and eventual resolution of the film are so bad it hurts to think about it. Sean Connery had the good sense not to return to this, and I can see why. The whole movie seemed like a setup just to introduce Shia LaBeouf's character of Mutt Williams so that in future installments of the franchise he can take the lead, but they don't even successfully transfer the crown in the movie, so if that was the point it fails at that also (and frankly I can't see going to see a movie titled "Mutt Williams and The Mystical Articfact"). It took me multiple nights to watch this one simply because it's that bad. There's a scene (trust me, if you watch it you'll know it when you see it) where "Mutt" does a Tarzan impression that really clinches just how over the top and utterly unrealistic the movie is. Hands down this is the worst of the four movies in the franchise. Which I would have bet money they couldn't have outdone Temple of Doom, but they did. So if the goal was to make me suddenly appreciate Temple of Doom, congratulations Spielberg you succeeded. Maybe part of the problem is having such high expectations from the franchise. Whatever the reason, this movie doesn't hit any of the right beats and leaves you feeling empty.