Why "Indy 4" Scares the Bejeezus Out of Me: Part Two

Okay, continuing on with last week’s…was that last week? Nope, it’s been longer then that. See, this whole project is about building better habits. It’s working…albeit slowly but it is working. I have another idea in the pipeline that should be starting up in the next couple days. Another bit of habit building that I’m looking forward to writing about because if somebody were making a movie about it, it’d be one of those silly fish out of water flicks. But I need to finish this up first, so off we go.

There’s been a fairly steady stream of news regarding Indy 4 over the past couple of weeks, which is not at all surprising because principal photography should be up and running by now. Another big name was added to the cast in the form of Jim Broadbent. He joins Cate Blanchett and Shia LeBeouf along with (of course) Ford.

To get a real idea of why this project bugs me so much, you have to go back through the original series. Raiders is the pinnacle. It’s exciting, funny and intelligent. This was Spielberg at his absolute best. I think the most common ranking I see after Raiders puts Last Crusade second and Temple of Doom a distant third. There was a time when I might have agreed but over the years, I don’t think that argument holds up. My personal ranking pits ToD a very close second to Raiders with Last Crusade falling way behind them both.

In a lot of ways, Temple of Doom is the extreme edition of Raiders even though it started as the dumping ground for sequences that didn’t make the first film. Spielberg has often told that the mine cart chase and the cliff jump via life raft were intended for Raiders but that film didn’t have room for them. ToD is a darker, more violent, more challenging film then Last Crusade. It’s a movie that hangs its balls out there and dares people to cut them off. In short, it’s more admirable then Last Crusade because it took more chances. I’m not alone in this thinking either. Roger Ebert gave the first two films four stars each where the last one "only" got three and a half.

Last Cruasde saw the gang begin to fall into retread territory. The in-jokes were funny the first few times but on repeat viewings they become trite and a little silly. It also saw Spielberg delving into subject matter that he has continued to re-use over the years to the point that his films have begun to run together. Yes, the idea of Indiana Jones encountering his father is fascinating. Absolutely that relationship would have to have been strained in order for the film to work. The problem is that Spielberg’s been back to this strained family unit territory SO MANY TIMES that seeing it in Last Crusade is a little painful on occasion.

But it does work. I would never say that this is a bad film but it shows that the formula itself is starting to show some age. It falls back on humor too often and doesn’t flow as organically Raiders & ToD. Most of the funny parts feel scripted and overworked. The emotions (for the most part) suffer the same fate, especially the climactic scene between Ford and Connery where Hank, Sr. finally calls Hank, Jr. “Indiana”. Even I saw that one coming and I was ten the first time I saw this.

Finish the series here and you escape intact. Three films is a good place to stop and Last Crusade provides as a good a coda as possible. They wrapped up a few loose ends, everybody rides off into the sunset, the hat’s in the Smithsonian, everybody’s happy. Then came Rosie.

Don’t worry, I’m not blaming Rosie O’Donnell for this but it was on her talk show that Harrison Ford made his announcement that another Indiana Jones film would indeed happen. That was ten plus years ago. Now we’re a year away from seeing how this turns out.

I have a bit more to discuss but this will have to do for today. I’ll finish this up sometime in the coming days by taking a look at the details of the production and why the might spell trouble. I emphasize the word “might”, by the way. Keep in mind I was one of those guys who was still optimistic going into Episode III.

Links:

Ebert’s Review of “Raiders”…

…and “Temple of Doom”…

…and “Last Crusade”.

Here’s the original news of Broadbent’s casting (which has since been confirmed).


And I'm out. Take care!