Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Art

(Review by Danny del Mazo )

Back in what I like to call the “good days” of cinema, films were of another quality. Every conceivable facet of a film’s production, from the visuals to the post-production magic of skillful editing and musical composition, was given high, artistic maintenance and the creative talents behind-the-scenes strove for what I term “quintessentiality”: the struggle to make every frame of a movie seem inevitable and legendary.

The one element that allows any one film to transcend the harshness of time is the enormous craft with which the film was realized, in so far as, the film seems as much of a classic the day of its release as it does many years later when one looks back with fondness at that all-too familiar movie and regards it as a truly, unique masterwork. Unfortunately, we live in an era of cynical, formulaic attempts at movie-making that makes me wonder if the future looks bright or bleak for the film industry. With every disappointing film, I yearn for another “classic” to emerge. A film that can reassure me there are still talented artists striving to make big, commercial films that have any semblance of quality.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was among my hopefuls for this year. The film had everything going for it: Hollywood Heavyweights like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Harrison Ford and a classic, heroic character that has already stood the test of time. The result was probably the biggest disappointment I could’ve imagined. Now I know that many other critics will disagree with me. They’ll go into this big debacle about how these brainless, summer movies are not to be expected much of. That we should just enjoy the ride and not dwell on their artistic numbness. Because it’s INDIANA JONES, one can say that the film is automatically critic-proof, but it is precisely because it’s Indiana Jones that I am criticizing the film so harshly and I believe I am within reason to do so. Frankly, I expected better from such quality filmmakers as the aforementioned and a film legacy consisting of three “classic films” that span almost three decades.
In a nut-shell, the film is a culmination of some great ideas materialized in the worst possible ways and a tantalizing concept, i.e. space aliens influencing ancient civilizations, that never really hits home.

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"

(to Cont...from "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Art")