Everyone wanted this to work.
I don't care if you thought it was a bad idea, a project destined for failure, or a cynical moneymaking venture - when the red curtain rose, I, along with everyone else in the cinema, wanted Spielberg, Ford and co. to come up with the goods.
The opening scenes are promising, as the film hurtles into gear with a pacy title sequence that draws us in and gets us going. The knowing, self-referential script ("It's not as easy as it used to be", "Let's do this the old fashioned way") suits the mood, and everyone's clearly trying their absolute best to make this work.
A silly, CGI-heavy set-piece then distracts us from the characters and action, and the film begins to lose its way. I don't want to say too much about the plot, but I will say the baddies aren't bad enough (think of the deliciously dark madmen in the Temple of Doom or the icy Nazis in the Last Crusade), the funny bits aren't funny enough (again, failing to match the original trilogy), and Harrison Ford, who does his level best, just doesn't bring the same level of wit and flair to the role. Maybe he's trying too hard. Or maybe he's just too old.
Enter Shia LeBoeuf, the young, spunky protégé hired to act like a kind of motorised cart to carry (often literally) the pensionable Indy along, and fire some life into the old dog. He's OK, plenty of 'tude, but a pretty boring character really - I can't remember him doing anything fun.
Finally there's Marion whats-her-name from Raiders of the Lost Ark. She's back, but the chemistry unfortunately isn't - the romantic element restricted to a couple of cringeworthy kisses between the two re-united old-timers. No young hot vixen for Shia to seduce, but, as the end of the film depressingly suggests, there may well be time for all that, with Shia set to swipe the fedora and finally bury the franchise.
I don't care if you thought it was a bad idea, a project destined for failure, or a cynical moneymaking venture - when the red curtain rose, I, along with everyone else in the cinema, wanted Spielberg, Ford and co. to come up with the goods.
The opening scenes are promising, as the film hurtles into gear with a pacy title sequence that draws us in and gets us going. The knowing, self-referential script ("It's not as easy as it used to be", "Let's do this the old fashioned way") suits the mood, and everyone's clearly trying their absolute best to make this work.
A silly, CGI-heavy set-piece then distracts us from the characters and action, and the film begins to lose its way. I don't want to say too much about the plot, but I will say the baddies aren't bad enough (think of the deliciously dark madmen in the Temple of Doom or the icy Nazis in the Last Crusade), the funny bits aren't funny enough (again, failing to match the original trilogy), and Harrison Ford, who does his level best, just doesn't bring the same level of wit and flair to the role. Maybe he's trying too hard. Or maybe he's just too old.
Enter Shia LeBoeuf, the young, spunky protégé hired to act like a kind of motorised cart to carry (often literally) the pensionable Indy along, and fire some life into the old dog. He's OK, plenty of 'tude, but a pretty boring character really - I can't remember him doing anything fun.
Finally there's Marion whats-her-name from Raiders of the Lost Ark. She's back, but the chemistry unfortunately isn't - the romantic element restricted to a couple of cringeworthy kisses between the two re-united old-timers. No young hot vixen for Shia to seduce, but, as the end of the film depressingly suggests, there may well be time for all that, with Shia set to swipe the fedora and finally bury the franchise.
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