E Pluribus unum – Indiana Jones

I Saw at least 5 movies last night, in the price of one. ‘e pluribus unum’ – out of many, one. The same words that you see on a quarter dollar coin. Indiana Jones is a hodge podge of a mixture of a few movies, imagine seeing Alien, or ET, National treasure, The Mummy and The Mummy returns, all mixed into one, with Harrison Ford carrying it on his already drooping shoulders without the apparent presence of a female lead, oh wait there is a granny for the grandpa – I just don’t know her name.

Cannes critics might have given Indie, a standing ovation – they are out of their mind. Not that the film is that bad, but it definitely does not deserve a standing ovation. The effects are ok, the story is set in late 1950’s and the scenes have been completed to perfection, typical Spielberg style. What lacks is a good original story. Crystal skulls have long been subject of interest and usually a con-man’s delight. And given Spielberg’s (real life) interest in everything from Aliens to Jesus Christ’s tomb, the users expectations have been blatantly ignored. I liked most Indiana Jones’ earlier moves with the exception of the “temple of doom”, but this movie isn’t a great comeback for Lucas, Spielberg or Harrison Ford. Shia Labeouf (Transformers fame) carries his role well, there are quite a lot of similarities to the Mummy movies, especially because of the grave digging that Harrison Ford carries effortlessly. Come on, human eating insects, doesn’t that seem too familiar? Critics might argue that ‘The Mummy’ was inspired from movies like Indiana Jones (earlier ones), but the point is, graphically they were excellent, and when you come up with something that can be compared to it, do it better or don’t do it. The story is set in 1957, are you sure the technology isn’t from that year too?

With the Indiana Jones’ theme playing in the background, in every freaking second of the very few tense scenes, it almost looks comical, like you were waiting for Indiana Jones to obviously outsmart the Russians.

And the “elongated” skulls give you a deja vu feeling about an alien, you may actually come close to seeing one before the movie is over.

The climax is anything but memorable – “oh, the gold you were looking for is knowledge. Knowledge is the real gold.” Ok, it sounded lamer than I wanted it to be, but it is not an exact quote, I’m glad I forgot the exact one.

Verdict – watchable.

Original image from indianajones.com

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