Macguffin, right Lucas? For those of you who don't know, a macguffin was a term used by Alfred Hitchcock as a plot item, something that moves the entire plot along without being a main part of the plot. George Lucas had previously said he had found "his Macguffin" and that he knew it was great, but the other guys (Spielberg & Ford) weren't too sure about it. If only Lucas was dead, because Spielberg and Ford had every single right to be suspicious, in fact, instead of suspicion, they should've downright told Lucas "NO!" I already hated Lucas for his hideous embarassments to film also known as the three Star Wars prequels, so back in 2005, when Lucas dismissed a script written by Frank Darabont (2 time Oscar nominated writer), said by Spielberg to be the best script he had read since Raiders of the Lost Ark, I knew Lucas had nothing good up his sleeve. It turns out, his sleeve was full of over the top fight scenes and a formula.
Really, all this movie is is the Indiana Jones formula done in a corny, popcorn flick style, using a Macguffin as an excuse for having a treasure hunt or a story.
The macguffin was the legend of the Crystal Skulls, skulls belonging to ancient beings who helped build the Mayan Temples and who look shockingly familiar to the aliens in the last scene of Spielberg's Close Encounters With the Third Kind. We never really get to know much about the skulls though, but are thrown into a story (while Indy is thrown in a refrigerator), or excuse me, we are thrown into a formula of Indiana Jones, with a macguffin being enough to throw a bunch of characters together and have an adventure.
The characters. Ah, well first off I'll say the character Mac was completely pointless to the story, and isn't even a new character. Blend the character Beni from The Mummy with the image of Chef Boyardee, and you get Mac.
All the new characters in this are underdeveloped, and just thrown together, the only other character we get back from the actual trilogy is Marion. Well, kind of. She doesn't really have much to do with the plot, although my favorite moment in the film was when Indy first sees Marian again after so many years. We get their story finally patched up, and the character work (which is the only interesting aspect of the film) closes up like a direct sequel to Raiders as opposed to the other two.
In fact, no references have been made (to my knowledge) to the Temple of Doom at any point in the series ever, which annoys me, as Temple of Doom was a great adventure. It may not be up there with the 1st and 3rd, but I'll take TOD to KOTCS any day.
I do not mean to say I hated this film. By no means was it hated, I mean, come on, it's a freaking Indiana Jones movie! It was funner than hell! Yet its flaws leave more of an impression than the fun did.
So lacking so far, we have a plot, character work, anything realistic in the least bit, and also the score. John Williams has composed some of the best film scores of all time, and the first three Jones films had amazing scores, and themes you find yourself whistling for a while after watching it. Kingdom has some rehashed verisons of those themes, and really no theme of its own. The music works for some effect, but has nothing to it really, just cues.
This film had so much potential, and it really makes me sad that George Lucas had to disappoint us once again, and that this time he's bringing Spielberg into the shame also. So, because it was Indiana Jones, I loved it to a certain extent, but this isn't gonna stay up with the test of time on its own, only because it had such great predecessors.
Really, all this movie is is the Indiana Jones formula done in a corny, popcorn flick style, using a Macguffin as an excuse for having a treasure hunt or a story.
The macguffin was the legend of the Crystal Skulls, skulls belonging to ancient beings who helped build the Mayan Temples and who look shockingly familiar to the aliens in the last scene of Spielberg's Close Encounters With the Third Kind. We never really get to know much about the skulls though, but are thrown into a story (while Indy is thrown in a refrigerator), or excuse me, we are thrown into a formula of Indiana Jones, with a macguffin being enough to throw a bunch of characters together and have an adventure.
The characters. Ah, well first off I'll say the character Mac was completely pointless to the story, and isn't even a new character. Blend the character Beni from The Mummy with the image of Chef Boyardee, and you get Mac.
All the new characters in this are underdeveloped, and just thrown together, the only other character we get back from the actual trilogy is Marion. Well, kind of. She doesn't really have much to do with the plot, although my favorite moment in the film was when Indy first sees Marian again after so many years. We get their story finally patched up, and the character work (which is the only interesting aspect of the film) closes up like a direct sequel to Raiders as opposed to the other two.
In fact, no references have been made (to my knowledge) to the Temple of Doom at any point in the series ever, which annoys me, as Temple of Doom was a great adventure. It may not be up there with the 1st and 3rd, but I'll take TOD to KOTCS any day.
I do not mean to say I hated this film. By no means was it hated, I mean, come on, it's a freaking Indiana Jones movie! It was funner than hell! Yet its flaws leave more of an impression than the fun did.
So lacking so far, we have a plot, character work, anything realistic in the least bit, and also the score. John Williams has composed some of the best film scores of all time, and the first three Jones films had amazing scores, and themes you find yourself whistling for a while after watching it. Kingdom has some rehashed verisons of those themes, and really no theme of its own. The music works for some effect, but has nothing to it really, just cues.
This film had so much potential, and it really makes me sad that George Lucas had to disappoint us once again, and that this time he's bringing Spielberg into the shame also. So, because it was Indiana Jones, I loved it to a certain extent, but this isn't gonna stay up with the test of time on its own, only because it had such great predecessors.