Harrison Ford told a news conference at the Cannes Film Festival that he expected
critics to turn Indiana Jones's whip on him following this week's release of Indiana
Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. "It's not unusual for something that
is popular to be disdained by some people, and I fully expect it." He called the
film a "celebration of the movies" -- and there are elements of almost every genre
represented in it -- from old-time afternoon serials, to Tarzan flicks, to sci-fi
to Elvis musicals (it's set in 1957, and we hear Elvis singing over an opening scene)
-- even, as Spielberg himself later conceded at a news conference, his as-yet-unproduced
Tintin films. "Somehow I just feel inured from professional criticism." Ford
added. A good thing, too, since some of the initial criticism does indeed crackle like
Indiana's whip. Michael Phillips in the Chicago Tribune, calling the movie
"disappointingly humorless," says that it "is so nervous about falling into
the quicksands of camp that it forgets to deliver a good time." Rick Honeycutt in the
Hollywood Reporter/Reuters says that the plot "gets swamped in a sea
of stunts and special effects that are relentless as the scenes and character relationships
are charmless." Peter Bradshaw in Britain's Guardian concludes: "This is a moment
for Harrison Ford to hang up the hat." On the other hand, James Christopher in the
London Times concludes his review by proclaiming that the film "is, quite
simply, exquisite nonsense. Welcome back Indy. Lord knows we've missed you." And, indeed,
most critics echo those cheers. Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times sums
up: "If you like the other Indiana Jones movies, you will like this one."
(Clearly Ebert loves this one.) Lou Lumenick in the New York Post has the
identical reaction, writing, "Fans of the series -- you can include me -- will lap
it up, flaws and all, and likely make it the summer's biggest blockbuster." And Joe
Neumaier in the New York Daily News describes the movie as "entertaining, inventive
and old-fashioned in the best way."
19/05/2008
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