Year of Release: 1989
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, John Rhys-Davies, Alison Doody, Julian Glover, River Phoenix, Michael Byrne, Kevork Malikyan, Robert Eddison, Richard Young
Genre: Adventure, Action
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
Watch it on Amazon
Synopsis and Review:
Steven Spielberg had two films come out in 1989, the first being the third chapter of the adventures of the iconic Indiana Jones, and the second being "Always", the remake of the Victor Fleming film "A Guy Named Joe". This new adventure of Indiana Jones takes place in 1938, and takes a deeper look at who Indiana Jones actually is, by showcasing a bit of his younger days and adventures, and also introduces the character of his father, also a professor of Archeology, Dr. Henry Jones (senior). The film focuses on the research Henry Jones senior has been doing most of his life, more specifically on the crusades and the mythical Holy Grail. Indiana gets looped in on this when his father disappears, and he has to suddenly trace his steps across Europe, at a time when the Nazi movement is spreading rapidly. Turns out the Nazis are very interested in Henry's maps to the potential location of the Grail, something that Indiana left in the good care of their mutual friend, Marcus Brody. He eventually discovers and saves his father, but they have to head to North Africa in the pursuit of Marcus, who has been abducted in the meantime by the Nazi army. As Indiana races to save Marcus, and retrieve his father's materials, they suddenly see themselves having to overcome unexpected obstacles to come out of the whole ordeal alive.
Following the uneven tone of "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", director Steven Spielberg worked with screenwriter Jeffrey Boam (who had worked on Joe Dante's "InnerSpace" and Joel Schumacher's "The Lost Boys", to name but a few), to make the film decidedly more humane, yet still filled with action. And for the most part the film manages to be successful in this combination of action and character development, even if for the most part, the supporting characters are largely cartoonish. The winning aspect of the film ends up being the familial relationship that is developed between Indiana Jones and his father, a relationship that is filled with bickering, some resentment, and lots of humor. The film also gives a dash of insight into the youth of Indiana Jones with an adventure in his teen years, with the character embodied by the late River Phoenix. Though this episode is mostly illustrative, never giving actually much insight into why Indiana Jones became the character he is, the rest of the film does manage to bring some dimension to him. The action set pieces are as usual impeccably shot and conceived, and while this film doesn't reach the heights and impeccable timing of the first film, it still has plenty to enjoy, particularly in the third act of the film. The cast is once again fantastic, with Harrison Ford leading the group, with great support from Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, River Phoenix and John Rhys-Davies. The production team is also impeccable, with the returning team of composer John Williams, cinematographer Douglas Slocombe and production designer Elliot Scott. An entertaining film always worth revisiting.
0 comments:
Post a Comment