Well, here we are, all sitting comfortably. You ready? Because this might not be the crowd pleaser it could have been:
(Yep, MovieWeb put their name all over it. Cute.)
The latest in a long line of leaked photos - and possibly the least exciting - this big-eyed bad boy seems to confirm what movie-moron reported months ago: that the skulls are extra-terrestrial in origin.
We brought the news that ole Spielberg had been up in the loft, getting emotional over Close Encounters around the time of its thirtieth anniversary, and now he's roped in his little rubber alien friends and apparently pimped them out with a couple of crystal additions.
Is it a curse of directors who came to prominence in the seventies to take crayons to their own franchises once they reach a certain age? They created it, they're allowed. Right? Ugh.
Talking of such self-destruction, isn't it telling that twas George Lucas who came up with the whole crystal skull malarkey in the first place? And that their prominance in the story was a bone of contention between Lucas and Ford/Spielberg until the 2006 script penned by David Koepp struck an appropriate tone for them all? Either that or the elusiveness of the paycheque finally got the better of them.
Wasn't the magic of Indy about his earthiness? That he was an archaeologist, interested in artefacts of human creation, albeit with the occasional celestial twist? I don't know, instincts are telling me that this skull does not belong in this franchise. Plus it's ugly. He's not a superhero - a fact the studio are stressing, as a kind of get-out clause, explaining away Ford's 64 years - why is he dealing with something from outer space?
Let's all concentrate on the good things: John Hurt will be in this film. John Williams, of course, will provide the score. CGI will be minimal. They've stuck with the style of the original cinematographer, and shot on regular film (as opposed to digital). If it looks like Indy, sounds like Indy and moves like Indy...
Fingers crossed, all. May 22nd.
March 10, 2008, 09:04:00 AM
