For years, people worried that Harry would be too old to play Indy; "How could a 60 year old Harrison Ford play Indiana Jones?" It was thought and worried that his performance might be a little too unbelievable as Dr. Jones. But I think even with the myriad of flaws KOTCS has, Harrison's performance isn't one of them. He's still in good shape and still knows how to play our lovable archaeologist; In fact, I'd go so far as to say that he's the best part of the film.
That said...Is Spielberg too old to be the director of a Bond film? Somewhere along the line, I think Spielberg lost his chops as an action film director. He's grown overly sentimental, he plays it too safe. He's also gone too politically correct, too soft--removing the guns out of ET, for example; Having Indy never fire his gun, draw his whip, or purposely kill anyone in KOTCS is another example. We know it's not Lucas who has gone soft on violence and killing--Look at Revenge of the Sith for evidence. Even in Young Indy, Indy kills purposefully when he needs to. Indiana in KOTCS is made too nice, too politically correct; he doesn't curse or kill. He's Indy for kids.
With Spielberg, we started to see some of this in LC; Indy slowly became a "kindler, gentler" character; the action scenes lacked the kinetic energy and roller-coaster ride feel of the originals. The action in LC feels lazy compared to TOD and Raiders, and in KOTCS it just feels formulaic, laid back. There's also been more and more an emphasis on humor, and on Indy as a hero rather than anti-hero. There's no out of the box ingenius scenes--Nothing like the truck chase or airport fight; nothing like the trap room in TOD; nothing like the motorcycle chase in LC. By '89, Steven said he felt "too old" to film Monkey King; I think at this point, he'd feel too old to even film Raiders again.
He's also too reliant on having the same chereographer for every film, the same team on board; Kaminski gives KOTCS a washed out, dull sort of look, whereas the old films almost at times bordered on technicolor beauty. He's too stuck too his beliefs, his style, his comfort zone. He's no longer willing to take risks. He's gone too politically correct--In one of the Making Of documentaries, he said he WOULDN'T use Nazis as the villains, even if he could.
Personally, if Indy 5 is the final go around for this series, I want Indy to go out with a bang. I want a rollercoaster ride of a film; Something between the rollercoaster ride of TOD with the seriousness of Raiders. The film should be intense--not intense as in overly dark, but the action scenes should be intense. We should fear for Indy's life, which we really didn't in KOTCS.
Indy needs to be an anti-hero again, to kill, to be somewhat dark and mysterious. The grave robber rather than the archaeologist. That dark, Man with No Name character of Raiders.
Maybe have a subplot involve Marion being killed by Indy's enemies--That'd make for one pissed off Indy, with nothing to lose anymore. Have the film take risks, and become a little more modern in FEEL. Don't change the genre and go Sci-Fi, but adapt to a more modern action style. The last film needs to take risks and send Indy off with a bang--a real rollercoaster ride--and I don't think Spielberg is up to it. Maybe have the feel of this be something like Indy meets EC Comics--EC Comics being the pulp fiction of the 1950s.
The problem is, without Spielberg, we're stuck with Lucas. I don't want to see a Lucas directed Indy. My ideal Indy 5 is film with a story by Lucas, perhaps a script by Kasdan (if he can still pull off the old magic), starring Harrisn, something intense and perhaps even revisiting the scary element of TOD, with Indy as the anti-hero, directed by a young, energy filled director who knows how to make an Indy film.
That said...Is Spielberg too old to be the director of a Bond film? Somewhere along the line, I think Spielberg lost his chops as an action film director. He's grown overly sentimental, he plays it too safe. He's also gone too politically correct, too soft--removing the guns out of ET, for example; Having Indy never fire his gun, draw his whip, or purposely kill anyone in KOTCS is another example. We know it's not Lucas who has gone soft on violence and killing--Look at Revenge of the Sith for evidence. Even in Young Indy, Indy kills purposefully when he needs to. Indiana in KOTCS is made too nice, too politically correct; he doesn't curse or kill. He's Indy for kids.
With Spielberg, we started to see some of this in LC; Indy slowly became a "kindler, gentler" character; the action scenes lacked the kinetic energy and roller-coaster ride feel of the originals. The action in LC feels lazy compared to TOD and Raiders, and in KOTCS it just feels formulaic, laid back. There's also been more and more an emphasis on humor, and on Indy as a hero rather than anti-hero. There's no out of the box ingenius scenes--Nothing like the truck chase or airport fight; nothing like the trap room in TOD; nothing like the motorcycle chase in LC. By '89, Steven said he felt "too old" to film Monkey King; I think at this point, he'd feel too old to even film Raiders again.
He's also too reliant on having the same chereographer for every film, the same team on board; Kaminski gives KOTCS a washed out, dull sort of look, whereas the old films almost at times bordered on technicolor beauty. He's too stuck too his beliefs, his style, his comfort zone. He's no longer willing to take risks. He's gone too politically correct--In one of the Making Of documentaries, he said he WOULDN'T use Nazis as the villains, even if he could.
Personally, if Indy 5 is the final go around for this series, I want Indy to go out with a bang. I want a rollercoaster ride of a film; Something between the rollercoaster ride of TOD with the seriousness of Raiders. The film should be intense--not intense as in overly dark, but the action scenes should be intense. We should fear for Indy's life, which we really didn't in KOTCS.
Indy needs to be an anti-hero again, to kill, to be somewhat dark and mysterious. The grave robber rather than the archaeologist. That dark, Man with No Name character of Raiders.
Maybe have a subplot involve Marion being killed by Indy's enemies--That'd make for one pissed off Indy, with nothing to lose anymore. Have the film take risks, and become a little more modern in FEEL. Don't change the genre and go Sci-Fi, but adapt to a more modern action style. The last film needs to take risks and send Indy off with a bang--a real rollercoaster ride--and I don't think Spielberg is up to it. Maybe have the feel of this be something like Indy meets EC Comics--EC Comics being the pulp fiction of the 1950s.
The problem is, without Spielberg, we're stuck with Lucas. I don't want to see a Lucas directed Indy. My ideal Indy 5 is film with a story by Lucas, perhaps a script by Kasdan (if he can still pull off the old magic), starring Harrisn, something intense and perhaps even revisiting the scary element of TOD, with Indy as the anti-hero, directed by a young, energy filled director who knows how to make an Indy film.