"I felt compelled to write, having just read Anne Thompson's 4.17 Variety column which states that 'the advance buzz on Indy 4 is getting damaging enough that Lucas and Spielberg may want to reconsider the current strategy of waiting until May 18 to show the film...that's a long way off.'
Composer John Williams, Guy #2 says, was initially correct on the Indy 4 running time of 140 minutes, but the film "underwent belt tightening and has been receiving customary tweaking for its final mix."
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull "is the best of the Indy sequels," he declares. "Steven Spielberg's helming puts the imitators (The Mummy, National Treasure) to shame. There are many breakneck set pieces, with a protracted jungle chase being particularly memorable. As well as being evocative of the truck chase from the first movie.
Harrison Ford, he claims, "gives his best performance in the role, not only physically belying his age but layering in welcome poignancy. More than before, audiences will be rooting for Indy. Shia LaBeouf makes essential contributions. Chemistry between he and Ford is palpable, yielding some nice character comedy.
"Jones is particularly beleaguered throughout the adventure, making his predicaments all the more entertaining.
"The film has the strongest supporting cast of the sequels. They all raise the bar. Ray Winstone amuses and fascinates, but the strongest impression is left by Cate Blanchett's Agent Spalko, a characterization that achieves instant cult status.
"Hopefully, the surprises in this film can continue to be guarded. Eventually, these spoilers will get out, but it would be shameful for reviewers and bloggers to reveal an ending that any longtime diehard fan of the films could only dream about. Expect a particularly resounding reaction in the theater.
"Kudos to screenwriter David Koepp for pulling all this together on the page. This will easily be the biggest hit of the year."
As much as I want these reviews to be true, I believe these 'reviews' as much as I do all those doom n' gloom 'insider comments' we've all been getting worked up about recently... I doubt think we'll get more solid word on this film's quality until much nearer D-Day...
There's absolutely nothing in this review that we dont already know. And although you could appreciate his desire not to reveal any plot spoilers, it doesn't add up to be a convincing report.
Still at least the balance of good hype, bad hype has been restored.
After all the extreme lengths the team went to, to keep everything about this film under wraps, even from the cast, I find it somewhat dubious that all of these untrustworthy insiders are suddenly crawling out of the woodwork. Even Harrison aint seen it yet.
Well, personally, for all their flaws I enjoy the prequels. Still you're right (although the early word on Menace was disappointment from sho-west. I don't think there were any good reviews for it). But yeah, as a sw fan, this is all par for the course...fan worry and quibling over every spoiler...bad buzz...good buzz...interminable wait made worse by fear of celluloid stinker...19 years of anticipation not helping....aw crap - Lucas was right, at the end of the day it is only a movie! Let's hope the review's right and it's a great one!
Yeah, but if it was a plant surely you would mention them. I'm not saying it's conclusive either way but not mentioning certain details doesn't mean jack.
"Composer John Williams, Guy #2 says, was initially correct on the Indy 4 running time of 140 minutes, but the film "underwent belt tightening and has been receiving customary tweaking for its final mix."
How could that be true when 123 minutes was reported before the 140 minutes? Spielberg always picture-locks before he hands it off to Williams to record the score. Sounds like Jeff Wells is covering for his widely-reported mistake and that makes this entire review seem like a bunch of baloney.
Didn't the confusion come from Williams talking about 7 reels as opposed to 140 minutes? Also, the source may not know every detail that has been released on the nets. Or you could be right!
