10 Things I Can't Wait To See In Indiana Jones 4

By Ron Henriques on May 12, 2008

It's ten days until the next Indiana Jones movie and I can't keep still.  'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and 'The Empire Strikes Back' are both my second favorite film of all time.  (My number one fave is Orson Welles' 'Citizen Kane' because it changed the rules of filmmaking forever and every movie since owes something to it.)  'Raiders' and 'Empire' share my number two spot because they go hand in hand.  It's more than just the Lucas connection, these films represent the early eighties for me and a time in my life when I began to study films and what they can do.  I didn't really know what a director was until a read a bumble gum card for 'Raiders' about Steven Spielberg.  If 'Star Wars' represented the innocence of my adolescence, 'Indiana Jones' represented my maturity and the beginnings of adulthood.  I've rediscovered both films time and time again, but where being a Jedi was fantasy, being a flesh and blood adventurer was more realistic.  I'm sure Dr. Jones inspired many to become real-life archaeologists, but any kid could wear an old hat and shoulder bag and call themselves Indiana Jones.  Sure, they had toy lightsabers then, but not as realistic as the ones they have now.
 
Not only did I want to be Indiana Jones, but with an old fedora my auntie scored for me for one dollar in a thrift shop, I would go off on many adventures.  It's just that those adventures happened to take place in the wooded areas that made up the state park where we'd have our family barbecue every summer.  Still got that hat and though I'd like to wear it in the theater come May 22, I don't think I'll look as cool as Harrison Ford.
 
"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" has been met with much skepticism, despite the anticipation by audiences young and old.  Spielberg, Lucas and Ford have all stated that they did not want to make this film until they had the right script and I trust their intentions.  Even though there's rumors that the film's McGuffin takes the series in a slightly different direction, I still want to catch up with Indiana Jones after all these years.  I want to know if he still hasn't grown up and whether he's taken some responsibility in his life.  With Ford's age, if they play on his physicality just right it can be pretty funny.  Especially if Indiana Jones hasn't realized his limitations and still thinks he can do things like a 35-year-old.  Maybe he hasn't matured, but Spielberg has and since 'Schindler's List' he's made some thought provoking films (even the action ones).
 
I can't tell you how much I am dying to see this film.  Even if it's a fraction as good as the previous three, with Spielberg's skill it'll be far more entertaining than the clones of recent years.  Did you notice that for the first time one of 'The Mummy' sequels isn't opening in May?  That's because all the copy-cats know what a juggernaut Indiana Jones is.  'Raiders' was a copy-cat as well, in this case the old serials my parents would catch on Saturday mornings for a nickel.  But like 'Star Wars' it took an old idea and built upon it.  In anticipation of the latest sequel which is ten days away I've made a list of the ten things I'm looking forward to the most. Well, okay, eleven.  I got carried away.
 
11.The opening sequence.

 
Every Indiana Jones movie begins with the old style Paramount mountain logo and fades into a real one.  Temple of Doom was the exception, where the fade in was a mountain embossed on a gong in the Shanghai Club Obi-Wan.  Though Paramount's logo has evolved over the years and Gulf & Western no longer own the studio, I'm hoping Spielberg sticks with tradition and uses an updated version of that old one just like David Fincher did for Zodiac last year.

 
As for the opening sequence, in all Indy films it's really the end sequence for the "previous movie".  Indy came to the end of his quest for the idol and lost it to Belloq in 'Raiders'.  He nearly escaped Shanghai with his life and minus that diamond in 'Temple' and in 'Last Crusade' we got a back-story from his youth that evolved into him finally scoring a treasure, the Cross of Coronado.  Whatever 'Crystal Skull' brings let's hope the opening sequence in an exciting one.  By studying the trailers I have a feeling that warehouse scene involving Cate Blanchett's Agent Spalko and her soldiers, as well as Belloq type 'Mac' played by Ray Winstone may in fact be the opening of the picture.  Speaking of that warehouse scene...
 
10.Just how does Indy return to that warehouse?

 
Everyone is looking forward to answers involving the final resting place of the Ark of the Covenant which when last we saw it was being filed and numbered in a crate identical to thousands in a vast warehouse.  There's been rumors that we do get to see the Ark, but I've got a feeling it's not the reason Indy at it's location.  In fact. I've got a feeling he has no clue it's there until he discovers it.  'Crystal Skull' is supposed to be a reverse of the typical Indiana Jones storyline, where instead of embarking on a journey for lost treasure, the artifact has already been found and to return it to where it was discovered will give one control over its power.  Okay, so the Ark and the Crystal Skull are rumored to both be located in a warehouse in Area 51's Roswell, New Mexico.  Since 'Raiders' took place in 1936 and the legendary UFO crashed eleven years later, its possible the Ark was moved to this location from the warehouse we saw in the original film.  Whatever the reason, it's sure to be exciting for die-hard fans to see how it plays into the story.
 
9.What will be the big action set-piece?

 
Judging by the trailer and more rumors, it looks to be another chase scene that is perhaps a combination of all three previous films.  Indy is not only jumping truck to truck and tackling more bad guys, but Karen Allen's Marion Ravenwood and Shia LeBeouf's Mutt Williams join him in an assault on a tank.  Plus after Belloq called his bluff in 'Raiders' Indy finally gets to fire an RPG with explosive results.  With the exception of the T-Rex sequences in both 'Jurassic Park' films, Spielberg's best pure action sequences have occured in the Indiana Jones films.  Unlike the kinetic editing of today's action adventures, Spielberg and his editor Michael Kahn try to keep the geography simple and allow audiences to do the editing in their minds.
 
8.He's a lot older now, is he still a hearthrob to his students?

Everyone remembers the girl who wrote 'Love You' on her eyelids for Jones to see in his class and no doubt, Ford has kept his some of his boyish looks, but are the students still hot for teacher?  In 'Last Crusade' we got a chance to return to academic life at the university and it revealed that for a Professor, Indiana Jones is quite a slacker.  He not only had dozens of students lined up outside his office waiting on him, but his poor secretary complained that the mail on his desk was unopened along with term papers that still hadn't been graded.  So what does the guy do? With so many people eagerly waiting to see him, the guy bails on everyone by climbing out the window of his office!  (And if you remember correctly his office was actually a boiler room.)
 
7.What creepy crawlers do we get this time?
 

I got a little nervous when a still began circling the net of Indiana Jones reacting with fright to a snake.  If that still is from a brief moment, I'm all for it, it will be hilarious. But if that's the creepy crawler scene, it seems a little recycled.  We've been given snakes, bugs and rats, how about something new? As long as it not something as stupid as chilled monkey brains I'm good.
 
6.What gruesome comeuppance awaits the villains?
 
Indiana Jones barely escapes with his life at the conclusion of each adventure and that's due to something he's studied about the artifact he's going after.  In 'Raiders' he knew not to look at the Ark once it was opened and what happened to Belloq, Dietrich and Toht?  Their heads either exploded, shrunk or melted before they were wiped off the face of the earth.  By reciting the words of Sheba, Indy caused the diamonds inside the Shankara stones to glow, thereby burning Mola Ram's hand and causing him to fall from that rope bridge in 'Temple of Doom."  In 'Last Crusade' Walter Donovan let his lust for the Grail get the better of him and allowed Elsa to choose which cup to drink from.  The result was rapid aging which was one of the earliest forms of morphing done for a movie and was pretty cool to watch.  Personally I'd rather die like Mola Ram, although getting your head busted up after plunging from a cliff followed by getting eaten by hungry crocodiles is gruesome, but a lot better than a supernatural (or unnatural?) death.  Jones will inevitably turn the tables on Spalko (and maybe even Mac) and naturally come away with a valuable lesson as he always does.  I have an idea from a shot in the trailer of Indy and his gang escaping as to who survives and who doesn't.
 
5.What cameos will there be?


I absolutely love John Rhys-Davies as Sallah and his other characters and was pretty sad to hear his sidekick role was basically given to Winstone's 'Mac'.  Like Lucas said, unless the quest takes them into the desert, Sallah isn't needed.  Still, its rumored there are a few surprises in the film, so I'm still hoping he appears for a brief bit.  A grown up Short Round?  I don't know if I want to hear 'Indy I Wuv U" one more time.  Maybe he's a research assistant and Indy put him through college.  Denholm Elliot sadly passed away a few years back, so even though we won't get Marcus Brody, fans speculated there's a funeral scene in the film.  If Sallah were to show up then, your guess is as good as mine.  (Though a portrait of Brody can be seen in one of the behind-the-scenes web videos.)  One of the early drafts had a scene where Indy runs into a bunch of his old girlfriends at the same time which led me to believe we'd get Marion, Kate Capshaw's Willie Scott and maybe that 'Love You' student.  Thankfully, Marion's role in the film is more than just a cameo, but I'd still like to see Ms. Capshaw who has been absent from cinema since she became Mrs. Spielberg.  That leaves Earl Webber, the Brit who chartered that cargo flight that nearly killed Indy in 'Temple if Doom', but who remembers him or that he was played by Dan Ackroyd?  The man I'd really like to see is Captain Katanga played by George Harris who has been popping up in great roles recently like as Daniel Craig's pal in 'Layer Cake' and even the last 'Harry Potter.'  Fans of the 'Further Adventures of Indiana Jones' comic book series back in the 80's may remember that Katanga occasionally popped up to give Indy a ride (or save his butt).  Does Indy always have to travel by plane?  Katanga does command a pretty big boat.
 
4.Will we get the traveling montage with the map?

 
This is a given with all Indiana Jones films when Indy travels and the montage features a super-imposed map.  Let's just hope that Spielberg not only includes it, but it has that old school roto-scope feel.  With computer technology that red line moving across the map could look razor sharp and three-dimensional, but I hope it has that funky and cheap look to it.
 
3. Just how evil are the bad guys this time?

 
Mola Ram was probably the baddest villain Indy faced.  This guy was strong like a wrestler, could make you a mindless slave by drinking that blood potion and pull out people's hearts with his bare hands!  On top of that the chests of his victims would close up and they would still be alive.  (Well at least until they were lowered into that lava pit.)  Belloq was Indy's intellectual equal, the other side of the coin they both shared.  "I am a shadowy reflection of you."  Sure he worked for the Nazis, but who really was in command?  The villains in 'Last Crusade' weren't that great and in fact were recycled bits from the previous films.  On top of that, Indy didn't get into a fist fight with a goliath like Pat Roach who played both the German Mechanic in 'Raiders' and Mola Ram's thuggee bodyguard in 'Temple of Doom.'  There are glimpses in the trailer for 'Crystal Skull' of Indy facing off with a large Russian wielding a chain and it looks like he encounters this dude more than once.  Let's hope the guy gives our hero a severe five-borough NYC ass beating.  As for Blanchett, if she plays Spalko with the right amount of menace and camp I think she'll be a memorable villain in the Indiana Jones mythos.
 
2.The Return of Marion Ravenwood.

 
I fell in love with Karen Allen at the age of seven back in 1981.  Three years later I found the fact that she didn't appear in 'Temple of Doom' because it took place a year earlier to be a poor excuse.  (By the way, does anyone remember that the series was supposed to be told in reverse chronological order, but that technique was dumped for 'Last Crusade'--which took place two years after 'Raiders'--because Harrison Ford looked older?)  Not only was she incredibly beautiful, but for once we didn't get the damsel in distress.  Our hero is busy getting his ass handed to him by a large German and what does she do?  She knocks out a pilot (actually producer Frank Marshall), climbs into a bomber and uses a machine gun to take out enemy soldiers.  When her bar the Raven is burning down, she manages to find a moment to grab a swig of wine from a keg with a bullet hole in it.  On top of that she can drink anyone under the table and is winning a drinking competition when we're first introduced to her.
 
I have to thank writer/director Frank Darabont, who admits to having a crush on Marion himself and incorporated her into an early draft he wrote for 'Crystal Skull'.  Thankfully Jeff Nathanson and David Koepp kept the meat of his original story which happened to include "Fraulein Ravenwood" as well.  Indiana Jones is the last boy scout.  He's a guy who is never gonna grow up despite the fact he's getting old and Marion, the girl who hated him for deflowering her, is the only woman capable of putting up with his sh*t!
 
I'm really anxious to see the evolution of the dynamic between Jones and Marion as well as what she's been up to the last 21 years and whether or not she hid the fact that she may or may not have had his son.  We didn't see it, but there was a hint that the two slept together in 'Raiders' when she grabbed her nightgown after Jones said he was gonna check out why the engines stopped on Katanga's ship.  (What an opportunity for Kantanga to appear and remark to Mutt "Hey young man, I remember the night you were conceived!")  I'm also pretty sure that by the end of 'Raiders' the two went for more than just "a drink" like she suggested.  Whatever the case may be, Marion looks like the perfect lady for a headache like Indiana Jones because Karen Allen looks exactly the same.
 
1.Will there be a Sean Connery cameo?

 
Despite the press statement he made last year about retiring from film, there's a part of me that hopes this was just a publicity stunt cooked up by Connery and Spielberg.  Lucas has stated that he just needed Connery for two scenes; one at the beginning and one at the end.  I don't know if one of them would involve Shia LeBeouf and the line "Is this my grandson?", but to see Connery return would be a real treat.  Connery strikes me as the type who sticks to his guns, having decided to retire to pen his memoirs and then chose to scrap what he wrote because an autobiography might hurt those in his life.  I have no doubt he's enjoying retirement and though I was entertained by the film I can't accept the thought that 'League of Extraordinary Gentleman' will be his last feature.  Seeing Henry Jones, Sr. scold his son for not growing up would add a little humor and be a real treat.  I'm hoping Spielberg and company have something up their sleeves ala the surprise cameo in 'Iron Man' and I don't mean after the end credits.  Bear in mind, Connery has made claims of not returning to his most famous role of all and we know how that turned out.  As they say, "never say never again."

Source:Latino Review