‘Indiana Jones 4′ in quotes

Normally we’d do a ‘upcoming weekend in quotes,’ but this week is all about ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.’ So how did the critics judge? Well, a Metacritic score of 6.7 certainly isn’t bad, but it’s not anything to be happy about either. Not that Harrison Ford will care, but a little movie called ‘Iron Man’ scored a much better 7.8.

Let’s start with the positive. Most critics seem to agree this is just another ‘Indiana Jones.’ Not much changed since the first three. Roger Ebert said in the Chicago Sun-Times (8.8): “I can say that if you liked the other Indiana Jones movies, you will like this one, and that if you did not, there is no talking to you.“

Empire (8.0): “A slick, fun film that has by no means sacrificed the fast action beats of the first three.“

San Francisco Chronicle (7.5): “The movie moves. It has action sequences that are so enormous that they won’t just wow audiences, but rock them back in their seats and make them laugh at the audacity of it all.“

From 7.0 and down, the reviews are getting a bit more harsh.

Time (7.0): “There are scenes in the new movie that seem like stretching exercises at a retirement home; there are garrulous stretches, and even the title seems a few words too long. But once it gets going, Crystal Skull delivers smart, robust, familiar entertainment.“

Chicago Tribune (5.0): “Does not know when to quit. Nor does it extract much fun from a cockamamie story provided by George Lucas.“

Wall Street Journal (5.0): “All of it amounts to a been-there-done-that-better recapitulation of Mr. Spielberg’s career.“

And Village Voice gives Indy the lowest score (3.0): “It’s hard to tell whether Spielberg and Lucas are trying too hard or trying at all–the thing’s such a mess, such an unmitigated disaster, that damned is the scholar stuck with the unfortunate task of deciphering this cynical, clinical gibberish in decades to come.“

It’s your choice whether to follow the positive or the negative.