So I dunno about you but I think Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull absolutely sucked.
In comparison to the original trilogy of films that spanned the 80’s, well there is simply no comparison. Raiders of the Lost Ark is the perfect movie. It is flawless in its story, script, acting, directing, pacing, editing, score, etc. George Lucas provided the story, offering it to his friend Steven Spielberg when the latter was denied the chance to direct a James Bond film. Harrison Ford wasn’t the first choice for the title character but by minute five in the film he was obvious to all to be the best choice for the role, bringing his one of a kind blend of suave demeanor and apathetic personality.
Spielberg’s contribution was not only directing the movie during the height of his creative powers, but also doing so with a key idea: “Every ten minutes is an action scene.” Track the movie and you’ll see the way it’s paced to resemble the old cliffhanger serials that Lucas and Spielberg grew up watching; every ten minutes is a death-teasing action scene.
The follow-up might not be the most beloved of the bunch, but its technical and creative risks make The Temple of Doom a worth addition to the library. The Last Crusade was the trilogy-closer and brought in James Bond himself, Sean Connery, in to play Indiana’s dad, returned to series to its Nazis (“I hate these guys”) and Bible artifact-hunting origins and ended with the heroes literally riding off into the sunset. It was done. It was beautiful. It was complete.
Then they went and made part four.
The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was such a colossal waste of time and energy, not only for those making it but for those watching it too, that it should have turned everyone involved off from trying to make another one. On the one hand you can imagine Lucas, Spielberg, and Ford all thinking they need a do-over to make up for the mistakes of part four, but then again…have Lucas or Spielberg ever hinted that they disliked the fourth? The worst thing that could happen would be them deciding (A) “Indy 4 was great!” and (B) “let’s do another and not change a thing!”
welp…
It’s coming next Summer.
So…what are we looking at here? What options are on the table? Here are five things that can be done with Indiana Jones 5. Whether they are risky ideas, bad ideas, or good ideas, here they are…
No Harrison Ford
This is a RISKY idea though it’s one that Disney will want to consider sooner or later. On the one hand, the temptation is to draw a line of connection between Harrison Ford/Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford/Han Solo, look at the failure of the non-Ford SOLO movie, and conclude “recasting is a baaaad idea.” I understand the thought process but on the other hand, Indiana Jones has been portrayed by several different actors at various times.
Even in this very film series River Phoenix played a young Indiana Jones in the opening sequence of The Last Crusade. Two more actors also played the role in the Young Indiana Jones TV series. There’s a precedent, in other words. It would future-proof the series and give the character a chance to do the things that an almost-80 year old actor can not.
That being said, it’s hard to imagine an Indy movie that doesn’t feature Ford passing the torch hat in some way…
Cameo Ford
This is a BAD idea but let me explain what I mean by “cameo.” I mean go the Ghostbusters 2016 route. I mean bringing in a new actor to star in the movie but still have Ford make a quick appearance the way Bill Murray did when he wandered onto the set of Ghostbusters 2016. to cameo in that film as someone other than Peter Venkman.
The problem here would be the problem there: If you’re going to have Ford he must be Indiana Jones. You can’t having an Indy movie with Ford playing some rando professor or cab driver. It wouldn’t be a nod; it would be a distraction. At the same time, if you’re going to have someone play Indiana Jones then Ford has to stay away.
Unless…
Some Ford
This is my idea, and thus is why I call it a GOOD idea. My thought process is three-fold. First, there is still money to be made with the name/brand Indiana Jones. There’s no sense in creating another character from scratch when the one Disney has is already good. Second, Harrison Ford is getting too old to play the part and his age is forcing the character to move into decades outside of his peak. Indy 4 was set in 1957. Indy 5 will, presumably, have to be set at the end of the 1960’s. I know that sounds crazy but prepare yourself:
Third, there are a plethora of potential Indiana Jones adventures that could have happened between the years of 1930-1950. Obviously a new actor would have to be cast in the role of such period-adventures, but why not bring Ford back to be the narrative anchor of those old tales? Have him recollect the adventures in his twilight years, booking ending the movie that has his younger adventures in between. It’s a similar tactic that was employed in the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (also known as The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones) and could work as part of an ongoing film series. It gives Ford a chance to make an appearance as Indy (and make easy money, something he always talks about loving) and gives a younger actor the chance to do the heavy lifting.
On the other hand, it would require Spielberg and Lucas to admit that things need to change from the way things were done last time…
All Ford
This is a RISKY idea because you’re essentially crossing your fingers and hoping that (A) Lucas has a better idea than “let’s do a B-movie with martians and flying saucers but also El Dorado” and that (B) Spielberg has a little big of pride left to tell Lucas no on some of his sillier ideas. You also have to hope that John Kasdan (son of Raiders writer Lawrence Kasdan) can pen a better script based off whatever idea George has than David Koepp did in 2005. And just in case you’re wondering, Spielberg has said he wouldn’t return to the franchise without Lucas having input in the story. The franchise was always “George’s story, Spielberg’s direction, and Ford’s starpower.” That’s what made for such an incredible 1980’s series; because those three were all great in the 1980’s.
In the 80’s I say.
40 years ago.
Of course there’s also Ford, who is now pushing 80, as opposed to being “just” 65. You’re also asking the audience to suspend their disbelief that an 80 year old is able to punch and be punched as often as Indiana Jones is. I dunno, it seems like it’s asking too much, considering none of those three are as good today as they were in 2005 and in 2005 Indiana Jones 4 was a disaster. The biggest challenge to doing a movie that simply pretends that Harrison Ford isn’t too old for this is filming Harrison Ford in a way that hides the fact that he’s too old for this.
And the most obvious way to do that…would be…to…….oh no…
CG Ford
This is a TERRIBLE idea. Do not de-age Harrison Ford. It might work in a short flashback scene but you can’t do a whole movie with it. You can’t Jar Jar Binks him. It only sort of worked with Tarkin in Rogue One (which was more about CG-creating a dead actor, but the same principle) because a lot of casual fans didn’t know who Peter Cushing was so they didn’t have the preconceived notion that it was fake. When you tell someone CG-Tarkin isn’t real, almost everyone immediately starts noticing the little imperfections (or the too-perfect parts that don’t seem real).
Put Harrison Ford on the screen, de-aged to make him look 40 or 50 and everyone in every theater is going to say “haha look what they had to do to Ford, how sad!”
Don’t do that George. Steven tell him no, please. Someone stop him before it’s too late!
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