More detailed thoughts on the latest Indiana Jones epic will follow, eventually. For now, I've spent way too much time perusing both reviews of Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull and fan responses to the reviews, and the tone seems to be the same from both sources: everything good in the movie can be attributed to Steven Spielberg, everything wrong with it is George Lucas' fault.
Lucas has become a way too convenient whipping boy ever since Return Of The Jedi failed to top the expectations of drooling fanboys everywhere. And since everyone seems to agree that the Star Wars prequels were worthless, it's been open season on the man and his work ever since.
Except...None of that is true. True, Return Of The Jedi isn't up to the standards of The Empire Strikes Back, but it's probably better made and more rewatchable (if less iconic) than Lucas' '77 original. Most of the criticism of the film tends to center around the Ewoks, characters apparently too cutesy for hardcore fans. Yeah, coming from a series that gave us Artoo and Threepio, fuzzy little critters are excessive.
And as for the prequels, again, I just don't get the hate. Sure, I'm not down with that whole midichlorian thing, and yeah, Jar Jar is a crude ethnic caricature is disguise (one of many in the Star Wars universe, and if you have way too much time, ask for my thoughts on the subject), but most of the supposed inconsistencies fans claim between the prequels and the sacred original trilogy simply don't exist or are clearly explained. And, Phantom Menace aside, the prequels are actually very well-crafted, entertaining pictures in their own right. In fact, I'd go so far as to claim Revenge Of The Sith as my second favorite Star Wars movie of all.
But even if the prequels were as awful as all that, the hatred towards Lucas would still grate. Many fans apparently feel the whole problem with the latest Indy adventure is that Lucas co-authored the story--even though he created the character in the first place! If Lucas is so staggeringly inept, how did Raiders Of The Lost Ark (based on a story by Lucas) turn out so well? Or Star Wars, which he wrote entirely on his own? Or American Graffiti, for that matter?
True, the use of CGI in modern moviemaking was largely pioneered by Lucas, and its near-fatal overuse in Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull can probably be laid at his feet. But why blame him for everything else and give Spielberg a pass? Say what you will about Lucas' entire filmography (and yes, I'm even including Willow), it doesn't include anything as bad as Hook.
