Posted on: Friday, May 30, 2008
'Skull' isn't the only serial film to disappoint
By Bill Goodykoontz
Gannett Chief Film Critic
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Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson in "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace," which didn't live up to galactic expectations.
Advertiser library photo
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"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" isn't a bad movie. Trouble is, it's not a great one. And after 19 years of waiting since the last Indy film, anything less is going to be a disappointment.
Ah, the burden of great expectations. "Crystal Skull" isn't the first film weighed down by them. These five movies arrived with built-in, sky-high hopes. Some weathered the pressure. Others ... not so much.
"Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace" (1999): Lesson one in how to shatter fond memories and squander good feelings. George Lucas waded back into the series without, it seemed, a clear idea of what he wanted to do with it. Anticipation was, of course, off the charts, which didn't help.
The movie landed with a critical splat, and introduced a character so unwelcome that his name is now synonymous with unwelcome new additions: Jar Jar Binks. How did that ever sound like a good idea?
"Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (1979): Everyone who loved the TV show in the '60s was practically foaming at the mouth at the prospect of spending time with Kirk, Spock, Bones and the gang again. This is going to be so mediocre. "The Star Trek" guys would eventually right the ship in some of the sequels, but this first foray onto the big screen was a massive disappointment.
"Batman" (1989): In a movie landscape lousy with super heroes, it's hard to remember now how radical Tim Burton's vision was. "Superman" had come before, but Burton went for the dark duality of Bruce Wayne/Batman, something seen in the comic books but not, certainly, in Adam West's television portrayal.
(SOCK!) Fans craving a movie went nuts, briefly, at the prospect of Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne, but once they saw the performance, all was right in Gotham.
"The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions" (2003): "The Matrix," released in 1999, was one of those movie experiences where you thought, huh, never seen anything like that before. Never would again, evidently.
The supercool look and feel of the first film led to a frenzy — two sequels in one year! — that turned into a big ol' mess. Somewhere, in some lonely pocket of the planet, fanboys are still sitting around trying to figure out where it all went wrong.
"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001): In which things get done right. College kids who read J.R.R. Tolkien while listening to "Stairway to Heaven" (anything else they were doing was their own business, thanks) were equal parts eager and anxious about the prospect of finally bringing the books to the screen. (Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated version didn't ease anyone's mind, either.) Of course, what followed was massive popularity, near-universal acclaim and, by the time "Return of the King" was done, a boatload of Oscars.
