I just read the Frank Darabont
version of the latest Indiana Jones film. The script is being floated around
the web as a PDF and was confirmed by Ain’t It Cool News as the real deal.
After seeing the film and then reading the script, I have a few opinions on
both and thought that I’d share. Mostly I questions why on Earth didn’t they
choose to use this version of the script?
In short, I consider Darabont’s script to be superior to the final film. Not perfect, but pretty darn good. Good enough that both Spielberg and Ford could have shot it as-is without much rewriting. Reportedly, that was what they wanted to do, but for reasons unknown, George Lucas objected and another writer’s version was used.
For reference, the Indiana Jones
films in my order of preference are:
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Last Crusade
- Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
- Temple of Doom
Each film has their own pros and cons, but I won’t get into them now as it would make for a considerably longer post. The rest of this post will serve as a review and comparison of both the script and final film. Beware – huge spoilers ahead.
A little primer about Frank Darabont. He’s always been a bit hit-or-miss for me. I sorta like his work. To clarify, I generally like his ambition and ideas more than the finished work. “The Shawshank Redemption” is a fantastic film. “The Green Mile” was too forced. “The Mist” felt hacked together and came across as test footage rather than a final film. While I appreciate the a-typical ending, it was too much like a Twilight-Zone or Outer Limits episode.
The script is titled, “Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods,” which I think is actually a catchier and more descriptive title than “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” The previous two sequels don’t reference the object being sought out, so there really was no need to reference the “crystal skull” in the title. Also “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” sounds quite awkward and overly verbose (like a lot of other films coming out post-“Pirates of the Caribbean Colon And The Longest Movie Title Ever”).
Though much better, the script still reads as a not-quite final draft. There are some clearly fannish moments. The reference to Willie Scott (and who she married) being one of them. Normally those would be smoothed out in later drafts before they reached a shooting script. I do like the idea of making nods to the other films as the do live together in the same universe. Ultimately, whether or not they worked would have depended how they played-out on-screen.
In the final film, Darabont is not given any credit as a writer. I firmly believe that comparing what I’ve read to the film itself, Darabont should be given most of the writing credit because they used at least 75% of his stuff. Who knows where exactly the original ideas came from, but they’re written in his script and also up on the screen.
Clearly this script was more serious and Raiders-like than the cartoony Doom-ish tone of the final film. In the script, Indiana has actual archeology-type things to do and ancient riddles to solve. The script feels more like an actual Indiana Jones story. His rascally personality is there and so are the references to his advancing age – about 20 years older than in “The Last Crusade.” He’s always been old, and here he’s older, wiser, slower and knows/feels it.
Darabont’s script doesn’t have ALL of the hokeyness (gophers, real alien skull, attacking monkeys) of the final film. But there’s a still a lot of it in there (rocket barrage, nuked fridge, multiple waterfalls). Both share a lot of the same situations, but in the film they’ve been “blenderized” and changed sequence/elements. For example, the little gold fertility goddess statue that made an appearance in the script has now become a cameo made by the Ark.
Strangely though, in either the script or film, there’s no opening gambit at all. This departs from the previous three films. The film skips this opening sequence altogether and thrusts Indy right into the main storyline. The script felt more like the traditional opening. Indiana foils the Soviets trying to steal a bunch of plutonium rather than the crystal skull. With a couple tweaks (minus said skull), that could have been made completely unrelated to the rest of the film and could have been turned into a fun standalone adventure. How interesting it would have been to have Indy simply foiling a plot to steal nukes while on a low-key, solitary archeology dig out in the Nevada desert. Much less convoluted than what actually occurs in the film where Indy really isn’t needed to be present.
In both versions, the MacGuffin (object being sought after and the reason for the story), is not Christian-centric (Ark, Grail), but more like Doom’s mystical glowing rocks. In the script, using a crafted crystal skull (made using methods unknown to man) didn’t bother me so much as making the skull in the film into a REAL ALIEN SKULL. The way that alien crystal skull is handled is highly inconsistent (magnetic, psychic, controls ants) and has too many different powers/properties. It is never really explained why it does what it does. In the script, the skull does have one and only one super-power and, later in the story, also acts as a key. Simpler here would have been better.
The quality of the Indiana Jones films have a lot to do with not only the MacGuffin, but also the gallery of colorful Villains and Sidekicks. Here is where the script felt lacking in that department. There were just too many characters, each bandying about for valuable screen time. While some showed promise (Marion’s husband and fellow archeologist), there’s way more characters than necessary, with new ones showing up every few pages.
In the final film, I really liked Agent Spalko – She was a well formed, distinct villain that the original script lacked. And it was nice to have a female one from the very beginning of the story (very women’s lib). BTW, she was faking the whole psychic thing.
Indy’s Buddy Mac – Hated him and his lack of any reason to be in the film. Much like Yuri in the script, I never really got what their relationship with Indy was or why they were even involved in the goings on. The idea of an old friend and fellow adventurer turning out to be a bad guy is an interesting idea, but poorly handled.
Professor Oxley – changed from crazy guide who is incredibly athletic for his advanced age (80s?) to crazy guide who doesn’t actually do anything useful at all except take away from Indiana’s problem solving skills.
Marion Ravenwood – Went from spunky with a lot to say and who could keep up with Indiana and had lots to contribute to spunky with nothing to do except mug for the camera. My big issue with the film is that I really can’t understand the reasoning for Marion to not tell Indy that he has a kid. What an incredibly selfish and bitchy thing to do. Simply unforgivable.
Mutt Williams - Liked the idea of Mutt more than the execution. I hold no ill will whatsoever to Shia LaBeouf. I’ve liked his other work quite a bit. The real reason for Mutt to exist was that he became tasked to pick up the slack with some of the heavier action stuff that Indy could no longer reasonably do. He also served as the guy that Indy needs to explain stuff to (and thus to the audience). There’s always been one in each film.
As far as the action scenes went in the film, I did quite enjoy the chase through the university campus, including the very end when Indy implores his student to “get field experience.” That actually felt inspired and much like the alleyway chase in “Raiders.”
I think in the middle, between Darabont’s script and the final film would be a happy medium that could have made for a fantastic film (and renewal of the Indy franchise). If Spielberg had put a little more into the plot and characters and laid-off the CGI (of which there is a lot and much of it is sloppy) I think the film would have been a highly worthy sequel. In all honesty, I feel that the motion control and stop-motion effects in the three previous films had considerably more character and charm to them. This film just feels very different in that department.
So, I encourage you to please read
the script if you can find it. Shouldn’t be too hard since it has been released
to the wilderness that is the interweb. As always, Google is your friend.
