Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
dir. Steven Spielberg (2008)
The action scenes require the usual suspension of disbelief, though at least are practically filmed (not CGI). The archaeology plays similarly fast-and-loose, but the characters stay true and carry the day, an aging Indy even showing glimpses of his father’s addlepated insouciance.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
dir. Steven Spielberg (1989)
An action-upon-action film that flits between set pieces while info-dropping the archaeological points as perfunctorily as possible. The plots and puzzles don’t stack up, of course, and the Nazis are pantomime villains. Still, Sean Connery and Harrison Ford strike a diverting dynamic.
The Adventures of Tintin
dir. Steven Spielberg (2011)
Hergé’s comic strips bubble with background detail and distilled moments of pure comedy and adventure. Of necessity, Spielberg’s film adaptation mixes and dilutes Hergé’s work. Though doing limited justice to the source material, it does capture much of the spirit of Tintin.
The BFG
dir. Steven Spielberg (2016)
Adapted faithfully from Roald Dahl’s classic, the BFG is perhaps more a nostalgia piece than a film to captivate those (neglected viewers) who be not having read the book. Amidst the cinematographic magic, the Big Friendly Giant’s infelicious, malaproposterous neologerising delights most.