There was a time I would have counted down days to seeing an Indiana Jones sequel. But that time was decades ago.
The first was released in 1981. I was 13 and I had never seen any movie quite like it. I could have watched it over and over and not grown tired of it.
The 5th Indiana Jones movie was released last weekend ... and I refuse to see it.
I rarely spend money on a movie without reading the reviews - or nowadays watching reviews on YouTube - but even without seeing what others thought, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out this sequel was a bad idea.
In the first place, how do you create an action adventure script for an 80 year old Harrison Ford?
That's a tall order for the best of writers - but for current Hollywood writers, it's a guaranteed insurmountable challenge.
They can't seem to manage coherent plots or interesting and coherent characters these days. Basic things.
I don't know for sure what has happened to Hollywood writers, but I have a theory.
All of Hollywood seems to be mirroring the downfall of Christian movies. The thinking seems to go like this: "As long as I have an important message to spread, there's no need to worry about artistic merit."
"And since my protagonist is the embodiment of my message, he or (more likely these days) she shall be flawless, put upon by a misguided world but ultimately (easily) triumphant in the end."
I now wonder about secular Hollywood creators the same things I have always wondered about Christian movie makers: Do those who make purely propagandistic films recognize how terrible the final product is ... and just ignore it?
Or are they so impressed with the righteousness of their message that they are actually incapable of seeing the shoddiness of the writing, acting, and storytelling?
Like Indiana Jones, Hollywood is past its prime.
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