Editorial: Indiana Jones and the Perfect MacGuffin

I'm still letting my experience of viewing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (KotCS) settle in, but I have one overwhelming feeling, that of disappointment.

Another thing I keep thinking is that the perfect Indy 4 has already been made, way back in 1992: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.

For those unaware, Fate of Atlantis is a classic point-and-click adventure game released by LucasArts. Not only was it a fantastic game in its own right, it also had a superb script and storyline, at the centre of which was an unbeatable "MacGuffin": the lost city of Atlantis.

("MacGuffin" is a term coined by Alfred Hitchcock to describe an object that is a catalyst for the plot or motivates characters' actions but is ultimately irrelevant. Marion Crane's stash of money in Psycho, which results in her visiting the Bates Motel, is the perfect example.)

There's been a good deal of discussion about the Crystal Skull, the MacGuffin in the new film, and many of the criticisms of the film have identified it as a flaw. Like Temple of Doom's Sankara Stones, it is weak as a plot device because it's too obscure. The Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail worked well because (aside from them both having the obvious religious connection) they are well known objects. Everyone's heard of them, so they don't need too much explaining. KotCS, on the other hand, spends so much time explaining its central MacGuffin that it sometimes forgets to actually move the plot forward.

There have been reports that the Skull was the idea of George Lucas, and that Spielberg and Harrison Ford were not altogether happy with it. Nevertheless, the same was said about the Grail in The Last Crusade, but that worked well enough. Apparently Spielberg added the father/son plotline in that film to compensate for the weakness of the central gimmick.

Back to the point. Atlantis is the utterly perfect MacGuffin for an Indy film: a fascinating archaeological mystery that almost everyone has at least heard of. Some claim that the game was based on an early idea for the next Indy film after Crusade which never came to fruition. It's a real shame, because as the game proved, it provides a wonderful premise for an Indy adventure.

The way I look at it, Indy 4 was a huge success that is worthy of its precessors' good name. It was called The Fate of Atlantis.