Is Chris Pratt right for Indiana Jones?

It’s been a while since I’ve done something blogger-ish that wasn’t Uni related. This is mainly me not being bothered to write anything and also me not really knowing how to work blogger despite being on here way back in late 2011 when I was trying to do movie reviews out of complete boredom (don’t ask), however that was nearly five years ago and since using blogger for University profiles I’ve been able to develop some “decent” skills in blogging and being able to push my ability and enthusiasm to give this one last shot. Quick note, this won’t be a weakly, monthly or daily thing I will only be doing this when I get the time and have an interesting topic to talk about. With that quick note out of the way lets being…

There has been a lot of talk about Chris Pratt, of course that’s to be expected after Guardians of the Galaxy and The Lego Movie and with the super bowl trailer for Jurassic World. However this news comes from something that has split the Internet into two places that being a rumor of Disney possibly rebooting Indiana Jones and looking for Chris Pratt in mind for the role. Now the idea of Disney giving the franchise a fresh coat of paint isn’t anything new. Back in March 2014 this rumor first accused with Bradley Cooper in mind for the role and even before than the idea of Disney doing a Indiana Jones movie was to be expected after they brought the rights to Lucasfilm back in 2012.  

However as we all know things can change overtime in the film industry and after the success of GFTG one can expect the Pratt would be on Disney’s radar. However what’s seemed to split people is the very idea of a “reboot” to a franchise that is dearly beloved by thousands of people. For this article (or blog post) I’m going to try and explore both sides and bring in a overall concussion with this topic.

Why Pratt Should Be Indiana Jones

Frist lets get this out of the way right now I think if the role would be re-casted Pratt would suit it perfectly. His transition from a comedic actor to an action star is incredible and there’s no doubt that after his role in GFTG why wouldn’t Disney consider him for the role? In many interviews Pratt even admitted that one of his biggest inspirations for Star Lord (aside from Han Solo) was Indiana Jones not to mention Pratt has managed to receive the title of “Harrison Ford of today" which isn’t surprising considering he shares a lot of “quirks” with Harrison in a sense of playing an action hero. They both have a great charm and wit to them; they can carry the lovable “prick” role very well and are have a great likable presence whenever they’re on screen. Not to mention Chris Pratt’s new build of Muscles thanks to GFTG, which he worked out transforming him into a macho man.

Yes it’s easy to assume that Pratt would be the best pick for the role, he just has that sense of someone that could make a great action hero, however with every positive action there’s a negative re-action.

Why Chris Pratt Shouldn’t be Indiana Jones

Later this week someone on SchmoesKnow website posted an article debating his views on why Pratt shouldn’t be Indiana Jones. You can find a link to the article here:

http://schmoesknow.com/fck-chris-pratt-not-subtle-editorial/33803/

While the author of the article dose brings up many good points on this subject there really is only one reason why most people wouldn’t want this to happen. The thing with this franchise is that it’s one of the most cherished and loved franchise’s on the planet, people love these films as it brought back and paid tribute to the adventure serial films of the 20’s and 30’s. Not to mention many would argue the role of Indiana Jones can not be replaced becuase when you think of the character, you  think of Harrison Ford. This pretty clear that Ford has left a strong mark on the role and that mark will be hard to replace or re-create. This is proved by the number of other actors who have played the character in Video Games or audio books as they tend to just make an Harrison Ford impression instead of bringing the character into their own. 

Many people keep the first three films very close to them, so when "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" was released back in 2008 the amount of disappointed fans that were left in despair after what they just witnessed made them try and pretend that "Crystal Skull" never happened. It’s this protection that makes the very concept of a reboot or another continuation frightening to many fans. It’s the same reaction that makes the Ghostbusters reboot being met with critical backlash. Fans don’t want to see change made to their favourite franchise’s so whenever this film will be a reboot that cleans the previous films history or continues it with a different or same actor it will always be met with backlash. 

Maybe it’s best that the franchise’s wasn’t touched though, I mean lets be honest aside from the 4^th instalment "The Original Trilogy" it’s pretty much perfect so why ruin that? Why keep on supporting the argument that Hollywood is “out of ideas” so much they have to rely on nostalgia to make money.

The James Bond Effect

However how do we know if this reboot will be terrible or the worse thing ever. Maybe replacing Ford with Pratt is exactly what the franchise needs. This is something I like to call the James Bond effect where replacing a favorite actor with someone else proves to be better than audiences expect. In terms of Bond seven different actors’ each one improves on what the previous actor left before him have played the character. Why shouldn't Indi take a same approach? I mean James Bond was one of the main inspirations for the franchise in the first place, hence why Sean Connery was cast as Indi’s Farther in Last Crusade. Lets prove this with another franchise, when Spider-Man was being rebooted a lot of fans hated the casting of Andrew Garfield as the title character. However it wasn’t until the Amazing Spider-Man’s release that people turned the other way and now look were we are, making petition's so we can keep him as the character.

Is Spielberg setting Pratt up for Indi? 

Now for a bit of theory based writing, what if Spielberg is setting Pratt up for Indiana Jones? Now lets break this down, Spielberg casted Pratt in Juristic World (which is being released this year), Spielberg originally directed all four (Face it people Crystal Skull happened) films in the franchised and even directed Jurassic Park 1-2 and is producing the new film. Maybe he saw something in Pratt that no one else has seen yet, maybe he made a deal with Disney to wait and see if Pratt is a hit in the new film before deciding to go with any other actor. It’s possible I mean judging from the trailers his character acts a lot like an Indi type character.

It wouldn’t surprise me if maybe Spielberg is the one that’s trying to get this new film into production considering he threw George Lucas under bus for Crystal Skull and has pretty much abounded Shia Labeouf. Not to mention he tired to get Jurassic World made since 2002 so he's pretty dedicated to go an extra mile for his films. 

Conclusion

In conclusion we the only thing to do is wait until the announcement is official. Whenever we like this or not Indie will get another film eventfully. Considering his popularity, charm and the possibility of Spielberg setting him up for the role.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Pratt dose end up getting the role if the film dose happen (considering how quickly Disney green lit Star Wars it's pretty understandable). Overall wait for Jurassic World because until that films comes out we will get an idea if Pratt is right for the role or not.