As most of you probably know, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull had a long, rocky road to the screen. Over the last decade or so, several writers were brought onto the project and none of them ever came up with a script that brought a consensus amongst the Big Three (Lucas, Spielberg and Ford). That’s understandable, wouldn’t you agree? The Indiana Jones films occupy a rarefied place in cinema history — at least one of them is a bonefied classic. So, we could certainly forgive the creators of that iconic character for wanting to take the time to get things just right. Except something went horribly wrong on the way to the multiplex. “Crystal Skull”’s most disappointing feature is its rather anemic and, frankly, nonsensical screenplay. Whatever the movie’s other virtues, it’s difficult to believe that Lucas and company thought that David Koepp’s script was ready for prime time.

One of those other writers who worked the Lucasfilm salt mines prior to Koepp’s version getting the green light was Frank Darabont. Darabont (who started his career on the staff of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles) has written and directed such films as The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and The Mist. His version was called Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods. Word is, both Ford and Spielberg loved his take on things and were ready to proceed, but it was Lucas who put the kibosh on it for reasons which still remain murky. Anyway, “City of the Gods” was consigned to the scrap heap and the Big Three were forced to go back to the drawing board. Well, perhaps not all the way back to the drawing board. Even before “Crystal Skull” was released, Darabont was saying publicly that its striking resemblance to “City of the Gods” had him concerned. In fact, he thought that it looked close enough that he was considering going to the Writer’s Guild of America to seek screen credit. I haven’t heard whether or not he has done this, but his candor on the matter was very intriguing to me.

So, where am I going with all this? Well, as these things often do, Frank Darabont’s script for Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods leaked itself onto the internet yesterday. I’ve read it and I thought I’d throw in my two cents. First off, let me just say that Darabont could and should seek redress with the WGA. Koepp apparently lifted things from “City of the Gods” whole-cloth for “Crystal Skull”. Not just the overall structure, but whole scenes and set pieces. The truth is, I’m wondering what Koepp did at the end of the day and I’m resentful toward him for collecting what I’m sure was a handsome paycheck for borderline plagiarism and hack work. What’s different between the two stories then? Well, a lot of things, but two things which will probably be of interest to all you fans out there: 1) There’s no Mutt Williams. Dr. Jones has no son as far as Darabont’s story is concerned. 2) Karen Allen is actually given something to do in “City of the Gods” — she’s more active in the narrative and she’s more like the Marion Ravenwood you all remember from Raiders of the Lost Ark. This latter bit is a real shame to me given that I believe Marion to be, by far, the most interesting female in any of the prior three movies and it would have been nice to see her do more than stand around and mug for the camera (which, don’t get me wrong, Karen Allen does really well, but come on already). Also, the villains are different here too — while it’s still the Russians, there’s no Cate Blanchett. Now as much as I enjoy Ms. Blanchett, I did find her character in “Crystal Skull” to be a little on the cartoonish side. While he doesn’t quite make them compelling enough for my tastes, I do believe that Darabont gives us better (or at least more plausible) villains in his take on things. Really, that’s the primary thing he brings to the table versus David Koepp — his script makes sense. It’s lean, it’s tight and it’s got some snappy patter to boot.

I guess it’s pointless to ruminate over what might have been, but I’ve got to say that in almost every way, “City of the Gods” is a better Indiana Jones story than “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”. One or two more polish drafts and Darabont would’ve given us an Indy IV that wouldn’t have been nearly as polarizing. I’d pose the question ‘What in the hell was Lucas thinking?’ but that’s become somewhat of a cliche in recent years, hasn’t it?