Shia LaBeouf Admits that Indy 4 and Transformers 2 Sucked

Posted by on May 17th, 2010   Filed under: Action, Gossip
Source: L.A. Times

It’s not too often that you hear a filmmaker or an actor admit that a movie they were involved in didn’t turn out so great. Which is precisely why it always stands out as being a little odd when someone actually does it. Shia LaBeouf has been out promoting Wall Street 2 over the past week in Cannes, and for some reason, he thought it was a good time to own up to some of his previous failures instead of defending them. First he was quoted as saying that there was something missing from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen:

“When I saw the second movie [in the series], I wasn’t impressed with what we did… There were some really wild stunts in it, but the heart was gone.”

After that, he had some harsh words for Steven Spielberg in the L.A. Times, re: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull:

“I feel like I dropped the ball on the legacy that people loved and cherished… You get to monkey-swinging and things like that and you can blame it on the writer and you can blame it on Steven [Spielberg, who directed]. But the actor’s job is to make it come alive and make it work, and I couldn’t do it. So that’s my fault. Simple.”

He also said that Harrison Ford wasn’t particularly happy with the final product. While in some ways it’s gratifying to hear LaBeouf come clean about these things, it also feels kind of fake… like he’s just falling in line so that people will like him and go see his new movie. Plus I didn’t have a problem with LaBeouf’s performance in Indy 4. Do you agree with these statements, and do they make you gain respect for Shia LaBeouf, or do they just seem like empty P.R. moves?



  • Todd Hamilton

    Shia can admit that they sucked all he wants, but as the actor in the film, he has little say in the final product. If Bay and Spielberg said this, I might pay more attention.

    I do not believe there is an actor on this planet that could have made the money swinging in Indy 4 “come alive”, just actor’s that have enough self respect to say no.

  • Glendon

    What would be really impressive is if he admitted they sucked before they were released.

  • bard

    It doesn’t matter what Shia has to say because he hasn’t proved anything yet that he is a great actor. His opinion is still unneeded and pointless.

    I thought Indiana Jones 4 was awesome though.

  • Mo Bitches

    So criticizing the film he made with the most powerful director in Hollywood is a “PR move” towards the fans? It won’t make much of a difference if he’s not working anymore will it because of his lip?

  • Art. K. Type

    First off, I don’t particularly feel too strongly one way or another about Shia’s performances in either movie. He’s a very capable actor when presented with worthy material. Having said that, the failings of the movies lie mainly with the writers and director. If the script is shit, there’s not much a director can do except not get involved. If the script is fine, a good director can elevate the material by hiring a good team (actors, cinematographer, composer, editor, etc.). Long story short: the director is the captain of the ship, the ship is the script and the crew he hires is there to run the boat and help keep it afloat. The director is ultimately responsible for bringing the ship back home full of booty.

    @glendon: He’d be shooting himself in the foot if he ever contradicted the Hollywood hype machine. You don’t shit where you eat.

  • I must say, despite the fact that he is just being a bit of a sucker I do respect him a whole load more for doing this.

    Proves he isn’t just getting the money and not caring. He cares about his work and his performance in everything. If he can admit that then he is a stronger actor than just defending all of his mistakes.

  • Art. K. Type

    I guess he pissed where he eats, which might be a bit easier to clean up…

  • Mike

    well…those movies did suck. Now when i tell people they suck i can say, “Even your precious Shia LeBeouf thinks they sucked!”

  • Liney

    It’s interesting to hear that Harrison Ford also didn’t like the finished film…perhaps he hasn’t completely lost his marbles, unlike a certain Mr. Lucas, who sad to have to say it, has.

  • Space Bandito

    Quote him fully on this. He never really said they “sucked”. While we can’t blame him for farting robots or super atomic fridge’s we can blame him for being a shitty actor. Actors should be held accountable for choosing bad roles.

    “We tried to get bigger. It’s what happens to sequels. It’s like, how do you top the first one? You’ve got to go bigger. Mike went so big that it became too big, and I think you lost the anchor of the movie. … You lost a bit of the relationships. Unless you have those relationships, then the movie doesn’t matter. Then it’s just a bunch of robots fighting each other,” he said. It’s hard to tell if this movie will be just that… a bunch of robots fighting each other.

  • Phil

    I am just going to say:

    “le beouf” means “the beef” in French

  • Brendan

    I didn’t care for him in Indy 4, but I guess that was due in large part to his character. Indiana Jones, in my opinion, does not work with a son and a wife.
    I think Spielburg & Lucas have gotten too family focused, which has directly affected their movie making. Spielburg has said “I would never have made Close Encounters the way I made it in ’77, because I have a family that I would never leave.”

  • KeithTalent

    Just leading up to the day where he finally admits that HE sucks.

    I’ve only found him to be good in one film and passable in one or two others; everything else he has pretty much sucked.

  • pcch7

    Transformers sucked hard but I though Indy 4 was fine up until the last 20 minutes. I still enjoyed it and him as well actually..

  • kyriacos

    How can I stay mad at you.. Shia le beouf..

  • Teo

    I dont know much about Shia as a person so I dont know how much validity there is in these statements. However to say what he did you have to think it to some degree otherwise you just wouldnt. I guess i’d take it with a pinch of salt.

  • Maopheus

    It’s rather curious that he is coming out saying this as he is Spielberg’s and Bay’s boy. Maybe now that he’s doing a movie that is produced or directed by those two he can feel that he is independent enough to only half-way criticize those movies. He puts the blame on himself which is wrong-headed. I mean what did he expect from Transformers 2? Wasn’t exactly slated to be Godfather Part II you know.

  • Fatbologna

    Yeah, because HE was the ONLY shitty part about both of those movies…riiiiight…

  • Space Bandito

    Just waiting for the special edition commentary tracks with Shia trashing his movies. Best case I ever heard of an actor trashing his own movie was on the commentary track of the movie Spartan (2004) with Val Kilmer. Rent it and listen to a guy who knows his movie was shit.

  • Slix

    I think it comes back to the directors. Bay is probably perfectly happy with Transformers 2 to him Shia’s opinion doesn’t mean much. T3 will actually be the test. If it goes the way of the Matrix and the turnout sucks, it reflects what people felt they got out of the 2nd movie. If people flock to T3…well, I’m stocking up on canned goods and water for the apocolypse.
    I think Spielberg realizes that Indy 4 wasn’t as good as it could be. He strikes me as a person with at least a little perspective (despite the cameo in Goldmember) lol

  • Steve

    I… didn’t mind Indy 4. It’s nice to see some humility, especially from an actor who actually still has a career making movies (as opposed to Sylvester Stallone slamming Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot well after his A-list prime with nothing to lose)

    But while Indy 4 was flawed, he was far from the worst thing about it.

  • D. R.

    Indy 4 wasn’t bad, though I agree the “Surprise! You have a son!” stuff was like an extra wheel–not needed, indeed a drag on the story. Though giving Karen Allen/Marion (by far the best female character in the Indy saga) more to do would have been worth a try. Transformers 2 definitely had the sequel disease–if the first one was good, the second one will be so much better if it’s BIGGER LOUDER FASTER MORE MORE MORE. In this case, as in most sequels, more is less, a lot less.

  • Except that SPARTAN is fuckin’ awesome. One of my favourite Mamet movies, and very, very rewatchable. I’ll have to give that commentary track a whirl.

  • Fatbologna

    @kurt

    Truth! Spartan’s a badass Mamet flick!

  • Paul Andrews

    I agree with Kurt and Fatbologne – Spartan is superb.

  • Kim

    I think I’m going to stop calling him Shia LaBitch now.

  • fjordprefect

    Actually I had always thought that Shia did a great job in the flick as Mutt, although I think they used his character just a little too much. The creaky plot, the choice in cinematographic style, the otherwise weeeeak casting and meh direction are what wounded Indy 4. Karen Allen’s poor acting didn’t help either. I have no idea what happened to that top-notch, first-class, spitfire of an actress from Raiders, but sadly she was nowhere to be found in this fourth Indy outing. The ironic part is, she was so damned good in the original, that I was still happy to see her return, even if it was mostly for the sake of nostalgia.