(Minor spoilers for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
A couple weeks ago, I took a rare trip to the first-run theatre (I love movies, but I don’t love shelling out $6 for a matinee ticket, not to mention 80 miles worth of gasoline for the round-trip to the theatre) to see Harrison Ford don his signature fedora again in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I think Roger Ebert sums up the film very adeptly: “I can say that if you liked the other Indiana Jones movies, you will like this one, and that if you did not, there is no talking to you.” I thoroughly enjoyed this latest installment in the Indiana Jones series, not because it reinvents the franchise–because it doesn’t–but because the film does what I’ve come to expect and love of an Indiana Jones movie and does it very well.
I was sad that the loveable, clueless scholar Marcus Brody and Indy’s dad, Henry Jones, Sr., had died in the period of the story that elapsed between Last Crusade and Crystal Skull, but I was thrilled to see my favorite Jones girl, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) was back, and to my surprise, I actually liked the addition of the motorcycle-riding greaser sidekick, “Mutt” Williams (Shia LeBouef). The movie is set during the Red Scare, with Indy alternating between being kidnapped and being pursued by a gang of Soviet agents headed by Cate Blanchett, who sports a wicked black bob and wields a rapier, making her formidable and eccentric enough to hold her ground as a villainess against the Nazis in Raiders and Last Crusade. The opening sequence was quite...explosive, I think is the only thing I can say without giving too much away, but my favorite action sequence is a duel-chase-hang-on-for-dear-life combo in the middle of the film that’s a cross between The Three Musketeers, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, and The African Queen.
As we’ve come to expect from Indiana Jones movies, there are plenty of arcane riddles, tense standoffs, occult secrets, crypts, creepy-crawlers and even creepier people guarding special places, a very funny obligatory “I hate snakes” scene, and people lusting after more power than they should. What makes these standard elements of the story so much fun and makes the movie such a great ride is the exuberance and genuine affection for these tropes that everyone puts into each scene. My mom commented that a lot more of Indy’s stunts were done with his back to the camera, but Harrison Ford still looks great, and more importantly, looks like he’s really enjoying himself. My only complaint is that it was painfully obvious who would die and who wouldn’t. Granted, it generally is in Indy movies, but once you learn who everybody in Indy’s rag-tag band of followers is, it’s clear who’s marked for death and who’s completely safe, and there isn’t any real individual peril as there was when Indy got separated from Marion in Raiders or when Henry was shot in Last Crusade.
However, that’s a very minor cavil. Overall, the film was a fun flick that makes you want to cheer out loud for the good guys and left me with a smile that lasted long after I left the theater. It’s hard to explain without giving too much away, but the ending is a little different than other Indy movies. A friend found it a bit cheesy, but I thought it was quite sweet and hints at what direction the franchise might be taking in the future. In closing, I recommend taking Roger Ebert’s advice: if you liked any of the previous Indy movies, buy your ticket and popcorn and settle in for a rollicking ride of a movie.
Quote from Ebert, Roger. "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Review)." May 18, 2008. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080518/REVIEWS/969461084.
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