Movie Review : Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I was 11 when Raiders Of The Lost Arc came out, and that movie helped fuel my imagination for years to come. The addition of the sequels, Temple Of Doomand The Last Crusade, were also great adventure movies; exploring ancient ruins, digging up the past and finding priceless and magical treasures took on a whole new meaning. And those three movies set the stage for movies of every genre for years to come.

The latest installment, Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, is filled with improbabilities and cheesy moments that go far beyond even the normal Hollywood silliness. But hey, it's Indiana Jones! And those things can be easily overlooked in light of a decent storyline, amazing action sequences and an ending that was quite refreshing considering all the places they could have gone with this.

Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull is based in the 1950's and has the bad old Russians, specifically Col. Dr. Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), trying to get their hands on an artifact called the Crystal Skull which, if returned to its rightful spot in a great golden city that lies somewhere in the middle of a South American(?) jungle, will give the bearer an unbelievable power i.e. mind control over the masses. Of course, the Russians want this so they can destroy America from the inside out, and all that stands between them and complete domination are Indiana (Harrison Ford), Mutt Williams (Shia LeBeouf), and Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) as well as a very confused old friend of Indy's named Oxley (played by John Hurt). Along the way there is treachery dished up by Indy's old friend George 'Mac' McHale (Ray Winstone) and the not so surprising revelation that Mutt is Indy's son.

Unfortunately, one of the things that put me off right away (and I think a slight detriment to the movie) was the addition of the Russians into the picture. It was a great concept, as it explained why Indiana looked noticeably older, but I wasn't born in that era so I can't relate to the fear of Russians that some older Americans might have. I hate Nazi's, so it would have been neat to finalize the series by beating the crap out of some more goose-steppers. Either way, I suppose it had to be done in order to make sense of things, and it did add a new twist to the series. Cate Blanchett was (as always) absolutely stunning as the ambitious Russian scientist, Col. Dr. Irina Spalko. Her presence and acting chops helped liven up some scenes that were on their way to falling flat.

Harrison Ford did the best he could but just couldn't muster some of the growl he used to add to a scene. We had an older, slower Indiana as opposed to the near slapstick Indiana of yesteryear, and some of the standard Indiana facial expressions seemed forced, not to mention his voice had dropped in tone a good deal over the years. In the first few sequences, I didn't even recognize that it was him speaking. But overall, the guy did a great job, and I give him kudos for selling a lot of the mystery in Kingdom of The Crystal Skull.

Shia LeBeouf (the guy in Transformers) as Mutt Williams did a convincing job, setting himself apart with his own sort of tough guy, sensitive adventurer type, and all in the presence of two amazing actors in Ford and Blanchett. I wouldn't be disappointed if he was slated to continue the series...which was alluded to in the final scene of the movie where he starts to put on Indiana's hat only to have it snatched away by Indy at the last second.

The addition of Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) back into the series was a great idea. She still looks great, and I found myself once again captivated by those sexy freckles and infectious smile. The only problem I had was how they brought her into the movie. It was a remote jungle scene where the Russians had captured everyone and things looked bleak for our adventurers, Mutt, Indy and Oxley. Indiana did not know Marion was there and subsequently that she was Mutt's mother which makes Mutt Indy's kid. They suddenly revealed Marion in what amounted to the unveiling of a refinished car on the Price Is Right. What followed was some dialogue between Indy and Marion that was the same old back and forth bickering only much less earnestly than in Raiders (I was hit with some flashbacks of the banal stuff we were fed in the latest Star Wars installments). Fortunately, just when the scene was becoming too painful to watch, LeBeouf and Blanchett got things moving again.

This is a great segway into some of the other implausible parts I mentioned before. Now let me tell you, I certainly expect a great deal of the unbelievable in my action/adventure movies; my disbelief is always willing to be suspended. But come on! You have to give me at least an attempt at good reason.

Paved roads in the middle of a South American (?) jungle with two jeeps racing for miles side by side? And this right after the filmmakers made a big point of unveiling a monstrous forest trampling machine? Were they just bringing along that piece of machinery for it's looks? And young Mutt using jungle vines to swing like a monkey to catch up with the jeeps? For some reason, I found Indiana surviving an atomic blast in a refrigerator more understandable than the jeeps and vine swinging. I appreciate Indiana Jones films for what they are but some scenes in this movie made me flat out cringe.

Now, you probably think I hated this movie, but you'd be dead wrong. There were some glowing parts that eclipsed most of the aforementioned tomfoolery. The opening scene, where the Russians (disguised as American soldiers) stormed Area 51, was nice and violent, and I found myself wanting to pry open every box in that warehouse to see what mysteries were being hidden by the U.S. government! There was the escape scene where Mutt and Indy (after starting a fight in an old 50's malt shop) hopped on Mutt's motorcycle and raced through the city barely avoiding several disasters. Mutt and Spalko fencing one another while balancing on the aforementioned jeeps, as they rumbled and pitched through the jungle, was priceless. The flesh eating ants were pretty cool too. The ending was a sensible payoff with some great depictions of alien dimensional travel and brilliant visual effects.

In the end, Col. Dr. Irina Spalko got what she wanted and then some. And it wasn't Indiana's hand in matrimony.

I had to grow down quite a bit to get through this movie, but I think the effort was worth it. I gave it a 7.5 out of 10.