[Movie Review] INDIANA JONES & THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
Wow – this is going to be a difficult review to write so I make no apologies from the outset for the length, let me preface proceedings with that! You see, despite being an absolute obsessed die hard Indiana Jones junkie, the release of this film didn’t excite me the way it probably should have. As regular visitors to this site will know I was very much of the “there should be no fourth movie” variety. ‘That’ title, early official stills, teaser trailers and TV spots didn’t do too much for me either. I kind of just came away from viewing them all with this sense of “Please, God, don’t let them fuck this up!” rather than “Oh my God, I can’t wait to see this!”
The Indiana Jones trilogy, to me, is cinematic perfection. I’m not one of those fans that gripes that Temple of Doom is “too dark” or Last Crusade is “too uneven and comical”. I see each of the movies as just flawless pieces of cinema; written, directed, performed and paced with a sense of faultlessness and precision unmatched in any other franchise. There’s other franchises I hold in high regard but with each one there’s always a movie or a sequence that chinks the armour so to speak (Star Wars has its Ewoks, Pirates of the Caribbean has its Knightley and Bloom combo, Robocop has its entire third movie, Rocky has its Tommy Gunn, you get my point right?), not so with Indiana Jones.
The trilogy was made within a decade lacking in the cynicism that the blockbuster season possesses these days whereby the movie is less about the movie and more about creating ‘action or effects beats for the trailers’ or ‘how big the opening weekend is’ or ‘the number of hits the trailer gets on the internet’ etc. I honestly didn’t want the perfection that is the Indiana Jones movies to come out in this day and age as some sort of ‘entry’ in the current ‘rejuvenating-the-action-heroes-of-old’ fad and pass itself off as good, but having made concessions for the modern audience (a la Die Hard 4.0), a delight that you’re kind of embarrassed about liking (Hello Rocky Balboa) or just plain embarrassing but very mildly entertaining when drunk (cough Rambo IV cough). Asides from anything else though, the third film had a final scene that was beautiful, perfect, conclusive and capable of bringing a manly tear to a manly man’s eye!
I can resist the idea of a fourth movie for as long as I want though. The indisputable fact is it’s here. And I’ve got to say that, sitting in a packed out midnight screening last night, cynicism and doubt slowly slid away the minute the BBFC certificate came up on the screen and the little boy within me who grew up watching the first three movies with his grandfather, started to whisper “You’re going to see a new Indiana Jones movie!” Then there was the opening credits type face we’ve become accustomed to, the slow build of John Williams’ iconic theme and my heart started to race a little.
I have to admit the first sight of Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones and his line reading of his first few pieces of dialogue didn’t charm me the way it has with most critics. I caught myself thinking “This isn’t Indiana Jones. This is spent-movie-star Harrison Ford trying to recapture Indiana Jones!” The feeling didn’t last though. First crack of the whip and I was enthralled. Whatever initial doubts I had were soon well and truly gone, as was the sight of Harrison Ford. Only Indiana Jones remained visible.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull builds itself up and around the notion of taking what was most beloved about each of the first three movies and setting a movie around them, which makes it very hard to dislike should you want to. If you loved Raiders of the Lost Ark for its breakneck sense of pace and rollercoaster ride of set-piece upon set-piece upon set-piece, then the fourth movie has your likes covered. If you dug the hell out of the ‘dark’ tone in Temple of Doom, then that box is ticked too. And if you enjoyed the ‘family’ element and verbal sparring between father and son in Last Crusade then they’ve most definitely embraced those elements for your viewing pleasure as well.
The previous three movies, in my personal opinion, are flawless in the sense that there isn’t a single piece of “fat” on the “meat” so to speak. There’s not a single moment that you’d consider padding or superfluous to any of the films. They’re just 100% execution from opening till close. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull stands out from the pack because this is the first film in the franchise where you start to see a little bit of flab up on the screen (Jones escaping from an Atomic explosion in a fridge, Mutt playing “Tarzan” to get away from a gang of marauding monkeys, the entire accusation-of-communism subplot), i.e. moments that don’t really work but don’t really linger long enough to destroy your enjoyment either.
What very nearly does derail the entire film though is the conclusion of the third act. There’s a hell of a lot of people who will disagree with me, I know and I’m prepared for that, but this is the first film in the series where the ‘macguffin’ (the mystical object that Jones hunts for throughout each film) didn’t hold much appeal to me. I know it’s silly to say when we’re dealing with a franchise that has handled spirit-possessed arks, numinous stones of great power and the Holy Grail itself, but the whole ‘crystal skull’ (as much as there may be an element of real life theory and history to it) of aliens just didn’t seem “Indiana Jones” worthy, in my humble opinion.
So you can imagine my immense displeasure when we head to the conclusion of the movie’s plot and we start dealing with ** SPOILERS - START ** resurrected aliens and flying saucers ** SPOILERS - END ** and that was a path I had absolutely no interest in walking down with the character of Indiana Jones. Yes, I know Lucas - because of the 50s era they’re evoking – decided to go with the most prevalent pop culture themes of that time (B-grade science fiction fare) but it wasn’t an avenue I wanted to see in an Indiana Jones movie. It killed the movie stone cold for me and I’m going to have to see it a few more times before I can decide whether I can see past it completely. It’s only my opinion at the end of the day but for me you can totally see why Ford and Spielberg were initially so completely opposed to Lucas’ forceful decision to go in this direction. And if Spielberg and company’s excuse for the occasional ropey effects sequence or poor back-screen projection is that they’re harking back to the ‘old style’ of filmmaking, then why did they make said finale so polished and high-grade?
Thankfully, all that has gone before is such immense fun that you can’t help but regard the film as excellent entertainment for what works rather then holding against it what doesn’t. Yes, there are a few ropey effects sequences. Yes, it is bothersome that Jones keeps his leather jacket on through pretty much the entire movie bar the opening sequence so we don’t get to see him get all torn, tattered and bent out of shape like in the previous movies and yes, Jim Broadbent is underused and John Hurt is underdeveloped. BUT…
… Shia LaBeouf proves, yet again, to be a charismatic performer who sticks his fingers up to all his naysayers (and if they REALLY had to introduce the concept of a son for Dr Jones then I’m just glad they employed him), the first act motorcycle chase through the university brings back fond memories of Last Crusade’s stellar motorcycle-and-sidecar set-piece, Karen Allen is really rather good (and still strangely kind of ‘hot’ to me!) and creates great chemistry with Ford, Cate Blanchett – incapable of giving a bad performance EVER – does good pantomime-esque work with a slight villainous role, the high octane jungle pursuit is pure cinematic joy and the closest we’re ever going to get to an action movie equalling the delight of Raiders’ peerless Horse-Vs-Lorry sequence or Crusade’s sublime Tank-Dustup, John Williams score is flawless in both its reinterpretation of old beats whilst bringing a fresh element to proceedings and finally Harrison Ford finds the drive within himself to recapture, after a shaky start, the true spirit of Indiana Jones and hold your attention in his hand as a result.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal is solid, actually almost pitch perfect blockbuster entertainment. It may well be the first flawed entry in the franchise but the more I think about the film as I write this, the more I start to wonder whether – after a 19 year wait and in the cynical internet age we live in now – it was actually possible to deliver something capable of equalling the faultless glory of those first three movies. I suppose the fact that it comes as close as it does to doing so AND the fact that it won me over for the most part from my folded arms “do your best” pessimistic attitude, is more than commendable.
However, I’m not going to deny that it doesn’t smart a little on the ol’ ticker and leave me feeling a tad conflicted about the fact that I’m writing a review for an Indiana Jones movie and giving it less then the maximum rating available.
Actually, you know what? In the cold light of day, just the mere memory of Jones telling Marion “None of them were you honey!” , her pitch perfect facial reaction to that line of dialogue and the ‘happy’ ending (don’t misjudge Mutt’s finale moment - it reads “there’s life in the ol’ dog yet” more then it does “let’s build Shia an Indy Jnr franchise”) true Indy fans have wanted since Raiders of the Lost Ark, makes me grin and it’s those moments, along with a whole host of others, that linger longer then that stupid sci-fi finale, so I’m going to throw in an extra half a “popcorn”. I can always take it back after repeated viewings!
& a 1/2
NB: As a side note, for those going opening weekend and getting the chance to see the Eagle Eye teaser trailer (which can also be found by clicking here!), how fucking ace does this movie look? As a conspiracy movie addict who’s had this movie on my radar for a while now, I’ve got to say this has shot up my list of “Must See’s” this year by a considerable amount. And it looks like Billy Bob Thornton could be back on “high quality” terms finally too!
Popcorn Ratings ExplainedRelated Posts:
- [Movie Review] INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL *Re-Evaluated*
- [DVD Review (R1)] INDIANA JONES & THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
- [Movie Review] INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
- INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL Clips
- [Movie Review] INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
10 Responses to “[Movie Review] INDIANA JONES & THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL”
YES! Thank bloody Christ for that! I’ve got to be honest, while I do “trust” other peoples reviews I also know for a fact that your tastes are very very similar to mine, and I think we both feel pretty much the same about the original movies so the fact that you gave this Four & a half Popcorns fills me with absolute joy!
Happy happy joy joy!!
BE WARNED - SPOILERS BELOW!
You know what? Bring my rating back down to FOUR. Forget the “extra” half a ‘popcorn’. I’m REALLY ****ing conflicted about this film. As a piece of blockbuster entertainment it’s undoubtedly stellar, but the more I think about it the more certain things become total bugbears.
For example, I understand that by setting it in the 50s they wanted to address the whole “atomic era” thing - and that image of Indy stood on the hillside, sillhouetted by that enormous mushroom cloud explosion, is unarguably beautiful, I just can’t help but think that there MUST have been a better alternative to achieving such an image rather than having that whole moronic escape-in-a-fridge mentality!
And the whole flying saucer and alien rebirthed thing just continually annoys the living daylights out of me.
I once read that leaked script that Lucas first commissioned about Indy and the Roswell landings etc. (one of the set pieces from that script gets a passing mention by Indy in the scene with the FBI agents) and I just absolutely hated it because the idea of Indy in an out-and-out “sci fi movie” just held absolutely zero appeal for me.
There’s people out there that LOVE the alien finale. I know, I’ve spoken to them and they’ve given me a long and illustrious defence of it. But I’ve also spoken to people who are like-minded to myself and I favour their way of thought.
Nostaligic moments and happy wedding endings bedamned, this is FOUR ‘POPCORNS’.
That’s my final word on the matter!
Honest!
Until I see it again this weekend…
… Oh shut up and stand by the strength of your convictions Gazz for ****’s sake!
I’ve been contemplating seeing this, or spending the $6 that matinee would cost on a 12 pack of Beast Ice. But I do think I will see it, tomorrow.
Guess who’s back?! Sorry for being absent. I’m in summer classes right now for school, and time is really scarce, but I am going to make time from now on on weekends to write up reviews.
Wow, you liked it much more than I did. Don’t hate me after you read my review!
Yes, Gazz, Eagle Eye does indeed look ace. Can’t wait for October time.
I enjoyed this film. Easily the weakest of the series but, then again, both previous sequels were lacking in certain departments.
I wasn’t convinced that they needed to push the alien-angle so strongly, however. It wouldn’t have been a cop out for their to be a ‘vortex’ and the structure to collapse and that be that, with Spalko’s expression of horror a possible indicator of her seeing a live alien etc. Less is more rather than Lucas is nuts, y’know?
Still, this film was solid and entertaining with some lovely sparks of wit and action.
Trackbacks
What's Your Opinion?