by Brett Parker
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opens with the legendary archeologist being pulled from the trunk of a car, fedora and all, and thrown to the ground by evil Russians, forcing him into yet 
another dangerous adventure. It’s a fitting opening when you think about it, for it also represents a screen hero being plucked from an earlier era and being forced to do his thing in a new cinematic age. Whether he likes it or not, or whether we like it or not, the man in the hat is back in action. And I am incredibly happy to report that he’s as good as he ever was. It’s been 19 years since there’s been an Indiana Jones film (1989’s The Last Crusade); Harrison Ford has grown older and Steven Spielberg more sophisticated. What is so special about this sequel is that after all these years, both of them still has what it takes to pull of a fun Indy flick.
another dangerous adventure. It’s a fitting opening when you think about it, for it also represents a screen hero being plucked from an earlier era and being forced to do his thing in a new cinematic age. Whether he likes it or not, or whether we like it or not, the man in the hat is back in action. And I am incredibly happy to report that he’s as good as he ever was. It’s been 19 years since there’s been an Indiana Jones film (1989’s The Last Crusade); Harrison Ford has grown older and Steven Spielberg more sophisticated. What is so special about this sequel is that after all these years, both of them still has what it takes to pull of a fun Indy flick.The year is 1957 and an aging Indiana Jones (Ford) finds there is just as much excitement and danger in his world as there’s been in past years. There’s an army of evil Russians, led by the villainous Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), who need Indy’s expertise in unearthing the secret to mind control. There’s a spunky young greaser named Mutt (Shia LeBeouf) who needs Indy’s help to free a kidnapped professor (John Hurt) by finding an ancient artifact known as the Crystal Skull. These two plot threads not only tie together but lead Indy and his companions to Nevada, Peru, and the Amazon where they face such dangerous hazards as quicksand, man-eating ants, nuclear explosions, tribal warriors, booby traps, other-worldly beings, and even relationship drama as its revealed that old girlfriend Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) is Mutt’s mother.
Did the world exactly need another Indiana Jones film? I’m not entirely sure, but I do know that it’s great seeing the character again in a film that can honestly stand with the sequels. After years of imitators and wannabes, it’s almost a miracle that the filmmakers manage to keep things feeling fresh and exciting. It tries new things, yet it doesn’t betray the Indy formula we’ve come to love. It keeps things familiar, yet it steers clear of being redundant. One of the things I love is the updating to the 1950s. Since an older Indiana Jones would have to exist in a 1950s setting, the filmmakers have decided to keep things fun by making throwbacks to B-Movies of the 50s (like how the earlier Indy’s were throwbacks to the 30s and 40s). Many things you would expect to find in a 50s flick (aliens, anti-communist ideals, mind controlling, nuclear anxieties, sock-hop teenagers) show up in the plot and its great fun watching Indy wrestle with the Baby Boomer age.
Harrison Ford may be 65, but he can still crack that whip and jump those cars as if he were a thirty-year-old. He still has the smarts, the wit, and the presence to resurrect the Indy we all remember and love. If anything, Ford’s age makes the character appear more human than he has before (especially in a scene where a Russian soldier pounds on him). I was also impressed by how well Steven Spielberg has slipped back into the action-adventure mold that put him on the map in the first place. He may have shown growth and maturity with Schindler’s List and Munich, yet the child within the legendary filmmaker is back in full swing as he creates some of the most inventive and exciting adventure scenes in recent memory. Indy’s escape from both a government warehouse and a nuclear explosion are wonderfully reckless, a café brawl and a car chase through a jungle prove to be clever fun, an ocean of man-eating ants prove to be the ultimate creepy crawlers of the whole series, and I have to admit that the film’s climax contains the Indiana Jones visual to end all Indiana Jones visuals. Shia LeBeouf also adds to the fun by making Mutt Williams a cooler-than-cool life force who’s surprisingly just as appealing as Jones himself. My fedora is also off to George Lucas as well. I questioned his imagination after watching his interviews on the Indiana Jones DVDs and I even questioned his sanity after he made the Star Wars prequels, yet it must be said that he has appropriately used his clout to find the right ideas for a new Indy movie.
The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull doesn’t exactly come out flawless; it shows a few scratches in its humor and pacing. The one-liners and sight gags aren’t as sharp as they used to be and the film slows down to explain its plot way more than it should, yet these are only minor complaints. It’s the B-Movie escapist fun you’ve been waiting for and it doesn’t disappoint. Critics have been knocking the film for being nothing more than a silly effects romp. People forget that before Raiders of the Lost Ark was regarded as a film classic, Spielberg and Lucas had set out to make exactly that! Growing up, I’ve heard moviegoers of the 80s tell me how exciting it was to see an Indiana Jones film on the big screen, and I’ve finally gotten to experience that for myself. The original posters for Raiders of the Lost Ark proclaimed the film as the return of the great adventure! I can’t think of a better way to describe this film!
Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will be released on DVD October 14th.
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