Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

<<

Indy Reviews

>>

There was a time when most 'Indiana Jones' fans considered 'Last Crusade' to be Indy's final outing. It was everything it needed to be for an 'Indy' flick, it was about the search for the ultimate treasure, and it even ended with our heroes riding off into the sunset to that epic theme music from John Williams. It would have been a glowing film to leave the franchise on, and between that and this, there was nearly a twenty-year gap! However, for better or worse, the nostalgia bug caught Indy and brought him back for another film.

I really can't deny that at the time, I was psyched as all hell. I always understood that Harrison Ford felt like he was in his element when it came to playing Indiana Jones, and I looked forward to seeing him have fun with the role again. The poster looked traditional, and the teaser trailer looked right. I was excited that after so long, I would be able to watch an 'Indiana Jones' movie on the big screen. Unfortunately, however, for me and most other 'Indy' fans, it didn't quite deliver what we expected and went places that didn't feel right for an 'Indiana Jones' movie.

The film opens immediately by jarring its audience with the song "You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog" and a CG gopher, immediately telling us that some practical effects and stunts we've all grown to love will be replaced by CG effects, almost dated for the time, as well as rock & roll over the traditional orchestra of John Williams. When I first saw this, I second-guessed what movie I was in for a split second. But hey, maybe the film picks up after that. After all, that was an opening scene, and to be perfectly fair to the music, it does take place in the 50s, so we can call that a nitpick, even though I'm not alone on how irksome I find it.

Taking place in 1957, 19 years after 'Last Crusade,' Indy (Harrison Ford) is kidnapped by KGB agents, along with his partner, George "Mac" McHale (Ray Winstone). The Russians, with these two in their trunk, infiltrate a secret government base in Nevada, labelled "Hangar 51", an obvious nod to Area 51. I will give the film a certain amount of creative credit in that it holds onto the supernatural element, and considering the "Roswell Incident" that occurred ten years earlier, I understand why (spoiler alert) they went with alien hubbub. But it was a swing and a miss. None of us fans got it, and most still don't.

Getting back to the plot, however, the Russians, led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), make Indy retrieve what seems to be an alien corpse from Hangar 51, which he was once forced to help recover from the Roswell crash. After the opening scene sets up how sci-fi the movie will probably be, we eventually meet a kid named Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) who finds Indy and informs him that his former colleague, Harold Oxley (John Hurt), has gone missing, possibly on account of a crystal skull he dug up. It's reminiscent of the idea in 'Last Crusade' when Indy's father goes missing, as Indy and Mutt go looking for Ox, but also pick up his archaeological trail where he left off.

The other thing that gets Indy in gear to help Mutt out is that Mutt's mother, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), of 'Raiders' fame, is also missing. Now, it's up to Indy and Mutt to find and rescue Marion and Ox from their Russian captors and figure out the mysterious crystal skull's purpose. I would say that everything that happens here is more unrealistic than anything we've seen yet, but in all fairness, it's relatively parallel to 'Temple of Doom' for unbelievability. That said, the CG ruins a LOT of what this movie could have been, so 'Temple' is still better on an effects level.

Aside from effects, the film fed me other pet peeves, like having Indy and Marion be the bickering couple "for laughs," or how obvious it is to any Indiana Jones fan just who Mutt is, considering a closing joke in 'Last Crusade' along with who his mother happens to be. This chapter, for me, is the biggest letdown of all the 'Indiana Jones' films made over the years. I'll credit them for attempting something new and different, even if it failed. But before this movie happened, some ideas included searching for Atlantis or King Arthur's sword, Excalibur. This movie just went too far outside the box.

2/5

---