Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull: A Review

A couple days ago I linked to John Miller comparing the Indiana Jones films to the National Treasure films.  After taking in Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I'd say that comparison is apt.  The latest chronicle of Jones is essentially National Treasure with archeology substituting for history.  The film is a rollicking good time, and despite an ending that I found downright silly, I can still recommend the film. 

The film opens in 1957 with rock-and-roll now king but with Indiana Jones still getting into trouble.  This time it is with Soviets who have kidnapped him and taken him to an installation in Nevada where the government hides some of its prized secrets (such as a certain ark important to the Hebrews).  They are looking for a particular artifact and they think Indy knows where it is.  Let's just say the artifact pertains to an occurrence at Roswell, NM.  They eventually get their object, but not Indy as he has escapes in the first of many chase scenes in the film.  It concludes with Indy surviving a nuclear blast.  Yes, you read that right.  Indy also finds out that his buddy Mac is an agent for the Russians (or is he?). 

Back at his nameless university, Indy meets up with young James Dean type Mutt, played well by Shia LaBeouf.  Mutt knows one of Jones' old colleagues, Prof. "Ox" Oxley, who has disappeared in South America while looking for a certain crystal skull.  Here is where the adventure really starts, and it will not surprise you to learn that the Russians, led by the evil Irina Spalko (played by Cate Blanchett), are after the same artifact. 

The rest of the film involves Mutt and Indy's quest to find the skull, elude the Russians, escape from the Russians (no surprise), and figure out what precisely are the powers of the crystal skull. This whole aspect of the film includes multiple chases and crawling through a number of creepy caves in Peru, which the Peruvians seem to have in abundance.  These are done well and with a lot of pluck. 

The film has its weaknesses.  If anything, it goes at breakneck speed and does not allow the audience to catch enough breathers.  And, frankly, I found the secret of the crystal skull pretty easy to figure out.  The film does re-introduce Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood.  Unfortunately they do little with her other than have her squabble with Indiana like an old married couple. At one point they are harping at each other and both their Russian guard and Mutt tell them to shut up.  They were saying what the audience was thinking.  And while clearly this is the kind of film where you set your brain on numb, it was hard not to notice that a middle aged woman was achieving physical feats that would kill a man half her age.   There's suspension of disbelief and then there's "Oh, come on!" 

The film works better if you think of it as simply a live action cartoon.  If you slam Daffy Duck against a wall a dozen times, he gets up and walks away.  So does Indiana Jones.  There is actually a vignette where Mutt duels with Spalko, each on moving vehicles traveling side by side.  Eventually Mutt finds himself with feet on both vehicles straining to stay upright.  In fairly poor CGI, Mutt's legs get unusually long, one might even say cartoon-like.  At this point we are essentially in Loony Tunes land.   

(A digression: This film is one of a growing series of examples of how CGI gets in the way of good film making.  I don't know if the ease of it stops filmmakers from thinking or what, but frankly the action scenes from the 1981 Indiana Jones film are better and they couldn't even spell CGI.  This, in my opinion, is what got George Lucas in trouble in the more recent Star Wars films. Lucas, who executive produced Crystal Skull and helped with the story, seemingly spent excessive time in those Star Wars films with special effects to the detriment of story and script.  One could make the same accusation here, but with less detrimental effects.) 

Harrison Ford is as good as ever, still playing the daredevil, but with a recognition of age.  The film deals with this fairly well, acknowledging the Jones is now middle aged but allowing him to step out now and again.  The film is sillier than previous Indiana Jones films, but the silliness usually (but not always) works.  The actions scenes are exciting, if a bit cartoonish  (and the film sets some sort of record for number of characters jumping from one moving vehicle to another).  The real find here is Shia LaBeouf, who continues to excel.  He is one of the most watchable of all young actors. It is his character and the dominatrix-like Spalko who keep the movie fresh.  This is not because Indiana Jones himself is boring, but that he is a well-known character already. The film is cheeky and fun.  It certainly is the most lighthearted of all Indiana Jones films. 

The film is largely edifying, giving a message not unfamiliar in Indiana Jones movies, that the desire to know and control can be very dangerous.  The Spalko character claims to want to know everything, and this ends up being her comeuppance. Also, it's nice to see the Commies as bad guys, something not every filmmaker is willing to do.  At one point Spalko asks Indy if he as any last words and Indy responds, "I like Ike."  Could Indiana Jones be a Republican? 

Again, if viewers go in with the notion of seeing a cartoon, they will have a great time.  Don't take this film too seriously.  Clearly those who made it did not.