Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: Does Indy still have it?
May 23rd 2008 06:51
Need to show more on a poster? I don't think so...
Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
So did the critics at Cannes boo it, or what? The reports are conflicting. Actually it doesn't mean that much. There will be two people watching this film, regular Joes and Jills, who are not really into this whole Indy stuff, and of course the Indy fanatics. Like me.
Can I write an objective review after this? Not a chance, but I'll try nevertheless. I'll try to be relatively spoiler-free, so here's a quick summary of the story.
It's 1957, circa two decades after the period of the first three movies, and Henry (Indiana) Jones Jr. is in trouble again. This time his adversaries are the soviets, mostly mean looking KGB agents, and a sexy-deadly Irina Spalko, portrayed by the brilliant Cate Blanchett. What are they after? Not a big secret: a Crystal Skull. Discovering it's origins and purpose, I'll leave it up to you to discover. Some old and new characters show up, like Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) a youngster playing a badboy image, who becomes Indy's sidekick, and to have a slight spoiler, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) reappears from the great archeologist's past.
After this utterly minimalistic story-hint, let's look at the pictures merits and flaws. The first huge merit is of course that it's an Indiana Jones movie by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. The second, but perhaps the most important part is, that they did not forget how to make an Indy movie. Having said that, I mean that it has the action, the adventure, the unique humor, the struggling, but finally overcoming aspect we love so much, and quite a few creepy-crawly moments, to quote Mr. Lucas.
In a way it feels like a combination of the three previous movies. It has the BIG secret, and power of the Ark, the creepy and dark moments of Doom, and a certain pleasing aspect of Crusade, that would be a spoiler mentioning it. You will see, and will probably recognize it. A slight hint: it involves two characters and the chemistry between them.
Umm... what to do now?
With a comfortable 2 hours, the movie has a few slow periods, especially in the middle. These are utterly enjoyable though, but mostly for Indy fans. It's also a bit unusual to see Harrison Ford portray Prof. Jones after more than two decades. Interestingly, as the picture advances, you get to used to his new, older image, and he even looks like he's rejuvenating throughout. Maybe a side effect of that sip from the Grail?
What stood out for me, is that the movie has freshness to it. New jokes, and adventures, and most importantly new ideas, so it's definitely not just a mixture of old ingredients. Steven Spielberg still knows how to direct, no doubt about it.
And here's one of the first TV spots, with critics responses, for you who crave for more spoilers.
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