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Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Movie Review
June 8, 2008
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Starring Harrison Ford, Shia LeBeouf, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Ray Winstone,
John Hurt, Igor Jijikine, and in a nerd-tacular small role, Neil Flynn, aka the
Janitor from Scrubs.
Backstory
Indiana Jones. It's whispered in reverence as one of the defining movie
franchises of the 1980s. It, too, is a franchise I have fond memories of.
My first exposure to Indy was reading the comic book adaptation of Temple of
Doom. That led to begging Mom and Dad to rent Raiders of the Lost Ark one
night, and the rest is history. Talk of a fourth film had been brewing
since I first got online, and when George Lucas started making his prequel Star
Wars trilogy, people figured it was a matter of time. And that time...is
now. Does it hold up to those fond childhood memories? Or would the
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull be another Phantom Menace?
Plot
The year is 1957. It's been 19 years since the Last Crusade, and we're in
the height of the Cold War, the Red Menace, and the Communist witch hunts.
After a spectacular opening sequence through Area 51 battling Russian spies,
Indiana Jones is accused of being a Communist and given the boot from his
university. With a lot of free time now on his hands, Indy is approached
by a greaser by the name of Mutt Williams. It seems that Mutt was very
close to an old friend of Indy's, and now that old friend has been abducted by
those same Russian spies and is now being held some where in South America.
the Russians, you see, want to learn the secrets of the mythical crystal skull
and use it to rule the world. Indy and Mutt are then off to the
rainforests, to reunite with friends old and new, uncover the secret of the
Crystal Skull, battle the Russians, and search for the kingdom from which the
crystal skull comes from.
What I Liked
First and foremost, it hits all the right fanboy notes. From music cues,
to certain artefacts scattered in the background, and they even remember to give
props to the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. (And there's even appropriate
use of a Star Wars catchphrase at a certain point.) There's some truly
spectacular action sequences, and Harrison Ford is still Indy. He hasn't
changed at all. And Mutt is a nice addition, and I'm looking forward to
more of his adventures if that's where this leads.
What I Didn't Like
The whole premise behind the crystal skulls seemed a little too...science
fiction for Indiana Jones. Some of the comic relief came across as too
cheesy rather than funny, and it just didn't feel as epic as the original
trilogy.
Final Assessment
A lot of fun...a worthy addition to the Indiana Jones canon.
3.5
Nibs
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