May
22
Going in, I was nervous. When a franchise goes dormant for more than 10 years, you begin to stop wondering, “When are they going to make a sequel?” or more cynically, “When are they going to remake the first one?” I’d remained cautiously optimistic about the prospect of another Indiana Jones movie, but like the geeks who still hold out hope for a 9-film Star Wars saga, reality set in. It wasn’t going to happen. Harrison Ford was too old now, Steven Spielberg was too serious a filmmaker now and George Lucas was too George Lucas now. When Frank Darabont’s script was infamously scrapped, that was that. Indiana Jones was dead. Except he wasn’t. Somehow the stars and schedules aligned, allowing for them to make a fourth Indiana Jones movie. And better still, I liked it.
I caught a 12:01 a.m. screening of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” last night. Having read enough mixed/negative reviews of the movie leading up to its release, I was prepared for the worst; I was prepared to be underwhelmed. So it was a pleasant surprise to find the movie is much more enjoyable than the hyperbolic critics at Cannes — and even the ones on the movie geek sites — had made it out to be. Is it the best of the franchise? No. Is it worthy of the franchise? Yes. A resounding yes.
The film’s set in 1957. Man alive, what a playground for Indiana Jones the ’50s are. The Reds, hot-rodders, Area 51, rocket sleds, nuclear testing sites — Indy doesn’t even have to leave the States for the first third of the film to find adventure. It’s when he becomes a victim of McCarthyism, finds himself out of a job and pairs up with a ducktailed biker, Mutt Williams (Shia Labeouf), to track down a former colleague, that the action shifts to Peru. Once there, he races a sword-wielding Communist and psychic Dr. Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett, looking absolutely stunning for a dirty Pinko) and her endless supply of Russkies to find a crystal skull and El Dorado. After having Indy recover MacGuffins for three of the major world religions — Judaism, Hinduism and Christianity — Spielberg and Lucas sidestep Islam and lend a sci-fi flavor to the franchise with Indy’s pursuit of alien artifacts from ancient Mayan culture. I think it works quite nicely. The glowing, bullet-shaped alien skull that’s highly magnetized and repels killer ants is also one of Indy’s more visually interesting, not to mention useful, finds.
Here’s the part of the review where I talk about the things that don’t work so well in the movie. Ray Winstone, perhaps better known as the flawed and constantly namechecking hero in “Beowulf,” feels tacked on as Indy’s sometimes-sidekick and WWII buddy, Mac. John Hurt also swells Indy’s ranks as the near catatonic Professor Oxley, though he was originally rumored to have been cast as Indy’s former mentor, Abner Ravenwood, who apparently is still dead. Karen Allen returns after a two-film absence as Indy’s old flame and Mutt’s mother, Marion Williams (nee Ravenwood). Hers is a welcome presence, though diminished somewhat by the overcrowded cast. Had it been just Indy, Marion and Mutt, the estranged family dynamic — one that worked so well between father and son in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” — could’ve gotten more attention in this film. And if you haven’t guessed Indy’s relationship to Mutt yet, then I hope you enjoy your first time ever seeing a movie.
The whole time I was watching Indy 4, I was already looking forward to seeing it again. Like its predecessors, it’s a movie I’ll doubtless revisit over and over. That’s what’s great about the Indiana Jones franchise. Though technically Spielberg, Lucas and Ford owe us a fifth movie (Indy was intended to be a 5-film saga), I don’t think I’ll ever get so bored with these four that I’ll need another.
-Brad Lohan
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