Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Review.
Posted: May 22, 2008 • 5:22 am
Hey everyone, I just got back from seeing the fourth installment to the Indiana Jones series. My review is below, but, before I begin, I warn there there will be some spoilers up ahead.
As you may or may not know, the film takes place ninteeen years following the events of The Last Cruisade, a fitting timeframe since that's the same amount of time since the last film was released. Henry Senior and Marcus Broady are deceased, meanwhile, Sallah is nowhere to be seen or heard. Meanwhile, Indiana is still teaching at Barnett College. The film opens up in the Nervada desert at a secret Government location (while not explicitly stated, it's possible that it is Area 51). Indiana has been captured by the Soviets to locate and recover an artifact that they refuse to talk about. Indiana finds it, but only with his life after an exhillerating truck chase.
Indiana returns home to be approached by a young man named Mutt who informs him that a previous colleague of Indy is not in good mental health after following the trail of a mysterious crystal skull. Albeit their differences, the pair team up to follow in his footsteps to uncover the mystery of the Crystal skull, only to encounter the Russian army and the revelation with an old friend, Marion.
As with the previous 3 Indiana Jones films, the story is straight forward and without its complications so the audience aren't required to think to hard while paying attention to the adrenaline filled action on the screen. The story as a whole is quite rewarding, if it took them 19 years to find this story amongst a collection of others that weren't up to this standard, Lucas and Speilberg have chosen very well.
Now the the big one: Mr. Ford. Can he still do it? YES! While age from time to time shows (who doesn't change in 19 years?), he still look remarkably convincing in the costume and has a great knack for line delivery and timing. Meanwhile, his fight scenes still look great, though not as energetic as the first three films to obviously allow for his age.
Performance wise, the film is generally quite good. Cate Blanchett (as Irina) plays the villain in this story, a harderened Russian Soviet in search of the skull. The audience is also further treated to Karen Allen reprising her role as Marion who carries her portrayal with just as much energy and life as seen in Raiders of the Lost Arc. Unfortunately, the same thing cannot be said for Shia LaBeouf, Indy's side-kick. Shaia plays Mutt who is quite tough and filled with adrenaline. From time to time, I felt it was just Shaia trying to be tough rather than investing the time in building a character, it just felt quite rushed on his part.
What is also more noticable in Crystal Skull is the use of CGI. Since it's now the twenty-first century, there's a lot more of it used in this film as the first three. Reasons for this would include expenses, insurance for actors, time, asthetics etc...but gone are the days of using real rats, snakes or bugs. While the CGI is convincing and generally in good proportion by not saturating anywhere near as much as the latest Star Wars trillogy, sometimes the CGI can be a bit much. One particular scene comes to mind where a Russian soldier is being devoured by a million bull-ants. However, the ending is stunning and deserved the CGI treatment it got, if not impossible without it.
Before I continue, I warn now: the following paragraph discloses information about the story which will give away the ending and a secret you'd rather discover for yourself. You have been warned.
One more thing that didn't work for me, a story device, where Mutt turns out to be Indiana's son with Marion as his mother. For me, this didn't work. Firstly, Shaia's performace as mentioned before was disappointing. Secondly, the chemistry wasn't very convincing, even for a father aged 65 who has met his son for the first time. Thirdly, it felt like an attempt to rebuild the "father/son" chemistry seen in Last Cruisade by adding this dynamic of Mother, Father and Son. This also connects to my disappointment with the ending: Indy and Marion get married. It happens very suddenly and there isn't a lot of time for the between Indy and Marion to build, which doesn't really make the wedding a "pay-off" for the two characters. Let's not forget, Marion was only in 1 Indiana film. As a positive, if this is to be the final Indiana Jones film, this is a positive and optimistic way to do it. However, if there is to be an Indiana Jones 5, which has been vaguely alluded to by Speilberg (Harrison Ford has even expressed interest in it), it would be pretty hard to follow up after this story, that is of course they make a prequel like they did with Temple of Doom.
Nevertheless, while these three points (CGI, Shaia and some story elements)are disappointing, it doesn't prevent this film from being fantastic. Great story, loveable characters and exhillerating action. Plus, to boot, there is a very touching tribute to Sean Connery and Denholm Elliot. Overall, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is heavily faithful to the formula of the classic Indiana films with a few modern tweaks to spice things up. For this, the movie is a strong, cohesive and enjoyable 2 hours guaranteed to please the fans of the original. Think Raiders of the Lost Arc meets The Last Cruisade. A high note for the series to end on.
4 out of 5.
As you may or may not know, the film takes place ninteeen years following the events of The Last Cruisade, a fitting timeframe since that's the same amount of time since the last film was released. Henry Senior and Marcus Broady are deceased, meanwhile, Sallah is nowhere to be seen or heard. Meanwhile, Indiana is still teaching at Barnett College. The film opens up in the Nervada desert at a secret Government location (while not explicitly stated, it's possible that it is Area 51). Indiana has been captured by the Soviets to locate and recover an artifact that they refuse to talk about. Indiana finds it, but only with his life after an exhillerating truck chase.
Indiana returns home to be approached by a young man named Mutt who informs him that a previous colleague of Indy is not in good mental health after following the trail of a mysterious crystal skull. Albeit their differences, the pair team up to follow in his footsteps to uncover the mystery of the Crystal skull, only to encounter the Russian army and the revelation with an old friend, Marion.
As with the previous 3 Indiana Jones films, the story is straight forward and without its complications so the audience aren't required to think to hard while paying attention to the adrenaline filled action on the screen. The story as a whole is quite rewarding, if it took them 19 years to find this story amongst a collection of others that weren't up to this standard, Lucas and Speilberg have chosen very well.
Now the the big one: Mr. Ford. Can he still do it? YES! While age from time to time shows (who doesn't change in 19 years?), he still look remarkably convincing in the costume and has a great knack for line delivery and timing. Meanwhile, his fight scenes still look great, though not as energetic as the first three films to obviously allow for his age.
Performance wise, the film is generally quite good. Cate Blanchett (as Irina) plays the villain in this story, a harderened Russian Soviet in search of the skull. The audience is also further treated to Karen Allen reprising her role as Marion who carries her portrayal with just as much energy and life as seen in Raiders of the Lost Arc. Unfortunately, the same thing cannot be said for Shia LaBeouf, Indy's side-kick. Shaia plays Mutt who is quite tough and filled with adrenaline. From time to time, I felt it was just Shaia trying to be tough rather than investing the time in building a character, it just felt quite rushed on his part.
What is also more noticable in Crystal Skull is the use of CGI. Since it's now the twenty-first century, there's a lot more of it used in this film as the first three. Reasons for this would include expenses, insurance for actors, time, asthetics etc...but gone are the days of using real rats, snakes or bugs. While the CGI is convincing and generally in good proportion by not saturating anywhere near as much as the latest Star Wars trillogy, sometimes the CGI can be a bit much. One particular scene comes to mind where a Russian soldier is being devoured by a million bull-ants. However, the ending is stunning and deserved the CGI treatment it got, if not impossible without it.
Before I continue, I warn now: the following paragraph discloses information about the story which will give away the ending and a secret you'd rather discover for yourself. You have been warned.
One more thing that didn't work for me, a story device, where Mutt turns out to be Indiana's son with Marion as his mother. For me, this didn't work. Firstly, Shaia's performace as mentioned before was disappointing. Secondly, the chemistry wasn't very convincing, even for a father aged 65 who has met his son for the first time. Thirdly, it felt like an attempt to rebuild the "father/son" chemistry seen in Last Cruisade by adding this dynamic of Mother, Father and Son. This also connects to my disappointment with the ending: Indy and Marion get married. It happens very suddenly and there isn't a lot of time for the between Indy and Marion to build, which doesn't really make the wedding a "pay-off" for the two characters. Let's not forget, Marion was only in 1 Indiana film. As a positive, if this is to be the final Indiana Jones film, this is a positive and optimistic way to do it. However, if there is to be an Indiana Jones 5, which has been vaguely alluded to by Speilberg (Harrison Ford has even expressed interest in it), it would be pretty hard to follow up after this story, that is of course they make a prequel like they did with Temple of Doom.
Nevertheless, while these three points (CGI, Shaia and some story elements)are disappointing, it doesn't prevent this film from being fantastic. Great story, loveable characters and exhillerating action. Plus, to boot, there is a very touching tribute to Sean Connery and Denholm Elliot. Overall, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is heavily faithful to the formula of the classic Indiana films with a few modern tweaks to spice things up. For this, the movie is a strong, cohesive and enjoyable 2 hours guaranteed to please the fans of the original. Think Raiders of the Lost Arc meets The Last Cruisade. A high note for the series to end on.
4 out of 5.
I'll just be the guy in the corner with the dark sunglasses who is always carrying a package...