The second part of my double feature happened to be in a theater just down the way from Prince Caspian and just starting the previews and on my list of "dying to sees." So, I stopped on by. Sue me. I have been cautiously excited for the return of Indiana Jones ever since I heard Georgie and Stevie finally had a script in place and were ready to start shooting. I love the original trilogy - even the Temple of Doom has its place and is more exciting and better done than so many other films. So, I thought, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (KSC) is bound to at least have that sense of fun and mystery that all of the Indy flicks have. And it did, to be sure, but it felt kind of like chewing an old piece of gum - this new Indy was a little tough to swallow.
Twenty years later (ten years in film time), World War II is over, and the Cold War has begun. Henry Jones, Jr aka Indiana (self-named after his dog and played by Harrison Ford), after being a decorated soldier and spy for the US government in between teaching at university and trotting the globe in pursuit of his "grave-robbing" archaeology, is captured by KGB spies, including Irina (Cate Blanchett) and taken to none other than Area 51 and a top-secret US military warehouse. Stored there, among other treasures (hint), is a mysterious skeleton, already implied to be extraterrestrial and not the kind that phones home. Indy teaches those Russkies how to find lost alien skeletons and then runs away - to an atomic bomb testing site, where climbing in a refrigerator made of lead will save him from the torching effects of A-bomb explosions and also, surprisingly, the radiation from the resulting mushroom cloud. I digress. His companion, Mac (Ray Winstone), however, is a traitor, former British spy turned KGB, and the Americans begin to suspect Indy of also having commie-tendencies. Fortunately, after being fired from his university job for this unwanted attention, he meets Mutt Williams (Shia LeBeouf), who gives him a letter from his mother telling of her and archaeologist Harold Oxley's (John Hurt) search for the Crystal Skull. What ensues is a trip to South America and a lot of history about an ancient kingdom of gold, which could only be opened by this oddly-formed Crystal Skull and its mysterious power, and a chase by the KGB to get their hands on this power. Oh - and Mutt's mom turns out to be none other than Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), Indy's true love from Raiders of the Lost Ark. I'll leave you to figure out what that might mean for Mutt (as that is not his real name).
The review below mine that deems KSC to be no better or worse than the Temple of Doom about sums up how I feel about KSC. The difference, though, is that KSC feels like all of the Indy flicks rolled up into one, except everyone is much older and more tired-looking, and there is nothing inspired or original except Cate Blanchett's performance and the decidedly fantasy-science fiction Macguffin behind the plot. In fact, it feels like Indy meets Star Wars - complete with that scream thing that has a special name and Harrison Ford delivering "I have a bad feeling about this" a la Han Solo - meets Close Encounters. I blame this all on Georgie and Stevie. We all know that George Lucas' streak of originality is limited and has long since dried up, since he continues to mine his old ideas for stale newish ones. Limited as a filmmaker much? What's disappointing, though, is that Stevie, at least when around Georgie, seems to take on those characteristics too. This fourth film follows the two cardinal rules of a sequal to a tee and to limited success: recycle as much as you can, and more is better, with the heaviest leaning on the first. There's nothing interesting acting-wise, and even the sets and camera work leave something to be desired. Stevie needs to get with the new age - I hear he's not a fan of digital effects and cameras, but those might better have suited this decidedly futuristic, science fiction-y plot.
That's not to say that KSC wasn't fun in its own right. Harrison clearly had fun putting on that fedora again. He's still as cranky and sarcastic as ever - moreso now with his advancing years - and the funniest lines all belong to him. Karen Allen played Marion with that same spunky spark she had in Raiders, and it made you wonder why that character was abandoned for so long when Harrison and Karen's chemistry was so good. John Williams dusted off the Indy theme and gave it some new life. And Indy (and family) continued to get involved in ridiculously impossible action scenes that he continued to escape in ways more improbable than those of James Bond. Also, there were some deft little cameos by people and things from the original trilogy. Don't miss the Lost Ark, folks, found again!
Still, twenty years might have been too long a wait to revisit Indy. This film seems to lack the spirit of the original trilogy (yes, including Temple of Doom) that, at least, drew me in and made me want to be an archaeologist. It all felt contrived and forced together, like quarreling family members who agree to make nice for the sake of the other family at the reunion. And I just kept thinking, sheesh, Harrison is really starting to show his age; if they had made this movie five years earlier, it might have been ok. Also, the Russians and the KGB are not as formidable and menacing as villains as the Nazis were.
I had more fun in this movie than in Prince Caspian, though, and the fun element leads me to give KSC a 7 for being "shaky but entertaining." Shaky it is, with all of its recycled Indy nostalgia, but entertaining because I laughed quite a bit, even if it was at the preposterousness of Indy and company surviving dives over three separate waterfalls. It also probably passes the test, what with my OCD tendency to complete series, though I might wait for it to be cheap. Raiders still remains my favorite of the Indy movies, and I don't hate Georgie and Stevie for trying. Still, it might be nice if they moved on to bigger and better ideas - if either of them has any anymore.