Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

All right. Go ahead. Say it. I'm too young to REALLY understand Indiana Jones. I wasn't born when Raiders of the Lost Ark was released. I was an infant when Temple of Doom came out. I was only six when we got The Last Crusade. I didn't really grow up with Indiana. I just can't appreciate it at the same level you older folks can, those of you around to watch each successive movie unroll in the theaters.

I say nonsense! Sure, my experience with the trilogy is different. I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time on HBO. I had to sneak over to friend's house to watch Temple of Doom because my mom was worried it would be too scary for me (she was probably right considering I wasn't even 7 yet). I had to beg my mom to buy me a VHS copy of Last Crusade one afternoon at the grocery store. You're right; I missed them on the big screen. But can I even remember a time when there was no Indy? He was as much a part of my childhood as he was a part of your adolescence.

And now, this chance to FINALLY see Dr. Jones on the big screen, to finally see the adventure in its full and total glory, while the nostalgia may be different for me I promise you it means just as much. When that Paramount logo came up on the screen, the music queued, the lights dimmed, you can bet I was quivering with barely contained excitement and slight trepidation.

What was going to happen? Was Kingdom of The Crystal Skull going to be all that I love about Indiana Jones? Or was it going to be another Episode I? Did I keep myself awake, drag myself to another midnight screening, only to be bitterly disappointed as I was when Lucas murdered Star Wars? (After Episode I I’ve only gone to one other midnight screening, Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix, because I was so upset by how awful Star Wars turned out to be).

I blinked as a blinding desert sun filled the screen. A group of kids speeds down the highway. They weave in and out of convoy of military vehicles. As they pull to the front car, daring the driver to race, one of the kids shouts, "Hey, what do you got in there?"

What indeed? Oh I knew. I bet you can guess.

The year is 1957. War World II is over but the Cold War is in full swing. Nazis are now out of the picture but that's okay. We've got the commies instead. We find Indiana kidnapped by the Russians, searching a military warehouse for a mysterious crate, escaping them only to come under suspicion by the FBI in an atmosphere filled with McCarthyism's paranoia. Of course Dr. Jones is going to say forget this, I'm leaving town. But as the train is about to pull out of the station a reckless young man demands his attention and drags Dr. Jones into a search for a missing friend, the boys mother (guess who that is and where that plot line is going), and the mysterious "Crystal Skull". The KGB is not far behind and we soon find ourselves neck deep in the Amazon searching for a lost city of gold.

The hardest thing about a movie featuring such an iconic character coming so long after the original installments is that so much has changed over the last twenty years. I'm no longer a kid pretending there's lava under my swing set, Harrison Ford is passing his prime, George Lucas has proved himself a hack and Stephen Spielberg has moved from the immense creativity of Jaws to the nonsense of War of the Worlds. The technology has changes, the techniques have changed, the world itself has changed. There was so much room for so much to go so wrong.

Instead, they manage to make it go right. Unlike the first three movies, which contain elements of the mystical but still stay relatively grounded in a feeling of realism, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull establishes a level of ridiculousness and absurd energy from the very beginning. This complete departure to fantasy works because the energy is maintained for the entire duration. Sure it requires suspension of disbelief, more than even the originals, but once I suspended it I could keep it suspended. A world is established, we are given rules for that world, and those rules are respected. That in and of itself I appreciate.

Don't get me wrong, Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal skull is completely gooftacular. Shia LeBeouf's character is named "Mutt". He swings through tress like Tarzan. Indiana, Mutt, and Marion get sucked down not one, not two, but three waterfalls. There are aliens!!!

The thing is, like I said, we're told from the very beginning what it is that we're getting into. The goofiness becomes the fun. It is part of this movies charm. The plot is silly but the silliness had me smiling and laughing and thoroughly enjoying myself.

I think the only possible way that an Indiana Jones movie this long after The Last Crusade was released in 1989 would work is if Spielberg and Lucas embraced the elements the elements of fantasy from the originals. Which is exactly what they did. They ran with it and it looks like they had a lot of fun in the process. If seriousness won't work, then take it over the top. Run with it.

At the same time the story went over the top, Spielberg returned to his roots. He and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski were very careful to stay faithful to the tone and style of the original movies. The result is one good-looking movie. Beyond just looking good though, it's actually just plain well crafted.

There is a moment when Mutt and Indy are crawling through a dark tomb, their fingers tracing along artifacts, the light from torches flickering on the walls. I thought to myself "Okay, this is where the movie starts to feel long. This is where I wish they would cut out fifteen minutes." Only... that never happened. The moment in the tomb lasts for just the right amount of time and then it's over. We move on. The craft of filmmaking is something that Spielberg knows and in his return to a younger version of himself he remembers everything he used to do so right. Yes we're seeing a young story through an old lens but trust me. Just like Mutt has a lot to learn from that "Old Man" Henry "Indiana" Jones, all of these new action filmmakers could stand to learn a thing or two from this old man Spielberg. He respects the integrity of form, he knows when to cut a scene, when to have a longer take, how to follow the rules of filmmaking. You need to understand the rules before you can properly break them. Our current crop of directors needs to learn the longer is not necessarily better.

And all of those fun haters out there can just get over it. It's hot outside. Our economy sucks. This movie is escapist fantasy pure and simple. I love Harrison Ford coming back as Indiana Jones, an older and stiffer Indiana for sure but one who can still pack a punch. I like Shia LeBeouf as the young sidekick probably thrown in just to attract that younger audience. I'm so happy to see Karen Allen come back that I could have cried (Marion and Indy are one of my favorite movie couples ever). I even like Cate Blanchett in a role that could have been simply a cookie cutter villain. She manages to make it more.

Age is the theme for this Indiana Jones. Older filmmakers, an older hero, an old love story. None of this is a bad thing. No one should be worried about whether or not this will appeal to a younger audience. I can't deny that it's a film made for the fans but it's a film that's made well and with love. Anyway, who out there isn't a fan of Indiana Jones? Don't expect the serious; just enjoy the ride.