Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

 

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Rated: PG13

reviewed by: Charity Bishop

 

Best Popcorn Flick

I will be the first person to admit that I am not a die hard Indiana Jones fan. I saw the original trilogy when I was barely a teenager and the most I remember about them is that my mom was astonished how "weird" and "gruesome" they were, what with being hearts being pulled out of chest cavities and all. But Stephen Spielberg was just mean enough to cast my favorite actress in his latest addition to the franchise and so by golly, I had to go and see it. And much to my surprise, found it one of my favorite popcorn flicks of the year.

Joyriding teenagers have no idea that they're drag racing members of the Soviet Union, undercover in the United States with the intention of breaking into a local army base and stealing a high powered, magnetic-encased strong box containing the remnants of a secret cover up. Locked in the trunk of the nearest car happens to be the infamous Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), now somewhat considerably older than he was in his globe-trotting days as a good intentioned treasure seeker. He's been knocked around the block a few times, but nothing much impresses him -- not even the chilly reception that the Soviet leader, Irina (Cate Blanchett) gives him, as she informs him that his services are needed in order to find the crate and unearth its contents. Indy does just that -- and then manages to escape, despite the backstabbing betrayal of his best friend (Ray Winstone).

Stumbling into the nearest army base, he confides all to skeptical armed forces and then resumes his teaching job as an archeology professor at a local collage. His relief at having escaped with his life does not last long, as "Mutt" (Shia LaBeouf) comes to him pleading for assistance in rescuing his mother and a former associate of Indy's from South American villains. Indy's buddy Mac (John Hurt) has left a trail of disguised clues for Indy to follow in order to recover an artifact known as the crystal skull and restore it to a lost temple in the Amazon. The skull is said to bestow great psychic abilities to the one who returns it to its final resting place. Fan reaction to this film is divided. Many hardcore Indiana Jones fans have snubbed this as a weak attempt to introduce a science fiction aspect to the film series and complains it falls far short, becoming something like Indiana Jones & the Flying Saucers. Others absolutely loved returning to the hero of their childhood and seeing him set out on another big adventure.

For someone who has little experience with the originals, I found it very creative and enjoyable but rather mindless. If you try and wrap your head around the plot too much, you just might get knocked off your feet, since some of it doesn't make a lot of sense. However, does it really have to? Audiences want to spend two hours revising Indy's creativity and fear of snakes (... and yes, there is a snake, and the scene is hilarious) while getting a few throwbacks to earlier adventures (and yes, there are plenty of those; we get a glimpse of the Ark of the Covenant, as well as encountering a familiar leading lady). The "alien" aspect of the film was apparent from the beginning and so I don't believe I am spoiling too much by mentioning it, but it was carried off rather well until the last ten or so minutes. That final shot brought a mixture of groaning and snickering from the audience. (You'll see why.) I was also somewhat surprised that the film had so little content in it. The violence was relatively tame compared to what I remember of the originals, there was almost no bad language (a couple of mild profanities, and two uses of the s-word), and no sexual content or even innuendo.

There is a tremendous amount of hand to hand combat. Soldiers and bad guys are mowed down under gunfire. Car crashes lead to implied casualties and explosions take out entire cities. Irina walks through a battleground littered with bloodstained corpses of Incan warriors. She and Mutt engage in a swordfight that turns into a physical struggle, and she kicks him in the face several times. Fistfights break out; people are punched in the jaw and the stomach, sometimes with mildly bloody results. The two most gruesome deaths are when men are consumed by fire ants (they swarm all over their bodies, seeping into their mouths and ears, and drag them away screaming). Another character implodes into a stream of light. There is an element of psychic energy that is mentioned but we see no evidence of this other than that it has driven one man insane.

All in all, it was a fabulous way to spend a summer afternoon.