You can’t keep a good man down. So, a good 10 years after his last outing, Indiana Jones himself is out of mothballs and back in search of high adventure. With the Hollywood triumvirate of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford back on board, viewers can rest relatively assured of some serious summer movie fun.
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull picks up nearly 10 years after the original film. It’s the post-war ’50s in America now; our man Indy is no longer plagued by Nazis but, as the film clears the opening credits, it seems he’s been kidnapped by nasty Russkies. They’ve dragged Jones (Ford, of course) and his adventuring buddy George McHale (Ray Winstone) out to (minor spoiler) Roswell, New Mexico. Seems that an overstuffed (and vaguely familiar) warehouse there is the final resting spot for one of Dr. Jones’ more unusual discoveries.
 Who’s whipped now? Cate Blanchett plays a frigid Russky opposite our irrepressible hero, Harrison Ford, in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. |
Without giving too all-fired much away, the Russians (led by a “moose and skvirell”-mouthed Cate Blanchett) are after a mysterious crystal skull from South America. Legend has it that whomever returns this skull to its lost Mayan city of origin will be the recipient of some great power. Naturally, everybody wants to get their hands on it. Naturally, Indiana Jones is caught in the middle.
The opening sequence of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull manages to fit in evil Russian spies, Area 51, a car chase, a massive gunfight, a rocket sled and an atomic bomb. It’s an early indicator that the filmmakers might be trying a bit too hard.
| Trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. |
In short order, Dr. Jones teams up with James Dean wannabe Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf). Seems that Mutt’s mom was one of Indy’s old girlfriends and she’s been kidnapped in South America by some evil Russian spies. (Sense a trend here?) The film remains coy for a majority of its running time about who Mutt’s mother might be, but if you don’t already know going into the film, you haven’t been paying much attention.
The film unfolds as one giant chase scene. There are plenty of thrilling action moments, but many viewers (particularly the older ones) might find themselves missing the subtlety of the first film. There isn’t nearly as much humor and character development in this go-around. One could argue that we already know these characters pretty well at this point. True enough, but Kingdom still lacks the quotable dialogue (“Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?”) and indelible scenes (Indy shooting the Berber swordsman) that made Raiders such an all-time classic.
Twenty-seven years on, the series is starting to show its age. Characterwise, the filmmakers are smart enough to acknowledge that Indy is getting a bit past his prime. (“It’s not the years, it’s the mileage,” he noted in the first film.) But plotwise, this film feels less like a loving tribute to the movie serials of yesteryear and more like a collage of the last 10 action movies you saw. But it’s hard to grouse about niggling details when Harrison Ford is back swinging a bullwhip. A summer with Indiana Jones is like a summer with ice cream. You don’t just want it, you gotta have it.