Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

What the viewer gets out of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull depends largely on her expectations. Now this can technically be said of any movie, but it is particularly true of one that comes with such a large amount of baggage. For those whose feelings about the original Indiana Jones trilogy have less to do with the actual films and more to do with nostalgia for a time when things were simpler and we were younger, the movie may disappoint. Spielberg and Lucas try to diffuse this unfair level of expectation in the opening shot by having the Paramount mountain not fade into the form of an imposing edifice (as has occurred in each of the prior films) but rather into an average sized prairie dog whole. The message is clear: don’t make a mountain out of a prairie dog hole. Relax and try to enjoy this movie on its own.

If the viewer takes this advice he will find a very nice movie buried beneath the anticipation and hype. Harrison Ford can still summon the spirit of Indy, though it takes about twenty minutes of screen time before he really starts living the role (at the beginning he just looks like the guy from Firewall dressed up like Indiana Jones). Shia LaBeouf (as tough-ish greaser Mutt) is an effective sidekick because he is allowed to be a three dimensional character. Unlike Short Round, he is not the film’s sole source of comic relief. It must be mentioned that LaBeouf has maybe thirteen minutes until his idiosyncratic acting style become officially played out. Here, he is very easy to watch.

New territory is gained for female characters in IJATKOTCS. For the first time we have a female villain who does not use sex to manipulate Dr. Jones. Cate Blanchett’s Dr. Irina Spalko (who is essentially an amped up version of the Baroness from G.I. Joe) gets to revel in her own badittude to the delight of the viewer. This is a stark contrast to Last Crusade’s Dr. Elsa Schnieder (Alison Doody) who seduces Indy to help the Nazis only to feel guilty about it the rest of the movie. The other female first is the inclusion of a woman who we have seen before. Karen Allen makes a well deserved return as Marion Ravenwood. When Indy admits to Marion that all his subsequent relationships have ended because the women “weren’t you” it is a clear apology from the filmmakers to Allen, not to mention the audience. The return of Marion gives us a female character we can actually root for and care about.

Without spoiling your plans for the Memorial Day Weekend, let’s look at the plot. Things get off to a bumpy start with an awkward explanation of what Indy has been doing for the past twenty years. Again, Indiana Jones is far more entertaining as a slightly vague character; the more details we have on him the less exciting he is. All of this is largely forgotten and forgiven by the time his quest begins. Shockingly, the extra-terrestrial elements of the story are bearable at least until the very climax of the film. At that point there is a hokiness akin to when Indy meets the 2,000 year old knight at the end of Last Crusade. All of the elements of an Indiana Jones movie are there in, more or less, fine form (including some of the best creepy insects of the entire series). Aside from a segment where LeBeouf swings on vines with a pack of monkeys who seem to have aped his pompadour (killer simians would have been a far better choice), there isn’t a bathroom break in the entire picture.

Is Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull necessary? No. Is it the shameful ruination of the Indiana Jones legacy? No. Look, no one in my generation is going to watch this installment of the series as many times as we have seen the others, nor should we. We also need to realize that our fondness for Indiana Jones is largely a fondness for our childhoods in general. We cannot recreate our youths and we shouldn’t expect George Lucas and/or Steven Spielberg to be able to either. This movie is a solid Summer picture that stays true to the core values of the originals. If you find yourself hating IJATLOTCS, I hope you have the maturity to proclaim, “It’s not you, it’s me.”