Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
It’s Not the Years, It’s the Mileage
The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
*SPOILER WARNING*
May 27th, 2008 - I really wanted to love this movie, I really did. I admit that when I first heard they were making a fourth Indy movie, I groaned. "It was perfect as a trilogy! Crusade ended beautifully! Why go back to it?" But over time, my opinion was swayed, in part by the great success of fellow "what took them so long" sequels like Live Free or Die Hard and Rocky Balboa, which were both thoroughly enjoyable and true to their original films. But more than that, being a fan, I was excited to see Indiana Jones in another adventure. All I wanted was for this movie to be fun. And giving credit where credit is due, it was fun. It just wasn’t AS fun as it could have been.
I've read the fanboy gripes about the movie, and for the most part, I disagree with their complaints. Aliens in the plot were not that surprising if you (obsessively) studied the trailer and noticed the shot of a crate marked "Roswell, 1947." Besides, it makes sense in the spirit of all of the films - the legends and beliefs about powers outside of our normal understanding are true. Besides, I remember hearing/reading about how ancient cultures may have been visited by aliens, and that’s how “primitive” societies were able to build such wonders as the Mayan temples. If one accepts the power of the Ark of the Covenant, Sankara stones, and the Holy Grail, accepting that aliens exist isn’t that much of a stretch.
Along the same lines, if it really bothered you that Indiana Jones would survive a nuclear blast by hiding in a lead lined refrigerator, you should also ask yourself how Indy managed to take a bullet in the arm without medical assistance in Raiders, how he survived jumping out of a plane in an inflatable raft in Temple, or how he went over a cliff in a tank and survived in Crusade. All four movies are consistent in that, in order for them to work, you have to suspend a certain amount of belief. If that doesn't work for you, that's fine, but let's not hold the first three movies to a different standard than the fourth. I watched the original trilogy before going to see Skull, and I assure you that there are plenty of things in those movies that you could pick apart as well. Yeah, Mutt swinging through the jungle and the expressions on the faces of the prairie dogs were a little too hokey for my tastes, but they don’t ruin the overall experience, as some purists claim.
So then, what was my problem with the movie? Overall, the film just lacked the punch of the first movies. For example, the movie's first set-piece, in the storage facility in Nevada, felt fairly ho-hum, and not as exciting as the opening scenes from the first three movies. The trademark humor and action from the franchise is still here, but both seem to be lumped in much more heavily in the third act, which made me realize just how much I had missed them earlier in the movie. I finally had that great edge-of-my-seat, “I’m watching an Indiana Jones movie!” feeling during the chase in the Amazon, but I should have felt that way a few times by that point. The need for exposition is certainly understandable, but I just couldn’t help but think that it could have been done in a more entertaining and engaging fashion, as it was in the original trilogy.
Going in to the movie, one knows that 19 years have passed for both Harrison Ford and Indiana Jones, but it is still a bit jarring to see a 65 year old Indy. There is a constant reference to his age, but it never really affects him. It’s not that I want Indy to give a tired Lethal Weapon-esque “I’m getting too old for this” quip, but some acknowledgement of how he has slowed down would have been nice, given the physical activity he performed with ease. Don’t get me wrong, I hope to hell I’m in such good shape when I’m 65, but seeing a beloved character age so drastically was a bit of a downer. And is it just me, or did he sound different, too?
Besides the shock of seeing Indy so much older, the other problem with skipping over 19 years of his life is that the audience has therefore missed out on 19 years worth of adventures. Indy was a Colonel in World War II? How the hell did that happen? What were his adventures like with Mac? Who were the other ladies that failed to replace Marion? In the first three movies, there are references to other adventures that Indy had off-camera, but having those movies take place over a four year span makes you think that this guy has the most exciting life ever. Going nearly two decades without a fix, coupled with the many reminders in Skull, makes you think that this was far too long to go without keeping up with the Joneses.
Which is, I guess, my main problem with this movie. It just doesn’t feel like a part four; it feels like a part seven or eight. Imagine a parallel universe where Indy movies came out every three to five years, which would give Ford, Lucas, and Spielberg time to do other projects in between. If we got two in the 90’s and one more this century, Skull would have made an excellent Indy 7. It’s not the aliens, or giving Indy a son, or reuniting him with Marion that hurts this movie. It’s the fact that we missed too much of our hero’s life and adventures.
Well, that and the poor pacing.
So what of Indy V? I don’t mind Shia LaBeouf taking over the franchise, but will it happen? And when? Again, were it to happen in a timely manner, so be it, but given the track record of these guys, I’m not that confident. Spielberg has his hands full with his Tintin trilogy, Lucas has the two Star Wars TV shows, and Ford, well, I guess Ford and LaBeouf are available. My hope is that they will either do it whole-heartedly, or not at all, which is also what I wish they would have done on this movie.
Alan's Score: 6.5 out of 10
Discuss This Article
For more information visit IndianaJones.com.