Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Originally Written

Thursday, May 22, 2008

One of the greatest adventurers is back in what will probably be his final journey on the big screen. After almost 20 years in the making, or so they say, Indiana Jones finally receives a long awaited return, but was it worth the wait?

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull sees the great Doctor Jones going up against new enemies, searching for new artifacts and reuniting with old friends. With the era of the Nazis long gone, and the Thuggee a thing of the past, Indy faces the evil of a new force... the KGB. The time is 1957 and the United States is in the midst of the Cold War with the Russians and the atomic bomb is the United States main weapon of defense. But while the times, weapons and the people have changed the underlining goal for the enemy is still the same... unlimited power!

Cate Blanchett leads the KGB as Irina Spalko, she's in search of a mystical power that is greater than any weapon and worth more than any treasure; the power of the crystal skulls! Legend says that there are 13 skulls, when all the skulls are united together they will release a power greater than any man has ever seen. But these 13 skulls are quite different than other numerous crystal skulls found throughout the years, these skulls don't appear to have an earthly origin or human form, and the clues to their resting place lie in the riddles of an ancient language and long dead civilization.

I've been waiting for another Indiana Jones film as long as I can remember. I never had the privilege of watching Indy on the "big screen", being born slightly before Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was released, and only about five around the release of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, seeing Indy in the theater for the first time was a thrill. Unfortunately time changes everything, people get older and technology becomes more advanced, which in some ways takes the ambiance out of what made the Indiana Jones series great. It's a shame this film took so long to finally become a reality, a shame because I believe the film actually would have been better if it had been made earlier when CGI wasn't such a large temptation to people like George Lucas.

The Indiana Jones series has always valued good story telling and great action, and with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull it doesn't seen live up to those past adventures. Compared to the past three films the storyline quite rocky, which is why I'm amazed that Lucas and Spielberg spent so long trying to agree upon a script and then after all that time arrive at something which is nowhere near the calibur of the past films. Seems to me with all that time and determination it should have been much better. The overuse of CGI and the strange lighting of the film, to attempt to give it an old look, become a major factor in changing the look and feel of the series. The previous films didn't rely on CGI, but used what we today would call "older techniques" that helped to give the film that serial adventure experience. But the excess of CGI in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull turns the Indiana Jones experience into another typical adventure film.

With all that said, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is still a fun film, but in comparison to Indy's previous three adventures it can't hold a candle to any of them. Ironically all the controversy over whether Harrison Ford, in his "old" age, could play the role again is non-existent. Harrison doesn't skip a beat and is as entertaining as ever. The rest of the cast is great as well and Shia LaBeouf and Cate Blanchett were as entertaining as I figured they would be. The real problem is Spielberg and Lucas have gotten too "old" and opted to take the easier route in making this film, whether it be the watered down script or the overload of CGI. This is why I believe had this film been made 10-15 years ago we would have gotten something that stayed truer to the original three.

Overall, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is definitely worth seeing, while it may not live up to the standard of the previous films it still offers an entertaining movie experience and is still one of the more enjoyable adventure films made within the last decade. This film will really be popular with the kids today who have grown up in this CGI era, while those of us who still remember and appreciate pre-CGI film and the uniqueness of the originals should still find the film entertaining and reminiscent of the past. Luckily it isn't a dishonor to the series (like the Star Wars prequels) and still manages to hold bits of what made the series great. Everything changes with time so it's a little bit of a stretch to expect that the Indiana Jones series wouldn't as well. But in the end the only regret should be that more films weren't made within that 20 year hiatus, at least then the series would have had a chance to gradually adapt to this new era.

7/10