Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) May 27, 2008
Posted by gproject in : Cinema, Recently Viewed , trackbackDirected by: Steven Spielberg
Nineteen years. The figure that has been touted all over discussion about this, the return of a 1980’s hero who it seems is still adored by generations of fans. Can it really have been that long since we last saw Indy on the big screen? And if so, would it even be accepted in today’s vastly different blockbuster landscape? Judging by sheer hype, the answer is undeniably ‘Yes’. A character whose ever-growing popularity has made him so big that he dwarfs the fact that this is the new film from popular writer David Koepp, or produced by fan-boy messiah George Lucas, or directed by the world famous voice-of-your-childhood, Steven Spielberg. So big, in fact, that I wish he’d stayed small.
Get past the slightly verbose title and you’re presented with a story that flings Indy into the late 50’s Cold War. Exit Nazis, enter Russians, this time intent on finding an object of great power and a city made entirely of gold. After capturing Dr Jones for help in their quest, he makes a quick escape to try and beat them to the prize, picking up a young rebel by the name of Mutt along the way. But the crystal skull that everyone is so desperate to get their hands on holds a hidden secret, and drags our intrepid hero into a mystery that’s not of this world.
The hardest decision to understand comes from the notion that Spielberg’s reservations about bringing the character back to the screen were down to finding “the right story”. I don’t know how many stories they looked at (lots, if you believe the press), but the fact that this is the one they settled on for a glorious return seems almost incomprehensible. The structure follows suit for a Jones adventure - search, find, search, find - but the subject takes the fantasy content of previous instalments and widens its berth to rather tricky levels of plausibility. As much as you might not believe the biblical magic present in the old films, it’s the sci-fi element of this story that makes for such an awkward juxtaposition next to the low-tech Indiana Jones universe.
Rather wisely, there’s no constant referencing of how old Indiana has become, nor do they even think about turning him into an over-the-hill action parody (”my back!” etc.). A few throwaway quips early on suffice to make the point. Not that any jabbing would even work because at sixty-five, Harrison Ford stands very impressively as an action lead. The extra years are there, sure, but he falls back into character with a natural ease and I never found myself questioning his ability to fulfil the role. Well, not for age reasons, at least.
The rest of the cast is a mish-mash of names designed to boost audiences without showing up Ford. Opinions seem split on Shia LaBeouf as the mouthy tag-along (he seems easier to hate than like), yet his contribution isn’t really damaging to the film in any way. Meanwhile it’s nice to see a return performance from Karen Allen as her character in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Marion Ravenwood - easily the least annoying of the Indy women. Ray Winstone, on the other hand, gets an infuriatingly two-faced role that rarely breaks free of its contrivances, while Cate Blanchette composes herself convincingly as the Russian villain but too often suffers from pantomime baddie syndrome. Finally, John Hurt gets to do babbling lunacy as a brainwashed professor and Jim Broadbent pops up to round out a decent roll call of aging performers.
There was a rather noticeable lack of computer generated trickery in the original trilogy, with a reliance on practical effects work being a key part of its down to earth charm. Apparently, the intent was to keep things the same this time around, although if that’s the case then they’ve undoubtedly failed, throwing all manner of CGI at the screen in a bid to keep up with the modern day expectations for a big-budget action flick. Maybe Spielberg would have been better sticking by his original classification of Jones as a B-movie endeavour because, ultimately, it’s as such that the film succeeds best. Shoving it into the summer blockbuster spotlight leads to the feeling that it is merely dressing up for the mass audience.
Having dismissed the special effects I should say that they are at times spectacular - especially a sequence during the conclusion which takes the concept of demolition to a startling extreme. But they also contribute to the worst moments too, and in this film that comes in the form of a scene I’ll refer to as ‘monkey swing’. How this gob-smackingly awful bit of cheesy flippancy made it into the final cut is beyond me, and I’ll bet that it will remain as a sticking point even with those who liked the movie. But at least a majority of the stunts and effects work serves to increase the entertainment you’ll get from the film, and when you boil it right down, that’s the most important thing here. The simple fact is that it’s not completely awful by any means, just disappointingly average.
Maybe there’s a hard truth that we need to face here: that it’s our fault. This movie would never have happened of its own accord; the fans forced it back with their persistent coercing. It is notable that as the original films grew in success, the formula was adapted to keep things in touch with the time. Now, shaped into a special effects blockbusting extravaganza, it falls limp - which maybe says more about our summer blockbusters than it does about Indiana Jones. As for those major players so shrouded by the towering popularity of their character: Koepp’s script is a little bumbling and silly, George’s influence is way too evident and Spielberg can’t recapture the atmosphere of nineteen years ago. Yes, it really has been nineteen years. Times have changed. Clearly, not entirely for the better.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is on general release.
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