When a new chapter is added 19 years later to an already elite series of films, fans can’t help letting an abundance of nerves accompany their excitement. Sure they want to see their hero again, but at what cost? Is it worth giving the franchise a cinematic black eye just to catch a glimpse of something vaguely representing it? Most fans would say, “yes,” but only on certain conditions. The original creators and cast members have to be heavily involved, the story must maintain continuity, and the writing has to stay true to the characters as they were portrayed in the previous films. Unfortunately for the fans, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a sad shell of the great adventure trilogy from the 80’s, even with the usual suspects at the helm.
The fourth and most likely final installment of the Indiana Jones series advances the hero into the 1950’s. It’s as much a strange new world for Indy in the 50’s as it is for his fans in the new millennium. No longer are the Nazi’s a thorn in his side, they have been replaced by the Soviets in a now communist-paranoid society. Along with nuclear weapons, rock and roll, and greasers, Indiana Jones looks like he’s in the wrong movie at times.
Jones is now an operative for the US government in its fight against communism, all the while maintaining his professor status at Marshall College. Just as Indy is about to head for a new life in London, leaving behind the ghosts of his past, he is tracked down by a young greaser named Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf; Transformers). Williams needs Indy’s archeological expertise to find the mysterious crystal skull so he can exchange it to the Soviets for the release of his mother, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen; Raiders of the Lost Ark).
In most cases when you have the original creators of a well-defined series coming back, it’s a safe bet that you’ll get more of the same creativeness that made the franchise great in the first place. Especially when the creators coming back are named Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull turns out to be a total enigma. There were many factors that could have led to the films undoing, however it was not Harrison Ford’s age, the introduction of Shia LaBeouf’s character, or the generation gap between the fans. Ironically this film suffered from a very poor story, hokey writing, and lackadaisical direction; all of the elements fans never thought they had to worry about with this film.
The film shined a very awkward light on the character of Indiana Jones. He was acting and speaking in very unfamiliar tones. It’s like the writers forgot who the character was entirely. Yes he has aged 20 years, but it was as if the script never wanted you to forget it. This movie overcompensates for an older Indy, virtually turning him into a nerd. In one scene he’s on the back of Mutt Williams’ motorcycle yelling at him to slow down before someone gets hurt, and in another he’s shrieking at the site of one snake. Now we all know Indiana Jones hates snakes, but he was never paralyzed in fear by the site of one before. Even academy award winner Cate Blanchett is neutralized in this film. A perfect storm of bad dialogue, shallow character development, and a caricature-like costume and accent makes her portrayal of Soviet villain Irina Spalko a laughable performance.
Also, the plot of this film takes Indiana Jones into uncharted and uncomfortable territory. All of the legends and treasures from the previous films were inherit to human history. This movie takes the characters deeper into science fiction than any of its predecessors. It just did not fit the characters. I felt like any second Harrison Ford was going to shed his fedora and bullwhip for a black vest and blaster. The Indiana Jones movies were never known for their realism, but they at least made sense in their own reality. The introduction of a possible extraterrestrial artifact took the seriousness out of the film. All science fiction stories are built on a very slim and fragile foundation of realism and seriousness. If they are fractured or broken, the audience is immediately taken out of the fantasy.
The only moments this film resembled any shred of the trilogy from the 80’s is when Dr. Jones enthralls the other characters with lore. It was the only time in the script that Indiana Jones actually sounded like Indiana Jones. Some of the action sequences did hold some merit, but even they went way outside the bounds of the previous films and at times even seemed cartoonish. Spielberg and Lucas bombard the audience with one action sequence after the next. This just exposed the weak writing even further in the down parts of the film.
Even more disturbing than the failure of this film, if you can call $300 million in five days a failure, is the fact that Steven Spielberg seems to have lost his sci-fi story telling abilities. You have to go all the way back to 1993’s Jurassic Park to find the last well- received sci-fi directorial effort from Spielberg. Since then he has honed his craft to become one of the most superb history-based storytellers in the industry. Since 1993 Spielberg has directed Schindler’s List, Amistad, Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can, and Munich. He even threw in a very uplifting comedy/drama in 2004 titled The Terminal starring Tom Hanks. However on the flip side, Spielberg’s science fiction roster since ‘93 includes The Lost World, Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report, and War of the Worlds.
Even though it doesn’t always show at the box office, Spielberg has had a long streak of sci-fi disappointments. Sadly this streak has now tainted one of his fans most beloved characters.
Story: 3.0
Acting: 3.0
Writing: 2.5
Captivation: 5.0
Replay Value: 4.0
Total Score: 3.5
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
