Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Release Date: May 22nd, 2008
Starring: Harrison Ford, Shia LaBeouf, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Jim Broadbent.
Music: John Williams
Producer: Frank Marshall
Written by: David Koepp
Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Warning: This review is full of spoilers. You should first see the film before reading it!

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is an amazing movie. Obviously, it is impossible for any movie to reach the masterfulness of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but when I went to see this flick, I wasn’t expecting that. What I was expecting was a fun and interesting film full of action sequences, thrills, spooky scenes, great characters, a couple of special effects and excitement. And that’s exactly what Crystal Skull has delivered. Although it isn’t as fresh as, say, Iron Man, it definitely is one of the most fun and entertaining movies I’ve seen this year, and I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be one of my favorites. I mean, this flick’s got everything: action, adventure, humour, sci-fi, chases, sword fights, shooting, explosions and, of course, our favorite hero of all: Indiana Jones. Indy is back, folks, make no mistake about it.

The film starts in Nevada, in 1957. Indy (Harrison Ford, of course) and his new(ish) sidekick/rival, George “Mac” McHale (Ray Winstone), have been captured by agents of the Soviet Union, led by Irina Spalko (deliciously played by Cate Blanchett). She takes them to a military warehouse where every government secret is stored. (This is the same warehouse that appeared at the end of Raiders.) There's something she wants Indy to find and, after he does, he manages to escape. Later, while teaching back in Marshall College, he receives news from colleague Dean Stanforth (Jim Broadbent) that he’s being given a leave of absence. Just before he manages to leave to London, though, his attention is called by a young greaser called "Mutt" Williams (Shia LaBeouf). He wants his help to find Professor Oxley (John Hurt), who has been kidnapped by Russians while looking for a Lost City of Gold, in the South American Jungle; he seems to be involved in a hunt for the mythical Crystal Skulls. Soon enough, our two heroes fly to Peru (yay!), where they again encounter Spalko and her minions, who have captured Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), Indy’s original love from Raiders.

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull works marvelously because, first of all, it’s an Indy film, and it feels like one. The fact that it’s a motion picture featuring Indiana Jones immediately makes it a hundred times better than movies like National Treasure; there’s no other adventurer that can match the wit and charisma of Indy. I was pleasantly surprised by this flick because, since it’s being helmed by Spielberg and produced by the same people and starring Harrison-friggin’-Ford, it feels the same as the previous three flicks, boasting more or less the same tone as The Last Crusade. Everything is the same as in the first, second and third installments: the action, the adventure, the witty lines of dialogue and the humour. Even the McGuffin is interesting, at least better than the Sankara Stones from Temple of Doom.

There is no other actor in the world that could play Indy and, even though Harrison Ford is already 65 years old, he plays Indiana the same as in the previous film. In short, he’s excellent. He delivers all his lines with wit, makes the action sequences believable and thrilling – because we actually believe that it’s Ford the one who’s performing them – and has no problem in bringing back his iconic characters after nineteen years of absence. It’s also cool to know that he was willing to perform all the stunts that he could and that, even though stunt doubles were used in some sequences (as in the previous films), he was physically capable of doing most of the action. Digital stunt doubles are never used, which makes it easier for one to believe that Ford is punching and shooting all those Russians. Additionally, it’s also great to see the return of Karen Allen as Marion. She looks pretty much the same as she did in Raiders (except for the obvious differences that have to do with age), and boasts loads of chemistry with Ford; it’s pretty obvious that the both of them were having tons of fun while shooting the film. Allen’s performance is great, and the best thing is that David Koepp hasn’t changed the character at all: she’s still a strong woman of action.

I must also say that all the hate that was directed towards Shia LaBeouf before the release of the movie was unfounded. Granted, he doesn’t give an incredible performance, but he’s really good in his role of greaser Mutt. He starts as a rebellious and dumbish kind of kid, and ends the movie as more of a mature character. Ray Winstone as Mac and John Hurt as Oxley are great too, but have too little screentime and aren’t allowed enough time to shine. Still, they give really good performances: Mac is sufficiently ambiguous as a rival/sidekick, and Hurt acts hilariously crazy during most of the film. The real scene-stealer, though, is Cate Blanchett as Agent Irina Spalko. She might not be as charismatic or memorable as Raiders’ Belloq, but she’s nevertheless one of the best Indy villains yet. Blanchett’s accent is great, and manages to make the character her own. She’s villainous, exotic, beautiful, ambitious, and she’s got freakin’ mental/psychic powers.

Most people go to watch an Indiana Jones film to watch the action sequences and the ways our heroes manage to escape the direst situations and, in that sense, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull delivers. Spielberg is a master of action and tension, and in this particular movie he manages to create many memorable action scenes that made me really excited and pumped-up. The Warehouse action sequence makes the movie start with a bang, and gives a hint to the audience of what’s about to come; the Marshall College chase, which has Indy and Mutt in a motorcycle being chased by Commies and ends in a library, is tons of fun; the Jungle Chase, which is the centerpiece of the whole film, is deliciously choreographed and shot. It has everything: shooting, explosions, bazookas, hybrid vehicles, fencing (yes, fencing!) and lots of thrills. It’s one of the most exciting sequences in the whole movie, but it isn’t perfect: the “mini-scene” of Mutt encountering a group of monkeys and doing like Tarzan is just too cheesy, and looks too obviously blue-screened. Fortunately, it doesn’t last long and doesn’t manage to do any damage to the movie.

Yes, I said blue-screened. When Spielberg said that the film’s special effects were only like 30% CGI, he was telling the truth… kinda. The first 2/3 of the flick have almost no CGI; all the action sequences are shot in the old-fashioned way, with traditional real-life explosions, real stunt doubles and Russian extras, and real transports. But it’s when the movie arrives at its conclusion that the digital effects are let loose. When Spielberg said that only 30% of the effects were digital, I thought they were scattered here and there, but the reality is, most of them actually appear during the film’s conclusion. That doesn’t mean the movie doesn’t feel like an Indy flick; I was just expecting an ending with less effects. The great news is that these computer effects aren’t used for action sequences or stuff like that; they’re actually needed, and never call attention to themselves. Besides, they look really cool and expensive.

But why is CGI needed? Why didn’t Spielberg use 100% practical effects? Well, I must say that the rumours regarding aliens were actually true, and that that’s the reason why CGI was needed. No need to worry, though; we don’t have little green men or stuff like that here. Let’s just say that Spielberg and his team have followed the theory that says that the Crystal Skulls are of alien origin, and that some ancient cultures were capable of constructing such amazing temples and creating such advanced technologies because of extraterrestrial influence. The great thing is that Spielberg and Koepp (yes, Koepp too) make all of this credible and exciting, and if you watch Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as an homage to cheesy sci-fi movies of the 50s (as the previous flicks were an homage to the serials of the 30s), you’ll have one hell of a time. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by the Crystal Skull storyline; it’s really interesting, and the way Jones and Mutt discover clues little by little is engrossing. It also helps that some scenes take place in Peru, hehe. The filmmakers have got most of the details of Peruvian history right, and it’s really cool to see the Nazca lines making an appearance.

John Williams’ score, as always, is really great too. It might not be the best score he has ever composed, but it boasts an effective mixture of previous themes – the Raider’s March, the Ark of the Covenant theme, the Indy and Marion theme – and new ones – Mutt’s theme and the Crystal Skull’s theme. I wasn’t able to fully appreciate Williams’ music because of all the shooting and exploding and punching, but I was nevertheless impressed by it: the Skull’s theme is really creepy! Sound design is also great; Ben Burtt (who has left Lucasfilm but returned to work for Crystal Skull because he really loves the series) was in charge of the sound effects, meaning that we do hear the exaggerated punch sounds and everything that makes the Indy movies so special in terms of sound.

Yes, as you can see, I really liked Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I just don’t understand the critics who haven’t liked the movie; it might not be a masterpiece (the Tarzan scene is ridiculous and special effects are sometimes too evident), but it's really fun. Maybe they have seen so many modern action movies full of digital effects, shaky camerawork and MTV-like editing, that they can’t enjoy a traditional and seemingly-old-fashioned actioner. One just can’t over-analyse this picture. The Indy films were created to provide with exhilarating action sequences, interesting and cheesy (yes, cheesy) storylines and great acting. So you know what? That’s exactly what Indy IV delivers. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is one of the most fun and entertaining motion pictures I’ve seen this year, providing with a compelling mixture of humour, action, sci-fi, special effects, foreign accents and memorable characters. Indy, we’ve missed you, and couldn’t have chosen a better way to return. Welcome back.