 |
| Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) |
Alright, so where to start? Well, I'll say this: the film still feels like Indiana Jones. Some 20 years later and they've still nailed the tone of the previous films, that's something. The film doesn't take itself so seriously that it becomes a joke, but it also doesn't treat itself so much like a joke that it marginalises what came before it. The music is still as great as it's ever been, and Indy's theme is still one of my favourites in cinema. Harrison Ford is still excellent as Indiana Jones, and he hasn't lost his touch after all those years. It also just feels good to back in those classic Indiana Jones temples. The archaeology side of things has always been the thing that made these films stand apart, and this film holds true to that. It still feels like one of the serials they have always been paying homage to.
 |
| Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones |
The cast is actually very impressive here. Cate Blanchett is always a great villain, and while she's not given very much to do here, she still commands authority whenever she's on screen. John Hurt is amazing in everything he's in, and it's great to see him here. I also love Jim Broadbent, and his role in this film is small, but nice. Shia LeBeouf does a great job as Mutt, and he really feels like a kid who would have existed in the 50s. I love the dynamic between him and Indy and how he really looks up to Dr. Jones whether he'll admit it or not. But it's absolutely fantastic to see Karen Allen back as Marion Ravenwood. In every Indiana Jones review since Raiders I've pointed out how every love interest just felt weak in comparison to her, so I was immensely happy to see that not only is she back, but she's just as good as she ever was. She's still a match for Indy, and the way the two bounce off each other is still great to watch.
 |
| Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood |
But, okay, okay, there are problems here, stop yelling at me. To start with, while the warehouse scene at the beginning was great and really harkened back to classic Indy, the rest of the opening felt extremely disconnected with the rest of the plot. The visit to the nuclear testing city did nothing to add to the plot, not to mention the way he escapes feels like it shouldn't have worked (although it's not the most implausible escape Indy's ever had so stop acting like it killed the franchise for God's sake). The following encounter with the FBI really has no bearing on the rest of the story, apart from getting Indy to the train station to meet Mutt, but you could have just as easily had the two meet at the university and it wouldn't have changed anything.
 |
| John Hurt as Harold Oxley |
The action scenes are fine, I guess, but there's nothing here that we haven't seen in Indiana Jones before, and there were no action scenes that really stand out to me as absolutely incredible. There was at least one in every Indy film prior to this, but not here. They were still enjoyable, but nothing special. I also don't know how I feel about the existence of aliens in the Indiana Jones universe. It just feels a little unnecessary, and them being aliens doesn't really impact the story in any meaningful way. I don't know, since so many people were insanely offended by the aliens thing (which still isn't that big a deal, calm down people), I feel like it could have been something different and nothing would have changed. In a similar vein, I feel as though the ending to this film was a little too clean, and it easily feels like the weakest Indiana Jones ending. Everything was wrapped up just a little to nicely for my liking, and it kinda came out of nowhere. If there'd have been a little more build-up I'd probably have been fine with it, but as it is, it just kinda confused me.
 |
| Cate Blanchett as Irena Spalko |
So, what do I think of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) on the whole? Well, I did enjoy it, and I probably would watch it again, but I can still acknowledge why people might not like it as much as I do. It's the Spider-Man 3 effect, so it gets the same score from me. 5.5/10.
Tomorrow: The Hunger Games come to an end with Mockingjay - Part 2.
No comments:
Post a Comment