My Movie Review on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull · 10:51pm Oct 7th, 2020
Yo, what's up, Kemosabes?
This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, for the fourth installment of my "Spook Spectacular" series, I'm gonna give you guys my take of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull".
Here's the rundown of this adventure:
Several years after discovering the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones is forced to take an indefinite leave of absence from Marshall College after the FBI suspects him of working for Soviet agents.
However, just before Indiana leaves to look for a job elsewhere, he is approached by a young greaser named Mutt Williams. Mutt tells Jones that an old mentor of his named Harold Oxley discovered the whereabouts of a crystal skull in Peru, and Mutt's mother had gone to find Oxley. Unfortunately, all two of them were captured by a group of Soviets, who are lead by the ambitious Irina Spalko.
Working together, the two of them must not only rescue Oxley and Mutt's mom, but find the crystal skull before the Soviets do.
Will the duo succeed in their quest? Or will the Soviets get what they want?
Having been aware of the divisive reputation this movie received, I'd like to start off with noting the only aspect I wasn't too fond of.
Perhaps it's just me, but the dialogue aspect of the film was a 50/50 venture at the most. There were many lines that were neatly done, but there were others that felt...rather wooden and unnatural.
Other than that, though...
As a guy who saw this movie for the very first time via Netflix, I enjoyed this movie in more ways than I expected!
For instance, the direction by Steven Spielberg, the story by George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson, and the screenplay by David Koepp, were wonderfully well-done.
The beginning with Jones being held captive by the Soviets without explanation as to how was baffling, and I did wish that the relationship between Jones and George "Mac" Michale was given more exploration before arriving to that moment. But, that didn't stop me from getting intrigued right on the spot.
The overall story managed to grapple my interest hook, line, and sinker despite it being about a quest for a lost artifact like the other movies. What I really enjoyed about this movie, though, was that it beautifully captured the spirit and tone of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "The Last Crusade" while still being its own thing. The action sequences were an absolute blast to watch, there was a vast amount of unpredictability and thrills, and the humor and comedic-timings were hysterical! Plus, there was an unexpectingly large amount of heart, which came from the growing bond between Indiana and Mutt, and the reconnecting between Indiana and Mary.
The CGI of the film was spectacular, if I may add.
For instance, whenever I looked at the prairie dogs, monkeys, ants, and alien, I was astounded by how realistic-looking they were despite how clear it was that they were done by computer. Overall, I believe the effects team found a great balance at how to give viewers the acknowledgement of what's not real while still making them look as convincing as possible.
The music by John Williams was likewise as wonderful as ever.
Most of the melodies he made for the film weren't as different as the material he created for its predecessors, of course. But, there were several new melodies he made that were really fun to listen to, such as the music made for the moment with the fire ants.
Finally, the performances of the cast, casting, characters, and character development were excellent.
Even after nearly 20 years since doing "The Last Crusade", Harrison Ford showed that the role of Jones was something he was born to play. He exhibited a great amount of fire, emotion, and personality into the character, and he took on even the most physically challenging of moments with style. Karen Allen's return as Marion Ravenwood was likewise an element I enjoyed. Allen not only made her character as feisty and fiery as ever, but Marion herself once again showed why she's the best female lead of the series and the greatest love interest of Indiana Jones. Both Jones and Marion had dynamic development too.
The film's new characters and cast members were brilliant too. The performers fit their parts perfectly. As a matter of fact, I literally can't deny that the movie had the most impressive cast out of the entire series. Plus, the new characters themselves had great development too, especially Mutt, Irina, and George.
My particular favorites were Shia LeBouf as Mutt Williams and Cate Blanchett as Irina Spalko. I realize that Mutt isn't the most popular character of the series, but I thought LeBouf did a terrific job portraying his part and that Mutt himself was a fun guy to hang with. Plus, Cate Blanchett killed it playing the part of Spalko. She portrayed her character with spectacular style, and whatever piece of dialogue she had she delivered with delicious flavor. In addition, Spalko herself was quite likely the most fully-realized and human villain of the Indiana Jones series yet.
In conclusion, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" isn't a flawless film, but...it's one of the most fun sequels I've ever watched. It's a better recommendation than "The Temple of Doom", that's for sure.
So, I rate "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" 4½ out of 5 stars.
To Lucasfilm: I hope you guys know what you're doing with making a fifth Indiana Jones movie, because in all honesty...I have a feeling it'd be a tough nut to crack because of Harrison Ford being almost 80 years old now.
I love this film! It gets a high rating from me too!
To me, it's not as bad as Temple of Doom, but it was okay. I didn't mind the aliens being in this movie, but the problem I had is the villains are out of character since they're from the Soviet Union, compared to the Nazis, and they somehow got to America without any other government noticing.
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Why?
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I read that the reason for the change from the Nazis to the Soviets was mainly because the film team realized they wore the Nazis out as the villains.
The film itself takes place in the 1950s, which is when the Cold War was around.
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How are the villains out of character?
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I'm no historian, but the Soviet Union isn't as evil as the Nazis themselves. I mean, there's no reason to steal alien artifacts for weapons when they already have deadly nuclear and chemical weapons, and America and Russia are competing each other to see which country is the greatest, unlike the Nazis who plot world domination. Sure, the Nazis wanted artifacts as weapons of war that's because the movie took place in 1938, seven years after Hiroshima.
This is the only Indiana Jones movie I've ever watched when I was a kid. I remember enjoying it alongside my dad as we watched it together.