Paradise Reel

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls

Synopsis: Indiana Jones 4th adventure takes him through the jungles of Central America in search for the lost city of the Crystal Skulls while avoiding capture from Russian spies!

My first encounter with Dr. Jones was during his escapade to save the children from The Temple of Doom. He swung into theaters in the summer of ’84 and I begged my parents to take me to watch it in the opening week. And then I begged them to bring me to watch again the following weekend. Then I repeated the same process about 15 times till they decided that to cure me of my Indiana Jones addiction, they would pretend to accidentally ‘buy’ the wrong tickets and stuck me in a theater that was playing the Kevin Bacon (”Death Sentence” and “Stir of Echos”) rebel movie, “Footloose”. Needless to say, I never forgave them for that.

Indiana Jones has been the pinnacle for adventure movies. Forget Brendan Fraser’s triple tango with walking toilet roll of the undead or the lacklustre female Dr. Jones’ clone packing the pair of huge… guns. Truth be told, there has been an Indy clone for all the years between the last and latest Indiana Jones movies. It is time for the real Doctor Jones to stand up, don his fedora, crack that whip once again, and set the mark for those on the bench to follow.

There has been plethora of scepticism surrounding Crystal Skulls, from the multiple delays to the dismissal of one of the top screenwriters/directors in, to even Harrison Ford’s receding hairline. Even now, with the debut of the new movie, fans have been split down the middle. Either they hate it or they love it. As I would not go as far as to herald this outing as one of the best Indiana Jones films out there (mine is still Temple of Doom), it is not subpar by any stretch of the definition. In fact, I would certain that Spielberg’s latest offering does preserve all the things we love about the part time professor of archeology, full time adventurer.

At the core of every Indiana Jones film is an adventure. Be it the hunt for religious relics or abolishing child slavery, you have thrills that keep you tettering at the edge of your seat. “Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls” every ounce of essence, is an adventure. Although the subject matter is firmly rooted in the ‘paranormal’ but which Indiana Jones film is not? “Raiders” had a golden chest that vapourised anyone who was within visual distance. “Doom” had the main villain rip out the beating heart of a slave who was after that still alive long enough to be lowered into a pit of lava. And there is “Crusade”, where if we all remember at the end of the film, made Indiana a Knight of the Cruciform Sword and thus an immortal.

As with all Indiana Jones movies, “Crystal Skulls” is just one big roller coaster ride. All the trademark action sequences are present in this rollick through ancient artifacts and exotic locales. For the astute Indy fan, some of the thrills do share a resemblance to their counterparts in previous films but they are adorned with new twists to make them fresh. The special effects have improved tremendously but one still yearns for the old school style of movie making where props and puppets were the order of the day as opposed to CGI (computer generated imagery).

Harrison does not bust any acting bones in this film but its hard to criticize an actor who was born to play a role. Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford are synonymous. There is only one man in the world who can convincingly take a beating, smirk and live to tell the tale, all while his fedora stays firmly on his head, and that is Harrison Ford. Everyone looks like they are having fun time acting in this film, from Karen Allen (“Raiders of the Lost Ark”) to Oscar winner, John Hurt (“Alien” and “V for Vendetta”) to even franchise newcomer Shia LeBeouf (“Transformers” and “Disturbia”), as they all deliver on all counts. Cate Blanchett (“Lord of the Rings” and “Notes on a Scandal”) is just pristine as the Russian agent sent to capture down the good doctor. She is able to add just that dash of campiness that does not discredit the entire film but still makes you grin to yourself in the dark.

It is reassuring to see Steven Spielberg is able to shift between subject matters so effortlessly and still retain his eye for awe and wonderment. The pacing within this film is purely textbook. Miniscule obstacles and threats building up to a climax that does not disappoint. The plot however does suffer from a bit of over simplicity. It is similar to that of “Crusade”, where Indiana is called in to help further the research of a previous mentor although the explanations to the puzzles are a tad cursory.

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg did not make a film just for the rabid fans who grew up watching Indiana Jones. They also made “The Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls” for that 8 year old kid who loved their first introduction to adventure so much that they begged their parents to take them to the theater just to see it again. And again. And again. So for those who have an inner kid locked away somewhere in your subconscious, give that little fella a treat and take him to watch the adventure that started it all.