Film: Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

When I first heard about the new Indiana Jones film, I was cautiously optimistic.  Optimistic because Indiana Jones was a major part of my childhood.  Cautious because Star Wars episodes 4-6 were also a major part of my childhood.  So to say that my expectations were low would be an understatement.  I was prepared for this film to destroy my childhood.  And when you walk into a movie expecting that, it's hard to not be pleasantly surprised.

Unless you're watching The Phantom Menace.

But I digress.  I was pleased with the direction The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull took the series.  The jump from Nazis to Communists was a logical one, and Cate Blanchett did an excellent job as their 'psychic' leader.

More importantly, using elements of current, common cultural mythology - in the form of Area 51 and El Dorado, among others - was a stroke of genius on the part of the writers, easily putting this film above the lackluster Temple of Doom.  To me, these elements are what made Raiders of the Lost Arc and The Last Crusade such excellent films.  The blending of 'fact' and fiction made those two films brilliant because they made it that much easier for us to suspend our disbelief.  And although The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull never quite manages to match its predecessors in plot quality (Temple of Doom excluded) I applaud - and greatly appreciate - the effort.

The film managed to be referential to its source material, without ever trying to distract us from the current film.  This is a fine line, in my opinion, as these tips-of-the-hat can sometimes end up being too much, "Ignore this piece of crap, remember that good movie we made 20 years ago."  And although some may disagree, I never felt The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull crossed this line.

What's more, the character of Indiana Jones still felt genuine.  One of my greatest fears going in to this movie was that Indiana Jones would feel more like a caricature of himself instead of a real person.  Rather than resembling the character from the original trilogy, I was worried that he would instead resemble the legendary figure our common cultural mythology has warped him into.  Again, some may disagree, and my opinion may even change after watching the film again, but on my first viewing, I felt the character remained true.  At least as true as a fictional character can.

My biggest complaint, is that this movie finally kills the mystery.  Doing my best to not spoil the ending, this film once and for all removes any doubt about the cause of the 'supernatural' events it portrays.  Despite everything that happens in the original trilogy, never were we once told, "Oh hey, this was totally an act of God, definitely supernatural, no chance of a rational explanation here."  In The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull though, we are told that.  Plain and clear.  About three times.  And that ruins the mystery for me a bit.  There's no, "Well it seemed like that, but maybe..."  It's just, "This is how it is.  End of story."  So finally, after four films, Indiana Jones will have to stop being a skeptic.  And that makes me a little sad.

But let's face it.  It's still a 3/3.  If you've watched the original trilogy and were a fan, this is a must see.  There's no way around it.  Even if it were garbage, let's be honest with each other, you'd still go.  So just go watch it.  And even if you don't like it, you'll have a hard time convincing me it's worse than Temple of Doom.

And if you haven't watched the original trilogy:

A) What is wrong with you?

B) This one is a 2/3, but you should go watch the original trilogy, at which point see above.