Back in 2008, almost two decades on from the release of The Last Crusade, Indiana Jones returned to the big screen for a new adventure, Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, which was greeted with much disdain and general criticism – and I have to say, at the time, I agreed with much of it.
Watching it now though, 15 years on from its release and probably at least a decade since I last saw it properly, it was like watching an entirely different film and I had a great time with it.
Certainly there are a few moments where logical jumps are required but, in the context of this universe, they might stretch things but they don’t break any ‘rules’ any more so than events elsewhere in the series, and even the rather cute computer generated gophers don’t feel too out of place.
In general terms the plot is pretty much what we’ve come to expect as Indy (Harrison Ford still owning the role and holding his own remarkably well despite the passage of time, though I suspect a few more stuntmen were probably required than in previous pictures) is set off on a quest to discover an ancient artefact, in this case a titular crystal skull, and ends up embroiled in a globe trotting adventure involving the standard foreign enemy of era – this being set in 1957, its Communist Russia rather than Nazi Germany, but really the characters serve the exact same purpose.
In terms of villains Cate Blanchett is excellent, chewing scenery at just the right level under a fabulously iconic haircut and wielding a series of elaborate swords with the best of them.
Along with her are a few classic big strong Russian henchmen types and the constantly allegiance swapping Mac (Ray Winstone) who adds an extra wrinkle of intrigue.
As sidekicks to Indy, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) returns for the first time since Raiders and is the bickering equal to the hero she ever was, which is a delight.
Along with her comes John Hurt as Harold ‘Ox’ Oxley, a contemporary archeologist of Indy’s, who almost acts as the MacGuffin himself and sees Hurt evidently having fun gibbering, dancing and aimlessly wandering his way through the bulk of the film in the most intentional of ways.
Then we come to Shia LeBouef’s ‘Mutt’, a character and actor, who I recall raising a lot of frowns and criticism at the time of the film’s release.
While it’s undeniable LeBouef is an odd presence on screen (not something unique to this picture), and his introduction in full ‘Brando in The Wild One’ costume is about as heavy handed as they come, in the end he’s actually absolutely fine in the role he has here and acts as a younger character amongst the largely older cast perfectly adequately.
Another criticism I recall having of the film was it having an over reliance on computer generated effects rather than the real stunt work of the original trilogy and, while there is certainly an amount of CGI here, again this time around it didn’t bother me and there was still some good practical effects and stunt work going on too.
The only place I’d say it was slightly disappointing was in the inevitable final demise of the villain (something for which the series had become known) but maybe that’s just because it doesn’t have the childhood memories of terror the earlier films created for me.
This all makes Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull a fine entry in the series and certainly superior to Temple Of Doom and not too far behind The Last Crusade while rewatching it now has certainly left me more excited for The Dial Of Destiny.
Tommy Girard 