Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (***)

Directed by: Steven Spielberg (need I elaborate?)
Starring: Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Shia LeBeouf, Karen Allen, Ray Winstone, John Hurt
Seen: May 23rd 2008

*** Out of ****

Indiana Jones has long been a hero of many filmgoers since the first one, Raiders of the Lost Ark, was released in 1981. And this one does little else from the old ones, it entertains, it keeps yo on the edge of your seat, and it’s definitely a lot of fun.

Karen Allen even returns as Marion Ravenwood – a role she didn’t reprise in the second and third movies. So this is an Indiana Jones of at least two big returns, the first Indy movie in 19 years, and the first Indy love interest – 27 years after the fact. This is also an Indy of new beginnings, with Indy being given a sidekick in this one – Mutt Williams (LeBeouf), a slick young mechanic/ladies’ man…

It was a good choice to bring back one of the original villains in US film – the Russians – and give the middle east a bit of a rest. It only makes sense, since this film plays of in 1957, the same amount of time having passed between the films as in real-life, and at this stage the villains were still the Russians. Cate Blanchett gives us the over the top Irina Spalko, an evil and deliciously villainous Colonel-Doctor in the Russian army with her convoy of Russian agents posing as U.S. soldiers infiltrating a certain Nevada military base, Area 51. They bully Indiana Jones out of the boot of a car, and thus it begins. They want Indy to help them find a certain relic – the remains of an extraterrestrial creature that crashed in Roswell, New Mexico. Apparently this Crystal Skull has legendary powers, and the ability to impart knowledge on a large scale, and Spalko wants this.

This is vintage Indy, the producers even went to the lengths of making the film in the same ways it was done in the 80’s, opting to utilise special effects as little as possible, rather going for stunts and ‘old-school’ filmmaking. The Indy thrills are back – chase sequences reminiscent to the ones with Ford and Connery in the previous film, The Last Crusade (but maybe a bit too elongated); the insects and gross-out elements of all the previous films; Indy’s almost baffled handling of tricky situations – as if he relies more on luck than skill; his fear of snakes, and also the heavy dependence on traditional folklore and belief to drive certain plot elements.

There is the need for a healthy suspension of disbelief – Indy survives a nuclear blast by hiding in a lead-lined refrigerator, and more, which I’ll not go into, you have to see it yourself. Suffice it to say, many people were and will be upset with the conclusion – but go into the film with an open mind and realise that this is all happening within the Indiana Jones universe – and you should enjoy this one quite a lot, I know I did.