Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Movie review by efrain gomez - May 22, 2008
Indy is back and fans won’t be disappointed
I can only hope that when I’m 65, I can still leap off moving cars, dodge bullets, take a punch to the jaw, crack a whip, swing in to dropkick the bad guys, and still keep my hat on while saving an ancient treasure from the clutches of evildoers. Okay, so none of that will probably ever happen with me, but Harrison Ford makes it look so easy – he even does his own stunts!
That’s right, folks, The Fedora is back. Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones returns in the new film “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”, the fourth installment in a franchise that began 27 years ago with “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. The Indiana Jones movies are the ultimate adventure stories from two of American cinema’s most creative minds, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.
It’s the 1950’s and Indy is still teaching archaeology at a university while tracking down ancient artifacts on the side. This time, he’s gotten himself involved in a Soviet plot within the jungles of South America to uncover the secret behind a mysterious artifact known as the Crystal Skull.
Spielberg and Lucas mix in references to the first three films, much to the glee of Indy geeks like me. The trademark tongue-in-cheek humor, the prolonged fistfights, the impossibly complex chases involving missiles, monkeys, sword fights, and screaming ethnic stereotypes (in this case, the Russians) to the tune of the famous John Williams score – it’s all there.
Speaking of tradition, Spielberg, who directs all four Indy films, publicly stated that he intended to stick with the original style of the first three films when he directed “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”. Notorious for refusing to go digital, he said that he preferred to stay true to the tradition of the older films, which may seem slower-paced to newer audiences. I’d say he definitely took a risk by staying old skool, but he pulls it off wonderfully. Spielberg is an awesome visual storyteller and he can still make Harrison Ford look good while punching a guy’s lights out. So much so that you end up appreciating the original movies even more and impulsively buying the trilogy box set at the nearest Borders for 20% off. Well, okay, so that’s just me.
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