Day 20: Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull.

Day 20: Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull (2008, Dir. Steven Spielberg)

Cinematic controversy has followed George Lucas for the last decade. Firstly people weren’t happy with a certain series of prequels and then there was this. I believe that this needless Lucas bashing is just a bit lazy, and all of these films prove in one way or another that Lucas isn’t just in it for the money, but is in it to continue delivering these fantastic stories.

This film is beautiful. It’s impossible not to describe the film’s visuals as stunning, and not just the action set pieces and CGI but everything from the lighting to locations all dazzle and are clearly created under the well experienced hand of Spielberg with a genuine passion for the franchise. Of course you can’t mention the beauty of this film without referencing John Williams fantastic score, but I suppose at this stage in his career it’s a given. This film features many sequences that stand alongside the series greats; the gruesome ant scene, the nostalgic Area 51 opening, the campus bike chase and yes THAT fridge escape isn’t all that bad either!

The alien problem isn’t really a problem at all, and certainly not dismissible for just being an unbelievable twist. The MacGuffins of the series are always a bit of a stretch; from boxes that melt people’s faces off to a magic cup, so the idea of an alien skull isn’t completely outrageous. The interesting twist on the religious iconography also gives an interesting slant to the series and proves to be genuinely thrilling and unexpected.

This moving of the series to the 1950’s works for the film, for one the series needs to move along with Harrison Ford’s age, but because of that we get the intriguing WW2 backstory and the subtle aging of the classic characters. The Russians fill the Nazi villains’ shoes well, with the cold war undercurrent keeping the tension moving along and mixing in some genuine paranoia of the day into the narrative. The different array of characters this time period gives us also adds something fresh to the mix. Perhaps though the best asset of this film is its change in genre, having moved on from an adventure serial of the 30’s to a B-movie of the 50’s there is a very exciting feeling of seeing a well loved character dealing with something different. And to have all of this delivered with the same exhilarating action and sense of adventure of the original 3 films, places this instalment effortlessly alongside its predecessors.

Not to say that there aren’t flaws in the film, Ray Winstone for one… But these can be easily overlooked when you realise how much fun you can have with this film. With the adventure of Raiders, the drama of Temple and the excitement of The Last Crusade all shining through in this 4th instalment, Dr. Jones has been gone too long, and hopefully he’ll be back again soon.

7.5/10

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367882/

Extra: The title is a bit of a mouth full mind…