Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Review

Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: David Koepp
Starring: Harrison Ford/Shia LaBeouf
Runtime: 2 hours 3 minutes

For the first time since 1989, Indiana Jones rides onto the bigscreen in Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It's a not-so-bad fourth installment of the Jones saga, and fans of the series will probably enjoy this one as much as any of the others.

I was looking at a couple of Jones pictures a few weeks ago, and was reminded that movies look better in your memories than they do on the bigscreen. A couple of scenes in Raiders of the Lost Ark left me wondering how I could have felt that the movie was a masterpiece. It was a good movie, to be sure, but the fight scenes seemed cheesier than they used to, and the comedic timing seemed a bit off.

For that reason, I give Kingdom fairly high marks. Comparing it to a masterpiece wouldn't do it justice, because the original films weren't high art: they were fun adventure movies, which is what you'll find with Kingdom.

This movie takes place in the 50's. Jones has gotten older and a little bit slower. We learn that he hasn't been in too many scraps in a while. Of course, the Nazis are long gone, so Jones' new enemy turns out to be the Russians. One of them, played by Cate Blanchett, is on a quest for rare antiquities which she feels will give her super powers.

The movie is much the same as the other three. Once Jones smells an adventure, he takes off to exotic locales and fights the world's enemies, ensuring that they can't use humanity's artifacts to do harm. I won't give away much of the plot, but let's say that David Koepp (War of the Worlds) was the screenwriter, and that the opening of the film occurs in the Nevada desert. Draw your own conclusions about where this might lead.

The cast is good. Shia LaBeouf plays a good, smartass sidekick, and Karen Allen returns as Marion Ravenwood. Her relationship with Indy is fun, if a bit predictable. John Hurt has a small part as an archeologist who has gone out of his mind, and he plays it well. I heard some people say that Cate Blanchett wouldn't hold up as the evil Soviet villian. Right. She's Cate Blanchett. Enough said.

But how about Ford?

That was the question that seemed to be on everyone's mind before the movie was released. Ford's now over 65, and many have wondered if he could pull off the part, stunts and all.

I don't know if Ford did all of his own stunts. I doubt it, because some of them look pretty rough. But he carries the part of Indiana Jones as if he hasn't missed more than five minutes. The hat, the whip, the leather jacket, none of them look silly on him.

Harrison Ford is just one of those actors: likable. You want to see him do well, and he almost always does. He is just as believable in this movie as any of the others, and the script does a good job of cracking wise about his age without turning it into a full-blown comedy.

One thing the movie does suffer from is a cheap look to the lighting, especially in the opening of the film. The sets are obviously fake, and the lighting is very much like that found in sit-coms. I don't know why it was lit this way, but for the first ten minutes of the film, I had a sinking feeling. If it went on much longer like that, the cheapness of the movie would override the story, and you'd immediately sense a flop coming on.

Spielberg rights the ship after that, and from then on it's fairly smooth sailing, except for Jones: he ends up in so many fights and chases that you have to admire Ford for taking the part. Action movies are not easy to do, whether as an actor or director.

For the fans wondering if this movie will kill their memories of Indiana Jones, don't sweat it. This flick won't have you cheering for joy, but it will easily entertain and not leave you wishing they hadn't made it.

Photos: Yahoo Movies