On DVD and Blu-Ray Tomorrow: Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull

I will first say that I am a huge Indiana Jones fan. I am also a huge movie fan. I’ve seen a great deal of good and bad films to know the difference between the two. When Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was announced, I was one of the first ones to know about it. This movie has been in “development hell” for 15 years off and on. The basic drafts of the stories were there, however Lucas and Spielberg could not agree on a script until David Koepp finally wrote the one they wanted. Harrison Ford said for years that of all the characters he has played, he would love an opportunity to revisit this one, but he wouldn’t do it unless they all agreed on a script and they began production by 2008.

The reason that all this matters is because Hollywood goes through cycles and this was not part of that Hollywood bandwagon. The bandwagon is apparent with movies like Rocky Balboa, Rambo 4, and Die Hard 4. These movies were not “in the making” for 15 years, and it is obvious by watching them. There are a few things to take into consideration when watching this movie.

Many people grew up watching Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and the Last Crusade. These movies all came out in the 80’s; 1981, 1984, and 1989 respectively. These movies, like many others were not rated by you at the time watching them, because you grew up with them. When you were younger you looked at them the way they were supposed to be looked at: a good time and an escape from reality. These movies also changed/invented the adventure genre as we know it. I have heard many critics of the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull question the movie by calling it unrealistic and too far fetched.

My answer to that is as follows:
If you go back and re-watch the originals, you will find the following:

1. Indy and co jumping out of a plane on an inflatable raft that inflates in the air, and then goes over a cliff, over snow, and through river rapids.
2. Indy going down over a cliff on a tank hundreds of feet to his doom, then reappearing moments later with a few scratches. I can go on and on.
   These things are completely unrealistic and unbelievable, but they are fun nevertheless.

We now live in an age where everyone thinks they understand and interpret movies because they have seen a few of them. They question the “realness” of movies today and judge them based on effects and not on story or plots.

In regards to symbolism, this movie pays homage to the “originals” as well.  There are a few scenes that closely resemble scenes or “throwback” to the first three.  My favorite one of these takes place about 20 minutes into the movie.  Indy and Mutt are on the motorcycle and are being chased by the Russians.  Mutt thwarts the Russians; the statue of Marcus Brody breaks, his head crushing through the windshield of the Russian’s car, halting their pursuit.  Mutt looks at Indy for approval after this incident and Indy is obviously unimpressed.  This mimics exactly the father-son relationship in the Last Crusade, where a similar incident involving a motorcycle takes place and Indy looks to his father for some sort of admiration.  The result is the same.

Systematically, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull works on many levels. Thematically, it is the same as the other ones. There is an object (crystal skull) that Indy is trying to find with help from certain people, who either care about helping him for the right reasons or the wrong ones.

My point is that these movies are made for adventure and pure fun. They are not meant to be realistic by any means. I will agree that there are certain parts of the new movie that I didn’t love, but there are parts of Temple and Last Crusade I don’t love either and it doesn’t bother me anymore. If you are a fan of the original three and can watch the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull like you watch those, then you will enjoy it.

Assuming that Raiders of the Lost Ark is a perfect movie, (which many critics alike do), I would rate this movie 3.5 out of 5 Reels.

Copyright: MyReelReviews.com 2008