Friday, October 03, 2008
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
**** Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
. Action/adventure.Directed by: Steven Spielberg.
Starring: Harrison Ford, Shia LaBeouf, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen
We saw this at the Hercules, before our trip to the States.
Indiana Jones is back, and the story fits the franchise: Indy (Harrison Ford) is looking for an artifact, and some bad guys want to get it first/take it from him for nefarious purposes. Did I leave anything out? Not really. The details are where the differences are:
| Raiders of the Lost Ark | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| artifact | Ark of the Covenant | a precious stone | Holy Grail | a crystal skull |
| supernatural element | Judeo-Christian | Indian god* | Christian | aliens |
| location of artifact | Egypt | India* | Venice | Peru |
| sidekicks | John Rhys-Davies | precocious kid | John Rhys-Davies, Sean Connery | Shia LaBeouf |
| love interest | Marion Ravenwood, who's independent and capable | Willie Scott, who does nothing but squeal and complain, but hey, she's blonde | Dr. Elsa Schneider, who's also the villain | Marion Ravenwood |
| adversaries | Nazis | Indian warlord* | Nazis | Russians |
| my rating | *****+ | ***½ | ***** | **** |
It's interesting--maybe only to me, but each of the elements seems to have affected how much I enjoyed the movies. Well, maybe not the locations so much,
Looking for an artifact with some legend behind it--a legend that the audience is at least marginally familiar with (okay, that I'm familiar with), is a good start, as is having a sidekick and a love interest who are more equal partners with Indy. And the Nazis are always good adversaries, with the Russians a close second. Some anonymous South American warlord just doesn't pack the same punch.
And the supernatural element: Judeo-Christian works, because it's something we're familiar with, and... I hate to say it's real, but at the very least, it's a real belief. Was the god in Temple of Doom a real South American belief? I don't know, but it didn't feel real. Same with the aliens in this one.
I do think Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull fits in well with the rest of the series. It's not the worst of the movies, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Harrison Ford in this role again. It was wonderful to have Marion back, and played by Karen Allen. Huge kudos to the Spielberg/Lucas team for not succumbing to the Hollywood standard of getting a 20-years-younger actress to step in to an established role while keeping the leading man the same. There were plenty of fun stunts, laughs, exciting chases, and perilous situations, like a rocket sled escape and killer ants.
* Thanks to Heather for clarifying the location for me!
Categories: Movies, 4stars, ActionAdventure
Labels: 4 stars, action, Movies
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I thought Crystal Skull a more than adequate installment to the series, and my friend and I both enjoyed it.
BTW, some of the info you have for Temple of Doom is incorrect. The action took place in India and the bad guys were the Thuggee religious cult, with black magic being the supernatural element.
And I agree with you--that chick screeched WAY too much.
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BTW, some of the info you have for Temple of Doom is incorrect. The action took place in India and the bad guys were the Thuggee religious cult, with black magic being the supernatural element.
And I agree with you--that chick screeched WAY too much.
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