Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull or was the idea Indiana Jones vs. The Aliens? I can’t really decide which one it was. I know there was a crystal skull in the mix, but there was a good bit of aliens as well, not to mention a wooden performance by none other than the one person you wouldn’t expect it from, Cate Blanchett.

With Blanchett playing Spalko, this time a Russian and NOT a German, in search of the skull and as it comes out knowledge you would expect the actress nominated for Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild awards, BAFTA and SAG, a stellar performance, but this time around it was as though she forced the role way too much, made it unbelievable.

In fact Blanchett was the only real beef I had with the film. That, and possibly the cinematography. Slap me and call me nostalgic but I prefer the look of the older films, there was more depth of field in the old movies, in this one, well everything is thinner, its a finner focus, and I think that’s one of the things that made me a little eh about the film.

Another thing that I was not so much bothered with, but not enthused about was the score for the film. It’s almost as though Williams didn’t do much extra work, it’s almost an amalgamation of all the scores combined with maybe one or two new themes.

The one humorous, and there are quite a few moments of comedy in the film, was the transition from the famous Paramount Pictures logo to the opening scene. As we have seen in past films they always transition to a piece of landscape or scenery, In Raiders it was a jungle mountain top, in Temple of Doom it was a picture on a Chinese gong, and in Crusade it was a desert mesa point. This time around it was… a prairie dog hill. Yes that’s right the mighty Paramount Pictures logo transitions into a prairie dog hill. And I know it was meant as a cinematic joke and most of the audience did as well, getting scattered laughter here and there.

The one thing I was sad not to see was Marcus Brody, Dr. Jones Sr. or Sallah. The former characters were explained, both having died before the fourth installment takes place. And though Brody doesn’t play an actual role in the film, a statue of his character does. But we have to remember that Demholm Elliot pasted away in ‘92. As for Connery and Rhys-Davies both are alive and kicking, they just didn’t return to the saga, which in many ways was a shame. But, as a consolation prize we got the fiery Karen Allen, much older now, but just as good as she was then, if not ten times better. I say better because her comedic timing is spot on, especially with the DUKW/Tree/Cliff scene in the movie.

I mention humor because it stands out more in this film. From the scenes with prairie dogs to finding out that Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) is actually the son of Jones and Ravenwood, but what did you expect, got to carry on the legacy somehow right?

The over all scenery of the film was great, from flat desert planes to dense jungles of the Amazon. And two scenes really stand out to me, the atomic bomb going off at the beginning and the final large scene view, which will remain a secret until you see the film yourself. All in all I enjoyed the film, I thought it was a fitting end… so far as we know it, and Ford basically confirmed it will be his last Indy film, he’s hanging up the fedora and whip guys, wipe your tears away and just remember the fond tales of “Henry… Jones… Jr.”