Movie Review: Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Tan-tanata-tan-tan-tan, tan-tanata-tan-tatan-tan-tan!

He’s back, he’s grayer, he’s older, but he’s still Indy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this well done film.

I must admit I was a little bit nervous that the guy who had Geedo shot first in the re-release of Star Wars, and the guy who replaced the guns with walkie-talkies would destroy this film, but somehow, they didn’t.

What was special about the movie was that unlike the last two elements which were pastiche’s of themselves, this film managed to go back to the essence of the film which was an homage to genre matinee films.

In this case, the genre involved Soviets, paranormal events, UFO’s and a lot of running in the jungle.

What made the movie, beyond the fine acting, the well crafted albeit silly plot,  was the decision by Spielberg and Lucas to not just use green screen. Many of the scenes were augmented with computer graphics, but the fact that the actors, for the most part, interacted with a three dimensional world, rather than imaginary objects in front of a green screen, improved the acting and the visual appeal of the movie.

Cate Blanchett continues to demonstrate why she is a goddess of acting, stealing every scene she was in.

Harrison Ford, continues to prove that if the role calls for a little bit of  acting, and a tough guy, even at 64 he can do the job.

For those who care, a few elements of the overall arc of the four movies are resolved.

Leave a Reply