Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull
I don’t know what everyone’s complaining about: This is a fun movie, maybe not up to the level of the best in the series, but it felt like an Indy movie to me, particularly when he deals out his own patented form of physical assault on the bad guys. Surprisingly Shia Lebeouf fails to ruin things as the sidekick, and his chemistry with Ford is fun to watch, even if he is NOT ready to inherit the mantle of the series. Some definite good setpieces are on display, as I enjoyed the nuke bomb sequence and the opening warehouse scenes, LOVED the soda shop brawl (especially the chick that punches out Shia), as well as the motorcycle chase. The pacing really isn’t that bad, and the final revelations concerning the aliens are fine in keeping with series tradition of awe-inspiring mysticism without seeming like a retread, as some aspects of Last Crusade felt. It is a shame we didn’t see Sean Connery return, but oh well. Most of the supporting cast is fine, especially Cate Blanchett, who notches the honor of being the best villain in the series EVER, and is leagues ahead of Paul Freeman’s pathetic Belloq, Amrish Puri’s goony Mola Ram, and Julian Glover’s bland Donovan. Blanchett even manages to bring some subtle hints of humanity to the role, something Freeman tried (and failed) to do in spades in Raiders. John Hurt has some crazy fun as Indy’s old friend, even if I thought his manic babbling was something I had seen him do before in another flick; Karen Allen as an older, more mellow Marion reignites the old chemistry with Ford, and doesn’t deserve the scorn she’s gotten around these parts. The film is far from perfect though: Ray Winstone’s part is a completely useless cliche, poorly written and terribly acted (his jumping from side to side while Indy is tied up is painful to watch), and his final scene is completely insipid. Then there is the matter of the super monkeys during the otherwise cool jungle chase scene, since there is NO way these animals would just know who is good or evil or who to attack. Despite these flaws, it’s still a lot of fun, and Ford and Spielberg give what I would hope is a proper sendoff to one of the greatest icons in cinema history…
8/10