Indiana Jones: The Kingdom of Crystal Skulls (Spielberg, 2008): USA

Reviewed by Kevin Tran

I was all for seeing the fourth installment of Indiana Jones. I was curious to see how the series would work in the twenty first century and I really wanted to love it. Just as I loved Raiders of the Lost Ark and the entire original series, but despite parts of the film that made me feel nostalgic, I didn’t enjoy it as a whole. It’s not that I have matured from these kinds of movies that I liked so much growing up, but perhaps it’s just everyone else. Maybe there really is no country for old men, that our favorite archeologist/adventurer is lost in a world full of computer generated comic book super heroes.

Spielberg wasted no time getting right into plot and action. Indy is established more charismatically than ever, proving his wits and brawns within minutes of his introduction. The story takes place nearly a decade after The Last Crusade, this time the United States is at war with the Russians. George Lucas (who created the story and produced the film) reunites Indy with Karen Allen an old flame from Raiders and introduces Shia LaBeouf as his young punk sidekick. The three are set against the wicked Cate Blanchette, a Russian commie general. The story takes them to a remote ancient world of tropical Peru where their adventure begins daringly fun, but loses steam halfway through the film.

The film isn’t actually all that bad, unless you compare them to the originals. Actually, the action scenes in the first half of the film are spectacular. Spielberg continuously proves that he is a competent director, knowing exactly what his audience is looking for: old-fashion action scenes that mix danger with comedy. Although the film does falter in the eyes of those searching for a nostalgic experience, due to seeing Indy in such a computer enhanced world. On the positive side, you could argue that the use of computer-generated imagery gives a very distinguished look to the film, which would only add to a newcomer’s experience.