kcvidkid's Movie Review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Lack of action may induce squirming
kcvidkid - wrote on 05/23/08

I won't say "Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" was a disappointment, but neither was it a complete pleasure.

It's a treat to see Harrison Ford once again wearing the fedora, even though it took me a while to get comfortable again with the old friend I'd last seen 19 years ago. In fact, I think the beginning was a bit clunky for everyone involved, from director Steven Spielberg to composer John Williams. But after a long setup, it all feels comfortable and familiar.

Everyone is concerned about the age of Indy/Harrison Ford. Surprisingly, there are only a couple of big action sequences, so I didn't find this to be a problem. And the age is acknowledged and addressed in the story, so it's definitely more "Star Trek II" than "Star Trek: the Motion Picture". Neither is the action all given to the new kid, Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf). I'd rather see the back of a stunt double pretending to be Indy once or twice than have the kid get all the attention.

So why is the movie so talky? Granted, I did not rewatch the first three in the series beforehand, but I remember them as being full of non-stop action. Not this one. I liked the exposition; it was interesting to me. But it sort of led nowhere. Never has such a straightforward adventure been so complicated by so much backstory that ultimately does not matter.

Perhaps I was a little disappointed that the couple of suprises in the story had in fact been revealed months ago in pre-release publicity. The only surprise for me was a nod to the first movie at the end of the Nevada military base sequence. And the ending should have been really awesome, but for some reason it was a letdown.

I wonder if I'd feel the same about any of the first three movies if I watched them today? I mean, I enjoyed it and I'd certainly recommend it, but I also see it as being heavily flawed. I'm curious to see how a new generation that has never seen Indy will react to this one. I'd like to think they'd love it, but I can also see them squirming in their seats.