The final (so far) addition of the Indiana Jones franchise follows Indy chasing after a mysterious skull that is said to have mystical, extraterrestrial powers. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a widely criticized addition to this series that I do not dislike, like many others. While some aspects of the film are definitely a bit ridiculous, the plot is just another great story that is definitely worthy of being included in this franchise. I do not see the reason why so many despise this movie, and I think audiences should really give it another shot.
There are so many great things about this movie that I feel many people overlook because of their stubbornness or faithfulness to the original trilogy. The plot of the movie is incredible and definitely fit the times a lot better. Throughout this movie, action and drama was blended so well together and reminded me of the types of stories told in the original 80's trilogy. This film is set in the 1950's, as opposed to the 1930's from the previous three, and involves elements of the time, including Area 51, an Elvis-powered opening sequence, the inclusion of nuclear families (along with a nuclear bomb), and Soviet antagonists that add fuel to the Red Scare fire. These are all new elements for our hero to encounter, but the story incorporated the new setting very smoothly. Spielberg was definitely still on his game when directing this film, as it includes every typical element of one of his movies. The plot definitely follows this Spielberg protocol so I can not imagine that fans could be upset at all about how the movie played out.
I personally think that the only reason why audiences were so upset and negative about this movie's release is simply that Paramount chose to bring the series back. There were not as many reboots or continued franchises like there are nowadays and because of that, people were probably not used to one of their most beloved film series being continued. In relation to the plot of the movie, I do not understand why people think the inclusion of aliens in this film was so overboard. Jones has already dealt with flying spirits, crazy cults powered by voodoo, and the literal Holy Grail that Jesus Christ drank from, so little green men should really not be off the table. Harrison Ford is also still on his A-game for this movie and it is shown that he still really cares about and respects his character. Despite the nearly twenty year gap between The Last Crusade and this film, his charisma did not falter whatsoever.
There are still blatantly bad parts about this movie, unfortunately, that I'm sure everyone can agree with. The CGI was very obvious and did not fit the grounded aesthetic of most of the action scenes throughout this movie. The groundhogs, killer ants, and the aliens in the conclusion all looked a bit too cartoonish for my taste. I suppose it just did not blend well with the practical effects that were also used. Multiple scenes were also ridiculously cheesy and even for an exaggerated semi-fantasy world that this takes place in, did not make any sense. These scenes include Indy hiding in a refrigerator during a nuclear blast and Marion driving a Jeep off a cliff, onto a low-hanging tree, gently dipping into the river below, and proceeding to fall off of three consecutive waterfalls. While this provided some humorous relief for the characters, I feel that it just pandered to the younger audiences too much.
The last part that I know many people did not enjoy was the addition of Indy's son, Mutt, played by Shia LaBeouf. In my opinion, I enjoyed the reveal of how Marion and Indy had a son together, but the character himself was quite annoying. LaBeouf is a great actor, but Mutt was written way too arrogantly for his own good. And it doesn't help that he literally swung through a jungle with a bunch of monkeys and just so happened to land right where he wanted to. This over-abundance of confidence got irritating very quickly.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a solid entry into the world of the famed adventurer. Even though it is not as engaging or groundbreaking like the original trilogy, I believe that this film incorporates enough creativity to make this character worthy for a new age.
My Rating: ★★★
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