What I think of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Indiana Jones = Harrison Ford.

There are no two ways about it. Old or not, haggard or not, Indy Jones = Harrison Ford.

When The Last Crusade was released, I thought that would be the end of the Indiana Jones series. After all, Harrison Ford is good for doing trilogies – see Star Wars (Han Solo *drools* ok ok I like older men – sue me ) and of course the Indiana Jones trilogy.

So, when there was talk about the new Indiana Jones, I had the impression (don’t know from where) that Indy was no longer played by Harrison Ford so I was quite adamant I wouldn’t watch it. And then, my dad (of all people!) told me that it was indeed Harrison Ford reprising the role of Indiana Jones, which led me to google up the information which led me to watch Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull last night!

Did I enjoy it? Of course I did! Its Indiana Jones isn’t it? Delightfully camp and tongue in cheek and all. But what else did I think about it? Please watch out for spoilers after the jump!

First off, you mean Harrison Ford is over 70? You wouldn’t think so seeing him leap up towers of boxes and doing stunts I wouldn’t even dare do (and I’m certainly not 70!) But certainly he’s aged – white hair and all; and the producers recognised the fact that Indiana Jones has aged with veiled barbs thrown at him throughout the movie by his much younger sidekick played by newcomer Shia LeBeouf (“Mutt”). We later find that Mutt is actually Henry Jones Jr. III – I told you there were spoilers! His mom being Marion Ravenwood from Raiders of the Lost Ark. She would probably be my favourite female lead to return as she packed a punch and held her own unlike that whiny blonde from Temple of Doom.

The new boy Shia leBeouf wasn’t too bad once you get used to him. He looks a bit too serious for my liking but that 50’s style of combing down the curry puff hair (think Fonzi from Happy Days) was hilarious.

Watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Lost Skull felt strangely nostalgic. It was nothing to do with the movie itself. I think just the idea of watching a new Indiana Jones flick is nostalgic in itself.

The movie was action packed and sufficiently humourous with the kind of deadpan humour that one has come to expect from the series. My favourite humour scene must be the one in the library. So deadpan! There were the usual chase scenes, the “Oh lets get over with it” fight scenes, the death-defying “lets run away as quickly as we can from a rolling object that’s going to crush us to death” scenes… in other words, scenes familiar from every Indiana Jones movie. (and watch out for tributes to previous movies too! I’d watch it again only to spot these) Whatever romance scenes were kept fairly minimal and tame. Maybe its to do with the age of the character or maybe its just to do with the fact he was getting back together with his old girlfriend who we found out he left at the alter after Raiders of the Lost Ark.

All in all, I loved it even if Indiana was no longer fighting German Nazis but fighting Communist Russians this time.

BUT there’s always a fly in the ointment – why did they have to add that element of aliens and UFOs? For me, it spoilt it a little towards the end of the movie because it was just too weird. I would the first to admit that I believe in lifeforms other than humans in the universe, and I love reading articles about how mystical Egyptian and Aztec pyramids are and how it must have been aliens that taught the ancients to build strange and wonderful things and superstructures of the time. But to have a space ship lifting off from the site of what was an ancient lost city of gold is just too unreal.

Besides, I thought the crystal skull and the resulting crystal skeleton was the “bones” of the alien. So, how on earth did it “come to life” at the end? Too surreal. So the ending was too much of a let down for me.

All that beef aside, its a great fun movie to watch if you don’t think about it too much. So much fun that I bought tickets for my parents to go and see it on Sunday at the GSC Premier Class cinema at The Gardens, because I know my dad loves watching Indiana Jones and he would never be able to resist going!

From the movie ending, I guess we are looking at a new “Indiana Jones” being born in the form of “Mutt” or Henry Jones III although they are going to have to get rid of that nickname. I mean, imagine going to watch “Mutt Jones and the Temple of the Wicked Witch of the East”. It just doesn’t have the same ring to it yes?

Yours fluffily