A movie opinion that is seemingly accepted by everyone is that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is bad. Not only is it bad, it somehow lessened the legacy of the Indiana Jones franchise. That it is comparable to the Star Wars prequels, and destroyed everything that fans loved about one of film's most iconic characters. And while it is true that Skull is the weakest of the four Indy movies, it is my contention that the negativity surrounding it is entirely overblown. Crystal Skull is a fantastic action-adventure movie starring one of the greatest actors out there, and the unified hatred it receives entirely escapes me.
For Christmas I received the complete Indiana Jones Blu-ray collection containing all four films, which has proved to be an incredible gift. I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in successive nights. One thing that was abundantly clear to me from these most recent viewings is another very popular opinion: Raiders of the Lost Ark is the best film of the four. It's opening scene is almost perfect. It basically tells you everything you need to know about Indy; he loves adventure, loves to take risk, and holds his ideals for history and archaeology very high. Indy pulling out his pistol to shoot the overly-zealous swordsman might be the best moment of the franchise. Karen Allen is easily his best love interest. Her character is smart and capable (unlike Kate Capshaw from Temple of Doom), and provides Indy with a formidable challenge to his charm and advances. And it's still just as satisfying as ever to see the bad guys have their face melted at the end.
Something I did not expect was that I liked Temple of Doom more than Last Crusade. Doom is thought to be the worst of the original three. I will agree with most critics on some of its flaws, the biggest one being the female character, Willie. Willie is the ultimate damsel in distress, and annoyingly screams for about half of the movie. Besides her, Doom is loaded with great stuff. The dinner scene in the Indian palace, while outrageous, is extremely memorable. Seeing that huge guy eat a live snake will make anyone a little squeamish. Mola Ram, the mystic who pulls people's hearts out of their chests, is one of the scariest villains of all time, especially for me as a kid. Most friends my age and myself had their dad or an uncle or older cousin put a hand over their chest and say "KALI MA!!" and act like he was going to rip your heart out. Short Round, the Chinese boy hanging around Indy, is understandably annoying to some, but I find him a great sidekick. How he looks up to Indy is cute, and humanizes Indy to show his fatherly qualities. Doom is dark, but full of intense adventure and action. The mine cart chase at the end of the film is one of, if not the, quintessential scenes of the series.
Crusade is a blast as well, don't get me wrong. It proves that the formula from Raiders works extremely well. But that's all it does, follow the previous formula to a "T". The Nazis are once again the villain, and the focus is on another mythical Biblical artifact that Indy must retrieve. Sean Connery is a welcomed addition, and he and Ford are extremely fun together. But I can't help but feel like Crusade dials it back a notch, especially after Doom and Raiders.
Crusade came out in 1989, and the series was thought to be done. 19 years passed until Spielberg, Ford, and Lucas came back to give us Crystal Skull in 2008. As I've said before, I agree with everyone that Skull is the weakest of the franchise. But this is totally expected given the huge gap between films. It's almost impossible to recapture the "magic" of the original films when there is such a layover. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was amazing, and one of my favorite 2012 films. But as great as it is, it just doesn't quite capture the magic that was the Lord of the Rings trilogy in the early 2000's. Whether it's bloated expectations or the difference in tastes years later, a long wait for a storied franchise makes it difficult for the sequel to live up. Live Free or Die Hard, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, and The Godfather Part III are just a few more examples of this trend.
Let's get the bad stuff about Skull out of the way, and there is some. The first 20 minutes are a mess. The opening credit scene, something that Indy dominated in the first three, follows characters we don't know in some sort of strange 50's drag race. I understand this is framing the setting, but in an Indy movie we want to see our hero as soon as possible. "Nuking the fridge" is probably the single worst offense, as evidenced by the fact that "nuking the fridge" has become a common phrase to replace "jump the shark". This is when Indy is trapped at a nuclear blast test site, and his only escape is to lock himself inside a "lead lined" fridge. Indiana Jones literally survives a nuclear blast. Yes, I'm right there with all of you, this is way over the top, more so than anything else in the series. "Nuking the fridge" is bad, and I'll give that to you. There are a few more over the top action moments that might annoy throughout the rest of the film, but these are my least favorite parts.
Now let's get to what works. Bringing back Karen Allen as Indy's lost love might be the single best move of the movie. She and Ford work really well together, and since everyone's favorite film is Raiders, bringing back Marion was a slam dunk. "Do you know what what was wrong with all those other girls?" Indy says to Marion, "They weren't you, honey." The 50's time period meshes perfectly with the extra-terrestrial facets of the movie. The 50's had Area 51 and the UFO craze, and it seems logical to have Indy explore this. If you think that aliens being apart of the Jones universe is too "out there", you need to go back and watch the first three films again. There has always been an element of the supernatural in them: in Raiders, ghosts fly out of the ark of the covenant, in Doom, a man's heart is ripped out of his chest, and in Crusade, there is a man that guards the holy grail and is hundreds of years old. Point being that given the setting and the time period, aliens being a part of the story makes sense. South America, a place Indy has never explored, led to some great settings. Jones exploring the jungles and ancient Mayan ruins is pretty cool. I love his old war buddy 'Mac', played by Ray Winstone. The two do a great job of filling in the gaps between movies in the Indy timeline, and I love the "triple agent" discussion. Shia "Transformers" LaBeouf is a good foil as Indy's estranged son. Their relationship encapsulates elements of all three previous films: Indy and Marion in Raiders, Indy and Short Round in Doom, and Indy and his father in Crusade.
Crystal Skull is a great adventure movie. Sure it has some over the top action, but you can't tell me that Indy jumping out of a plane in a raft in Temple of Doom isn't over the top as well. Even if you don't like it, I think that saying that it "ruins" the other movies and we should act like it doesn't exist is too far. I choose to enjoy the heck out of Skull, and am happy to have it alongside the other films in my set!
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