indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull
Steven Spielberg 2008
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: terrible title, film not so bad. It’s no Raiders of the Lost Ark or Last Crusade; it’s not even Temple of Doom — at least that had memorable set-pieces. There’s none of the rollicking thrills of Raiders despite the bustling CGI sequences, none of the creepiness of Temple despite a host of mysterious aliens, nimble jungle-dwellers and flesh-eating ants, and none of the mystery and chase elements of Crusade. Instead we get a plethora of talky exposition and no sense of peril or revelation. There’s a deft sense of period and some nice details to fill in Indy’s intervening years, but the film generally coasts on the charm of its cast: Harrison Ford’s Indy is always fun to spend time with, and all Shia LaBoeuf can do is charming. But none of them have any decent lines to work with: Cate Blanchett’s husky Soviet dominatrix is particularly badly served, and I’d also have loved to see more of her psychic warrior skills. Plus, after the opening sequences, the set pieces lack invention: none of the scenes stay with you past the closing credits, except the opening fridge/atomic bomb interface.
Part of the problem is that we don’t know what it’s about; with no Ark or Grail, the El Dorado city of gold aspect could have been played up rather than the little green men side. At least the CGI is relatively restrained, while every punch gloriously sounds like a gunshot, whipcrack and hammer blow in one. Like I said, not terrible.