JolieSimons.com

There’s one moment in the new Indiana Jones film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull that really defines the new turn of Indiana and his ragtag gang that end up way over their heads, searching for ancient artifacts in remote corners of the world. Times have changed. It’s now the fifties and Indiana Jones is an older, wiser man. When we first see him, he’s been hauled out of the trunk of a car by the bad guys. Gone are the Nazi instigators in Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. Today’s baddies are all Russian, all the time.

You can almost see the anti-red sentiment dripping from old Indy’s brow as he sneers contemptuously at the Ruskies, antiquated leather fedora on top of his head. We get the feeling, even before he says anything, that we’re looking at a man who’s down but not out. Sure Indiana Jones is older and wiser. He’s no longer the youthful, vigorous, and worldly professor he once was. However, as Indiana begins his escape from the evildoers, as he always does at the beginning of these films, we see the character reclaiming his rightful place in the world. Sure, he knows he’s old and washed up. But he also is the last of the old guard, ready to take down the Reds at every turn.

“I like Ike” he sneers after proclaiming the Red Menace the real threat to America, and we believe him. We even find this endearing, as if fifties-era conservatism is a welcomed change from today’s corporate-whore conservatives.

Without revealing too much of the plot of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, we soon learn that Indiana Jones will be forced to use his knowledge to find a valuable artifact that incidentally can contribute to world domination by the Russians. It’s up to Indiana to foil the Russian’s plans. You know, the usual fare. This time, the adventure takes us to South America again, just as in the first scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark. In fact, Indiana’s old love from Raiders, Marion Ravenwood (played by an older-but-wiser Karen Allen, just as in the original), has also been captured. Indiana also gets stragglers in the form of Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf), a tough-acting greaser kid who seeks out Indiana in order to find his mother and stepfather who’ve been kidnapped by the Russians.

Between the stunt-heavy fight sequences through the jungle and the seamlessness of CG animations, we learn that the significance of the Russian’s find is stranger and more wonderful than we could have imagined before. This is where the movie takes an odd turn into the surreal. Crystal Skull makes use of strange, occult ideas, just as with the other three movies, only this time the artifact isn’t part of the major world religions. The artifact in question, the Crystal Skull is actually aboriginal, dating back to pre-colonialism and the South American civilizations before they were wiped out by the Spanish.

After watching all four movies in the past four days, I can attest that Crystal Skull doesn’t live up to the charm, humor, and wisdom of The Last Crusade which is, in my opinion, the best Indiana Jones movie made so far. That being said, this movie bathes the Indiana Jones franchise in a whole new light. Today’s Indiana Jones is worn from hard years as adventurer and, we later learn, intelligence operative fighting the Reds. However Indiana is not down for the count, and it shows. The times have changed and Indiana hasn’t… much. In Crystal Skull, we can see how Indiana Jones adapts in a world that’s no longer for men like him.

All in all, Crystal Skull will be the inevitable summer blockbuster. Is it good? Yes, definitely worth a watch. Is it missing Sean Connery? Most definitely. Should you see it? Yes, and preferably on the big screen. You wouldn’t want to miss the magic of the dramatic CG climax because you’re watching on a screen that’s too small. Go see in the theaters.

Grade: B