'Crystal Skull' an Indiana Jones celebration
"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" celebrates all the things we love about the previous three adventures of the world's most famous archaeologist: impossibly entertaining chase scenes and elaborate spectacle beyond our imaginations.
There's just enough intriguing plot, character development and well-placed humor to marry our expectations with crowd-pleasing surprises, and stitch the action sequences together.
But what sequences!
A sword fight on two different vehicles racing through the Peruvian jungle!
Not one. Not two. Three death-defying waterfalls!
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A moving ocean of carnivorous ants on the march!
A race to beat an atomic bomb blast!
Every set piece in this movie has been cranked to the max with imagination and ear-splitting sound effects, capped by another one of John Williams' masterful adventure scores.
Set in 1957 -- 21 years after "Raiders of the Lost Ark" -- "The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" puts the intrepid Dr. Jones (Harrison Ford, now 65 but still able to swing from the rafters with aplomb) on the trail of a mysterious Mayan crystal skull that looks a little like the cranium of the "Alien" critter, minus the teeth.
The relic, rumored to possess unfathomable psychic power, is being pursued by the KGB and the lethal, blade-wielding Russian fem fatale Irina Spalko (a perfectly cast Cate Blanchett in leather gloves).
She intends to use the skull to take over the world. "Stalin's dream!" she calls it.
Jones discovers he has plenty of time on his hands to stop her after he encounters political trouble back at his beloved Marshall College. It's the era of the Red Scare, and ambitious FBI agents suspect him of communist affiliations.
Marshall's Dean Stanford (Jim Broadbent) can't believe he's been forced to boot Jones out of the classroom.
"I barely recognize this country anymore!" he says, in the movie's most overt political commentary.
As Jones leaves to search for the skull, he runs into a young, motorcycle-riding, switch blade-carting rebel who fancies himself as a minion of Marlon Brando's "Wild One."
Mutt Williams (a cute but edgeless Shia LaBeouf) needs Jones' help. His mother has been kidnapped by the same people who have abducted Jones' old colleague Dr. Oxley (John Hurt).
Jones takes the greaser-wannabe along as a side-kick. They join Jones' current partner, a Brit named Mac (Ray Winstone), and depart to rescue Mutt's mom and Oxley.
To say much more than this would be to needlessly ruin the story's pleasing twists designed to give some depth and closure to its chief characters.
We already know from the theatrical trailers that Karen Allen reprises her "Raiders" role as the feisty Marion Ravenswood, the most beloved of all Jones' on-screen female foils. Even if we think we know where the story is going, this movie makes the ride worth the trip.
In their fourth Indy adventure together, director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas have cannily infused a sense of time passing without sacrificing the necessary components that constitute the "Jones" genre (doesn't it qualify as one by now?).
Setting the story in the 1950s seems perfect for the science-fiction elements of Area 51, the Red Scare and the emergence of the Russians as the new global villains. Let's face it, those Nazis of episodes past were getting a little tiresome.
Also tiresome would be the story's reliance on that tired and trite action movie cliche' of the hero (Jones) out-running machine gun bullets in nearly every scene. And yet, Peruvian warriors have no problem bringing down the hero with hand-tossed bolos.
Go figure.
On the sentimental side, "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" gives us a brief, teary tribute to two characters who've died during the past year: Marcus Brody (the late Denholm Elliott) and Jones' father (Sean Connery, who sadly stay retired rather than make this film the last title on his resume).
For the pure Indiana Jones fan who buys into the idea of a mild-mannered college professor saving civilizations on the side, "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" is a romp, a lark, a fantastic experience in high-energy escapism that we need in times of financial distress and political uncertainty.
But if you're the kind of viewer who scoffs at cheesy "Tarzan" vine references or can't accept that Jones could survive an atomic blast, better go see something more believable and realistic.
Like "Iron Man."
"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"
Rating: 3#189; stars
Starring: Harrison Ford, Shia LaBeouf, John Hurt, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen.
Directed by: Steven Spielberg.
Other: A Paramount Pictures release. Rated PG-13 (violence) 124 minutes.