So that thing we’re all worried about? About how Harrison
Ford is ancient and decrepit, no doubt bumbling around gumming on a
Werther’s while Ally McBeal scrubs out his bedpan? How there’s no
goddamn way the dude can still be the world’s greatest action hero?
Well—no worries. In Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the
Crystal Skull, Ford is, once again, funny and tough and cool, able
to crack a bullwhip and punch out a stooge with the best of ’em. It’s
been 19 years(!) since Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and
Ford is now in his 60s—but you wouldn’t know that from Crystal
Skull, where he swings and sprints his way through yet another
carnival of action sequences designed by Steven Spielberg and George
Lucas. “For an old man, you’re not bad in a fight,” one of Crystal
Skull‘s new characters, Mutt Williams, says to Indy. “What are you,
like 80?”
Indiana Jones’ world has gotten older, too: It’s 1957, which means
commies have replaced Nazis, greasers face off in diners, and Cold War
paranoia soaks America. But past that window dressing, Crystal
Skull is nothing more and nothing less than an old-fashioned
adventure flick—pulpy, goofy, ridiculous, and fun.
That’s not to say Crystal Skull feels exactly like the other
films: There’s CG this time around, for one thing, but more
importantly, this is Indy’s first foray into science fiction. The film
kicks off at Area 51, and, as Indy chases after yet another priceless
artifact (the specific nature of which is pretty obvious, given the
film’s ungainly title), Crystal Skull‘s plot leans toward that
all-encompassing terror of the ’50s: invaders, be they from Russia or
elsewhere. Also, there are: mythical lost cities, an atomic bomb,
quicksand, high-speed car chases, a sword fight that somehow happens
on top of one of those high-speed car chases, and… yeah. You
get it.
Which works out pretty great. The Indiana Jones films’ formula of
fantastic action sequences strung together by likeable characters is
continued here, with Ford happily dashing off quips and dispatching bad
guys. This time around, he’s joined by teenage greaser Mutt Williams
(the charming and frustratingly named Shia LaBeouf) and his old flame
Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), and when the killer action sequences
aren’t piling up on top of each other, Indy’s fending off the eeeevil
Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett, wielding a rapier and a ludicrous Russian
accent with equal gusto). The globetrotting script (by David Koepp,
working from a plot by Lucas and Jeff Nathanson) keeps the action
constant and the one-liners sharp, though a couple of side characters
are sloppier than they should be. (Granted, anybody buying a ticket for
Indiana Jones knows not to expect high art, but a couple of
scenes make Crystal Skull the cartooniest Indy film to date. It
comes as little surprise that Spielberg’s propensity for sap gets out
of hand a few times, or that that Lucas cranks up the CG in the final
reel, but those are minor infractions compared to one jaw-clenching
scene featuring Mutt and a tribe of friendly monkeys.)
But gripes aside, and more importantly: Crystal Skull is the
first new Indiana Jones flick I’ve seen since I was nine, and as the
opening credits rolled, I felt a type of excitement I hadn’t felt since
then. It stuck, and it stayed, and even when the end credits came up, I
was still grinning. Above all, Crystal Skull is just fun,
but it’s also a reminder: Indiana Jones has been gone for entirely too
long, and it’s good to have him back.
