The danger inherent in any sequel made decades after the original film(s) is obvious. Part IV's are not known to be succesful. Movie stars tend to give up action roles as they get older. This movie could have been quite a disappointment.
Yet, it wasn't. In fact, it was the second movie in the last twelve months to meet the above criteria and not suck (the other one being Live Free or Die Hard, the first film reviewed in this space).
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is everything you want from a summer popcorn movie, in full Spielberg style. And Harrison Ford is not too old, and Shia LaBeouf is not lame, and it is good to have Karen Allen back.
One thing I did miss, was the feeling of endless different locations and dire situations. This aspect of the previous installments (especially the first) definitely delivered bang for your buck. You walk out of the theater thinking, "Wow! That was really a lot of movie!" This movie had a similar running time, but it felt shorter, because it just didn't seem to take very much time to get to the place they ultimately needed to be. It felt like, "They were here, then they went there, then they came to this place." Boom.
That being said, it had chase scenes, sword fights, death defying waterfall plunges, poison darts, terrifying entomological adversaries, all against fantastic backdrops, from the American desert to the South American jungle. Oh yeah, and it also had INDIANA JONES!
Seriously, Indiana Jones, as created and executed by Messrs Lucas, Spielberg, and Ford, is one of the greatest action/adventure heroes of all time. (For GenXers, dare I say, the greatest?) And Lucas and Spielberg give him plenty of things to do. Plenty of impossible situations, plenty of fights, plenty of one-liners. And Harrison Ford pulls it off. If you were willing to suspend disbelief for young Indy, you should be able to suspend it for 60s Indy, because Harrison Ford himself proves that it's possible to age that well.
In addition, the stunts and action are everything you could hope for in a movie bearing the Indiana Jones name. Let me just say: swordfight between two people standing up in the back of two Jeeps driving at top speeds side by side through the jungle. If that doesn't get you revved up, this isn't your type of movie.
But what of the supporting cast? Well, Cate Blanchette is sufficiently cold and evil and badass as the Soviet villain. Mr LaBeouf is actually quite engaging as the young, arrrogant, but still badass sidekick. John Hurt turns in a fine performance as the old, wise professor. And Karen Allen brings back the chemistry missing since the first film.
Some will question the underlying mythology, but I accepted it as the MacGuffin, albeit without quite the payoff provided by the Ark of the Covenant. Really, not so left-field when we consider other notable projects from Spielberg and Lucas. (Vagueness intentional, I don't wanna spoil...)
I know I've been gushing, but the fact is, if you like Indiana Jones, you'll like this movie. No, it's not the magical ride the first one was, all those years ago. But it is as good a sequel after a 19 year break that you could want. You like Indy? Go see it!
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