Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

• denise
• May 20,2008 | 159 Readers
• In: Actors, Directors, Filmmakers, Hollywood, Movies

Get Nostalgic Only

t’s been 19 years since “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (which, apparently, was the second-to-last crusade) and 27 years since Steven Spielberg introduced us to the intrepid, quick-with-a-quip archaeologist Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones. Will they beat the first version to quality and all?

You see the hat before the hero that famous fedora, the one that stays put through every tricky situation, or at least at arm’s length for a hasty getaway. And of course he still has the whip, the paralyzing fear of snakes and the catchy John Williams theme song that will surely gnaw at your brain for hours afterward.

Yes, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” dives headfirst into the iconography of the franchise, which will bring a smile to your face and warm you with nostalgia. It’s admittedly a pleasure to see Harrison Ford back in the role.

But a lot has changed. There’s not much in the way of emotional investment, there’s even less humor. The cheekiness that made Indy so charming the swagger and the sarcasm are long since gone. Much of what made the character so compelling, beyond the adventures he took us on, was the fact that he seemed like an entertaining guy to hang out with, or at least one who would be consistently unpredictable.

All in all, you’ll still consider the Spielberg’s part one, “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” as a fun and funny, rough-and-tumble homage to action-adventure pictures of the 1930s and ’40s. It’s still a classic that holds up beautifully today, and is far and away the best of the franchise. “Crystal Skull feels like an homage to Spielberg himself losing the things we love at Indy before.