"Too Much of Life is Wasted in the Waiting"

This quote from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull(2008) sums things up nicely. It has been a long 19 year wait since Indy and his father rode off into the sunset (literally) at the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade .

I liked it despite a questionable plot, err, ‘twist’. It held fast to the winning Indy formula:

exotic locals, James-Bond-style action sequences, beautiful cinematography, ancient treasure hunts, pictogram puzzle solving, the supernatural, wise-cracking quizzical humour, whips and guns, hero vs. villain, feisty and reluctant love interest, implausible, yet engaging, fantastical story, snappy (and sappy) dialogue, snakes, critters and Harrison Ford’s trademark grin.

Harrison was Harrison. A flawless performance despite 19 intervening years. It was great to have Karen Allen reprise her role as Indy’s original love interest Marion. I asked in my recap what happened to Marion? The Crystal Skull neatly answered the question and tied it up in a bow.  Cate Blanchett played a wonderfully eccentric and strangely sexy KGB agent. Shia LaBeouf (a relative unknown to me) adequately played Marion’s son and adventurer in training. The happy-go-lucky Denholm Elliot (Marcus Brody) passed away in 1992 so Jim Broadbent ably stood in for him as the dean of Indy’s college. If you look closely you’ll see a picture of Elliot hanging on a hall wall. But, you won’t have to look closely to see a statue of him. Sadly Sean Connery, chose not to come out of retirement to reprise his role as Dr. Jones Sr.

The cinematography, music, special effects, lighting and costumes were all spot on. It was Spielberg’s and Lucas’s ‘everything and the kitchen sink’ movie, and it worked.

Another fun romp. Go see it in a cinema, where it was meant to be seen.

Reference: Roger Ebert  |  IMDB External Reviews | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |