Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a xenophobe’s delight. What with those evil, evil, mind-reading Russians (Cate Blanchett’s cheekbones alone could slice you in half) and several hoards of shrieking natives, old Indy yelling “I like Ike!” at the top of his lungs sums it all up nicely really.
I’m not too sure who this film is geared towards. Young viewers won’t get the in-jokes and references to older films and it’s doubtful that they’ll be overly impressed with the not so sophisticated action scenes. Older audiences will likely gag at the cliché overload – then again – if they’re true Indy fans, their own melancholy will no doubt cloud their better judgement.
Lucas is off on another intergalactic fancy with this one, and the introduction of hackneyed aliens seems rather tacked on at the end. But then, New Agers might like the whole collective consciousness idea rearing its head in such a mainstream movie franchise. It’s just a pity that the aliens brain dump their higher galactic intelligence into the evil Russian’s head and it explodes… yes… it explodes – sophisticated huh?
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My name is Simonne Michelle-Wells. I'm a writer from Melbourne (originally from WA). I have a background in theatre and write theatre reviews for Australian Stage Online. In my day job I'm a speech writer. I've had short fiction published in Cottonmouth, Beyond Words, Box Magazine, The Naked Eye and the inaugural Emerging Writers' Festival Reader. I was awarded a residency at Varuna in 2008 for my first novel, and was the recipient of the 2009 Ada Cambridge Prize for biographical short story writing. I am also the blog administrator for the Varuna Alumni writers' Blog.
16 Comments
May 26, 2008 at 6:36 am
i loved the first one.
Anything else is just being greedy, i think.
i’ve no interest in this one.
My husband wants to see it so i told him to take our 14 year-old.
i like your review.
Personally, i’m looking forward to Hancock.
May 26, 2008 at 9:07 am
There are aliens!? I saw in the paper today that the Russians are upset and have told Harrison Ford and co not to go to Russia. Thanks for the review, I think I’ll wait till the DVD comes out and ignore it then too.
May 26, 2008 at 10:00 am
It is usually an error to revisit old successes – Doctor Who excepted, of course.
May 27, 2008 at 1:43 am
I can barely remember the first one Christine, but I know I liked it then! CJ, the film buff, says it’s one of his favourite movies, so that means it’s good in my book!
Paul – yes – there are aliens! Kinda cool ones, but a bit out of left field, even for Indy! I read that in the paper too!
Anthony – how did I know you’d be a Dr Who fan?
May 28, 2008 at 10:56 am
Thanks for the warning Simonne. I hadn’t been that keen on this one anyway (after Georgey Boy did such a “wonderful” job with the more recent Star Wars flicks, I’ve given up on that era of movies). J and I are about to gorge ourselves on film festival delights anyway. We’ve got heaps to see and no time to see it all in…. (happy) sigh.
May 28, 2008 at 2:42 pm
No worries D! Have fun at the Festival
May 28, 2008 at 7:15 pm
I admit I loved the originals – but jeez, ain’t Harry Ford a bit of a geezer now to be running around in jaunty hats and toting bullwhips? Sometimes you just have to know when to say, no. Eh?
Annie
May 29, 2008 at 1:09 am
Annie, Harry looks pretty darn good for an old guy in it I must say! And they certainly point at his age enough in the film to try and undo this particular criticism – and do a reasonable job at it I guess.
Just so you know – the scene with the snake – is SO bad!!!
May 29, 2008 at 2:48 am
Wow, I haven’t seen the movie..but aliens and head-explosions? I wish you were joking…well anyway like most, I will still flock to the movie due to nostalgia, but where my real hopes lie are with the “Sex and the City” movie…eeeeeeekkk! Two more days!!!!!!!!!!…..hahaha…lame, I know
May 29, 2008 at 3:06 am
Yes, go, go my child, see those Russian heads explode…
Never apologise about Sex and the City – Naomi Wolf says it’s feminist in its existence alone in modern culture – that’s enough for me, I’m going!
May 31, 2008 at 7:52 am
Sounds like a bit of a let down, but I won’t be able to help myself…the minute it hits DVD I’ll be there.
Refuse to go to the movies…too many ferals running around the damned place for my liking, I’d need to be bailed out of jail half way through!
Thanks for the heads up…
May 31, 2008 at 9:17 am
Excuse me?? An old guy? I don’t think so!
May 31, 2008 at 9:25 am
Anonymum, you’re a crack up, there’s nothing else to say
Dawn, let’s put it into context shall we? He’s an old guy to be surviving nuclear bombs by getting into a fridge (yes, that’s right, he was IN THE MIDDLE OF A NUCLEAR BOMB and walked away unscathed), riding on a regular bomb (pfft, boring), escaping quicksand, escaping the evil Russians, escaping all manner of pesky natives, and last but never least, escaping evil aliens… he’s pretty old for all that is all I meant
June 2, 2008 at 3:52 am
Just a quick pop-in to say: “I LOVVVVEEED Sex and the City!!!”…..hahahaha….it was just what I needed!
…and oh yeah..umm…Indiana Jones, ya I still might check it out…but seriously, it’s all about SATC right now 
June 2, 2008 at 4:05 am
ROMIIIII!! You’ve seen it?! It doesn’t come out here until the 5th. Hmpf! Well, I’m glad it was just what you needed, and yeah, give Indy the flick for sure!
June 2, 2008 at 4:44 am
Oh it’s so great….like visiting old friends they say, and it’s so true!
PS: I got teary-eyed a few times, it was more like “Love in the City”, and I hope you enjoy it too