James Bond

Indiana Jones Is Back

Indiana Jones is back, and he’s as good as he ever was. Its been 19 years since we last saw a new Indy movie on the big screen, and it has been wait has been worth it. He may be a little older and a little wiser, but he’s not too old to still kick some ass in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

The story (without giving away too many spoilers) is like so. We find ourselves after the 2 World Wars. Indiana is forced by communist Russians (replacing the Nazis of the previous movies) to find the mythical Crystal Skull. It is said he who holds the skulls commands the powers that it possesses. Stalin has created a squad who seeks out supernatural items. The story starts off in Area 51 in Nevada, with the communists forcing Indiana to seek out a special object in the same warehouse that we see at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Indiana manages to escape, survive a nuclear blast, is targeted by the CIA for possibly being a communist and getting fired from his job as a university professor.

Enter Shia Labeouf (as Mutt Williams) who tracks down our hero. We learn that his mother (Marion from Raiders of the Lost Ark) was kidnapped by the Soviets to force Indy to help continue their search for the mythical skull. She was searching for Professor Oxley, an archeologist who was obsessed with the legend of the crystal skull. Indiana, with Mutt in tow, make their way to South America to rescue Marion and Oxley, and to search for the skull and return it to its place of origin, the fabled El Dorado (city of gold).

The quest has our heroes fight off the Soviets, ninja-like natives who are protecting the skull/El Dorado and giant ants who devour anything in their path. They make their way to the hidden city, fight off an army of natives, survive booby traps and finally return the crystal skull where it belongs.

As excited as I was at the thought of a new Indy movie, I was also a little hesitant. Harrison Ford isn’t a young man anymore. At age 65, would we see a mere shadow of who he once was? Being an action movie, could he still pull it off? The answer is a resounding YES! It only takes a few seconds to completely forget that he now qualifies for a senior’s discount. As soon as we see him put on the famed fedora hat, its like 20 years is washed away. We see Indy as he always was, a man of action, intelligence, wit and full of energy. Its very impressive to see him do his own stunts and pull it off flawlessly with little obvious CGI help.

This movie does not disappoint. This is truly an Indiana Jones movie. Though not as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark, its better than Temple of Doom, and I would place it on equal footing with The Last Crusade. I will warn you about one thing though. For the last 5-10 minutes of the movie, your suspension of disbelief has to be put in overdrive, even considering the subject matter of the past movies.

There was also a slight hint of passing the torch to Shia Labeouf. I really hope this doesn’t happen. I would rather see another actor take the helm and play the character of Indiana Jones, with my vote being Nathan Fillion (of Firefly fame). I know some of you think that no one but Harrison Ford could play Indiana Jones. I have to disagree. I just have to look at the James Bond series to see that a great character can be played by different great actors. With the right actor, and the right stories, there’s no reason why we couldn’t see Indiana Jones on the big screen in the future.

I give Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 8 out of 10.

Luc "Sandman" G. May 27, 2008