Techtite DVD Reviews

What makes this "Kingdom" adventure work so well is how it doesn't try to be something it's not. If you want the same grandeur of the first movie, that was never going to happen. If more generically, you wish for a return to old school, fun action movies, then this Kingdom of crystal skulls is for you. As soon as you see the classic 1980's Paramount logo at the start of the film, you know you're ready to see a fun movie, which intends to be an old-fashioned action flick, right down to the classic 1989 studio logo. Why not? That's when the original trilogy ended. So have fun with it!

Ah yes; then we get to the story. Okay; you got me there. If there is a core flaw with this story, it's how two of the original trilogy's most successful story devices ---well-known artifacts, and Nazis as the bad guys--- have been replaced with...well, let me just summarize the film's opening scene to give you an idea. Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is now in the 1950's, during the Cold War. Some nefarious Soviets, led by a cunning scientist (delightfully hammed up by Cate Blanchett), have invaded the infamous Area 51 warehouse to obtain the legendary "crystal skull." They intend to use this skull at, of course, the kingdom of the crystal skull, to exploit the skull's powers.

Yeah, I know; magic crystal skulls? Okay; so Indy has seemingly run out of historically-well-known artifacts to find (or has he?). As soon as you learn he's searching for a crystal skull that looks terribly...well, "alien," the film quickly divides its audience in two camps: "it's only a movie and it's a fun movie," and "oh come on that's impossible." Action scenes similarly lead to one or the other reaction, depending on your leap of faith. No matter which camp you decide to join, one must admit it is a bit of a stretch to suddenly see archaeologist Indy ditch the ancient artifact quests for a relatively modern-themed "X-file" quest (so to speak). However, it does lead to many gritty action scenes, and after all, this is an action movie, not a history lesson.

Yet no matter what the subject matter, director Steven Spielberg always creates vivid, three-dimensional characters, with emotional moments to their stories. After so many years since his last adventure, Professor Jones is considered too much of an expense to his college, and is seemingly out of a job. Lamenting the loss of his father, as well as his close friend Marcus, someone utters one of the best lines of the movie: that there's a time in your life when life seemingly stops giving you things and begins taking them away. This sentiment doesn't last for long, however, when a young man named Mutt Williams (Shia LeBoeuf) rides into Indy Jones' life. His mother has been kidnapped, and she sent for Indy, specifically. And why wouldn't she; Mutt's mom is Marion (Karen Allen), Indy's long lost love from the first movie. Awww...!

That's pretty much the whole film to a "T." One moment you're enjoying the approach that makes this film work, whenever it salutes the classic action movies of yesteryear; aka, the "Indy/Marion" approach. Yet every once in awhile the film attempts to pander to modern day effete popcorn fodder; aka, the "Shia LeBoeuf" approach. Let's cover the former first, since after so many gripes about this movie, I'd like to list some of the scenes I loved, that others have apparently missed...or forgot. The glimpse of one of Indy's most memorable finds in Area 51....The near-passing of the classic Indy fedora to Mutt, only to have Indy grab it back as if to say, "When you're older, kid!"...The perfectly timed Indy retort, "Why didn't you have him go to school?"...The resolution of the story all around (the fates of Indy, Marion, the bad guys; everything). There were many moments of the film that were cool. That's the truth.

Yet such moments can occasionally get diluted by all the modern-style CGI special effects frenzies, almost all of which turn up flat. The "army ants" in particular are not as creepy as the CGI department apparently intended. The "sinkhole" Indy and Marion fall into seemed too faked and the overly casual attitudes of the lead stars make any emotional impact of the scene...well, sink. Then there's John Hurt as Professor Oxley; an Indy wannabe who searched for the crystal skull, used it, and now his brain is fried (so to speak). Unfortunately Hurt never decides if he'll portray the eccentric Oxley as a crazy old man, a "Rain Man," or a drugged out hippie. In the end, Oxley just winds up being annoying.

Then there is Shia LaBoeuf: You probably heard the spoilers about Mutt many times already, so let's not beat around the bush here. To be fair, based on Mutt's lineage: yes, there's a reason this kid is around. However, I would probably have preferred an Indy sequel with "Short Round," aka Jonathan Ke Quan, from the Temple of Doom movie. He's 27 now; doesn't he deserve another Indy adventure? But I digress. While Shia is indeed a talented actor, he looks about as likely to be a son of Harrison Ford as...well, me, and let's just say I don't look like Ford at all. The good news, to be fair: Shia has clearly learned a lot about action movies since Transformers. His banter with Indy is realistic and not of the "Wesley Crusher from Star Trek" variety. If only he didn't look too thin and gangly to do half of the things he allegedly does in this movie. In one scene he's sword fighting while standing on two speeding cars. It sounds exciting though visually, the scene fails.

In short conclusion: you have a finely crafted Spielberg-directed action movie, whose flaws, on the most part, are forgivable. If this is to lead to a sequel, I would ask one thing of it: an older artifact to search for. Why hasn't Indy ever searched for the Sword Excalibur? While Indy searched for Atlantis in one of the many Indy video games; it seems odd he didn't perform a similar search in movies. There are also loads of both mythical and legendary lore in both Roman as well as Greek mythology, so this Crystal Skull quest seems as topical with modern sci-fi lore as it seems, well, unfitting for an old school archaeologist. Perhaps they'll address this in the next Indy movie...and I must admit: the fact that such a sequel is already in the works, is a fitting "review" of this Indy movie in itself.

The DVD Review: Okay, this movie has created a whirlwind of debate online, as to how bad it really was or was not. Let's be honest, though; how cool is the crystal skull gift set? Somehow, seeing a crystal skull as a paperweight is much cooler than it was in the movie. However, seeing as how the skull was supposedly this all powerful artifact that melted your brain if you stared at it, doesn't bode well when this same "dangerous" artifact looks cooler as a desk accessory. I'm just saying.

So starting with the gift set, the obvious question: what other "bang" for your buck is received, aside from the skull paperweight? Well, for a limited time only this includes a $25 gift card for sideshow collectibles, though for the most part this is the two-disc special edition with a collectible skull added, in a snazzy looking box. So let's jump straight to a review of the special edition, next.

To be fair, the one-disc edition is basically the same as "disc one" of the special edition, and includes two featurettes, about the "return of a legend," and a standard behind the scenes featurette. Disc two, on the special edition (and the gift set) includes for starters a more thorough "production diary" of the film, pre-visualization sequences, a good share of photo galleries, every trailer that was conceivably made for the film, and as an added bonus: a playable demo of the Lego Indiana Jones game. The downside to the latter demo: it's only available for Xbox. I know that it would be hard to make multiple DVDs for multiple systems, though couldn't they put the Windows/PC demo on the same disc?

Yet all this is immaterial when given the controversy this movie created. Personally I felt the movie was pretty good though as many have said on various fan forums: "Aliens, George? Seriously?" I admit that a return to classic artifacts from actual legends (like the sword Excalibur) is in order, if Indy "5" was ever made. Until then, all I can say is: I had fun watching this one, and that's all that matters in the end.

	Final Rating : Large Crater. Indy returns just in time to save us not just from crystal skulls, though from current so-called "action" movies that could learn a lot from classic action movies.
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Techtite's DVD Reviews!

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

A Review by Techtite