I remember watching Last Crusade in the theater when I was 7. Indiana Jones was more that a movie, it was a vision of a life of adventure. I imagined climbing through pyramids, having cool hats, learning how to use a whip. My dreamgirl would someday kiss my bruises.
The fourth installment of the Lucas/Spielberg trilogy is an homage to an homage. Back when George and Steven were dreaming up Raiders, the idea was to create an homage to the Saturday morning cliffhangers of the 30s, complete with supernatural plots and nazis. Crystal Skull attempts to pay homage to the fears and fantasies of the 50s, however it ends up really just paying homage to it's predecessors.
The best of the Indy movies, Raiders and Last Crusade, tapped into two narratives deeply implanted in the the American psyche, our faith in God, and the struggle of World War II.
Crystal Skull tries to deal with the politics and pop culture of the 50s, namely aliens and communists. This plot, takes attention off of the possible emotional pulls of the storyline: McCarthyism, aging, lost love, and fatherhood. These feelings are brushed over for increasingly ridiculous CGI action sequences that seemed more at home in Lucas last three failures.
In this movie Harrison Ford and Karen Allen are just old, broken relationships are too easily mended, 20 years of absentee fathering is immediately forgiven, and the aliens just get in the way. It was fun, but it's not the same as it was growing up. You just can't go home again.
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True that. Though I would rate the overall movie as fairly enjoyable, it just tried too hard. Over-the-top action works--if you do it right. Crystal Skull didn't quite hit it. I'm still glad we got to re-visit Indy one more time, though. He's the hero of my childhood.
Though speaking of over-the-top, we re-watched Raiders a couple weeks ago--and there's nothing as ridiculous as the melting Nazis. I can't believe that used to scare me. Perhaps if I hadn't seen that movie until I was an adult, I would find it just as campy as I found Crystal Skull.
We also re-watched Temple of Doom. The only thing I've gotta say--if they do stretch for a fifth Indiana Jones, they'd better bring Short Round back!
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