Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny premieres this week, on June 30, marking the fifth and final movie starring Harrison Ford as the iconic titular character. While Star Wars is my first love, like many Star Wars fans I also have a real love for the Indiana Jones franchise. Since there’s no new Star Wars series airing currently, and since Dial of Destiny releases in just a few days, I thought I’d do a brief series about why I love the Indiana Jones movies too. We continue today with the fourth installment, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, released in 2008.
Ok, I’ll admit right up front: “love” might be too strong of a word in the title. But I’m keeping it, since (1) I do enjoy the film, (2) I think it’s a lot better than the amount of hate it gets, and (3) this series is focused on things I love, not things I don’t.
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was, really, in a nearly impossible situation: it had to follow up The Last Crusade… and nearly two decades later. And as fans of virtually every film franchise can bear witness to, making sequels is difficult work. And fans probably will hate the sequels far more than is needed because they’re comparing them to a nostalgic era of the past. That’s par for the course, and it’s certainly what filmmakers sign up for when exploring these beloved universes. Crystal Skull can’t quite get out from underneath the shadow of the trilogy that came before it (nor does it necessarily even try to), but it’s still a mostly fun movie.
Exciting chases and escapes are a core element of the Indiana Jones franchise, and this movie certainly has them. The scene of Indy escaping the warehouse is fun (and c’mon, the fridge scene isn’t that bad), and the motorcycle chase through the college is great. There’s the chase through the jungle as Indy goes after the skull, which feels like the classic ‘tank’ chases we’ve seen before.
BEST GAG:
Mutt reading a sign saying “grave robbers will be shot”, to which Indy gives a dead-pan response: “good thing we’re not grave robbers.”
Best of all, though, is the film bringing back Marion Ravenwood and having her and Indy re-kindle their old romance. This was Karen Allen’s first return to the role since Raiders of the Lost Ark, and in none of the subsequent movies had Indy experienced the kind of romantic chemistry that was present in the original. Even when The Last Crusade brought back familiar faces like Sallah and Marcus Brody, Marion was absent. This movie fills in the gaps of what happened: Indy left her shortly before the wedding, having second thoughts. Unbeknownst to him she was pregnant with their son, Henry Jones III, who goes by Mutt. Marion married, but her husband was killed in the war. Indy and Marion hit it off again in this film, and the movie ends with their wedding. It’s a feel-good ending for the couple, and for fans, seeing the return of both characters.
BEST MOMENT:
Indiana Jones discovering the secret contents in Hangar 51, only to make a daring escape.
What brings them together again is the quest for the crystal skull and their mutual friend Harold Oxley. The skull is being pursued by the Russians, who in this Cold War era are interested in the extraterrestrial – and that works. The film’s problem is not that it leans into the extraterrestrial, per se, but that it jumps too quickly there without grounding it more concretely in history and realism. The previous Indiana Jones films all contain some extraordinary events at the conclusion, but this one is largely driven by them throughout. Rather than building up to a climax where the macguffin’s supernatural powers are displayed, this one probably asks viewers to suspend belief a bit too often – and a bit too early in the film – for it to land as well.
But overall, I think it’s a fine Indiana Jones adventure film that’s filled with plenty of fun moments and heartwarming character moments. It’s my least favorite in the series, but it’s still an Indiana Jones movie, and that shouldn’t be taken for granted.
BEST QUOTE:
“We seem to have reached the age where life stops giving us things and starts taking them away” – Charles Stanforth
“There were a few, but they all had the same problem: they weren’t you, honey.” – Indiana Jones
Fun Facts: Star Wars connections in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull:
- Harrison Ford obviously portrayed not just Indiana Jones in the five movies, but also portrayed Han Solo in five Star Wars films as well.
- Two of the most influential figures behind the entire Star Wars franchise also stand as two of the most influential behind the Indiana Jones franchise: creative and executive George Lucas, and composer John Williams.
- Current Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy has worked on every Indiana Jones film; she was an executive producer on Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
- Though not an explicit Star Wars reference, Mutt remarks, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” – which is, of course, a running gag in the Star Wars franchise as many characters have uttered those same words over the years.
- The crystal skull is glimpsed briefly in an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars in the background, owned of one of the Trandoshan hunters in “Wookiee Hunt.” It’s the same design as the skull that appears in this film.
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