Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Indy 4 ~! Wow~!.For the previous three, I just watched them again and again through TV, video or VCD, but this one....when finally in my life time I get a chance to watch it in the big screen...no way I'm gonna miss it.

As usually, Indy films open with Paramount's logo slowly dissolve into certain props or scenery in the first scene, and for the first few minutes, Dr Jones is no where to be found. If in the previous three films the opening scene is an action one (much like Bond's pre-credit sequence) I was rather worried if they may change it this time. Maybe the reserve Indy for later scene...maybe they thinks it is better to tell the story from the beginning yada yada yada...But my worries are pointless. Alas I saw his fedora, his shadow and then Dr Jones starts his new adventure again, in the midst of trouble and being the captive once again....

The previous films set in the WWII era, but it will be ridiculous if they do that again this time. Actor has aged and the filmmaker does not intend to hide it. So this latest Indy film sets in the fifties, when the American starting to get paranoid in all those communist witch hunt. The government is getting darker, people getting more corrupt and suddenly America seem like a country not that nice to live in.

But all those unpleasant feeling about the 50s only plague us for a while. After the usual plot device has been set (all plot device in Indy films is cliche, but in the hands of Steve, cliche is fun to watch), the film gets alive and the engine is running and all those communist thingy are thrown back and we immerse once again in the inter-country race to the exotic deep forest of Amazon....

If you watch enough X-files or Sci-fi, it is not hard to guess that the so call Hangar 51 is the legendary Area 51. An area or sector that is believe to be the center of research for the extra-terrestrial life form that crashed into the US in the 50s.

Being Steven Spielberg, he really knows how to make a sequel movies. The first Indy introduce the audience with a hero far more cooler and manly than Roger Moore's James Bond. The second, the Temple of Doom is more like a prequel (due to the time the even took place) is just pure Indy sequel. People watch because they need another Indy ride after the Lost Ark. In the third, the successfully avoided another possible ignorable sequel by introducing a new element...origin of Indy's trademark costumer and Indy's old man, Henry Sr, played by the ultimate Jame Bond actor Sean Connery. Indy film is partly inspired by Bond, so who can be a better choice for his father other than Connery?

So in this number 4 movie, what they gonna offer other than the fact this is a long waited 4th installment? They give his a son and a wife. The good things is they don't even intend to hide it, or create a red herring about this son thing so that the audience can get a surprise. I believe the filmmaker believe the audience can actually guess who this Mutt might end up be...Indy's son~!
Indy number 4, family adventure!

The stunts are authentic, the minimized the use of CG and make use hell lot of real stunt which has always be the style of Indy film. The villain, as usual charming and being particularly idiotic in the end when they finally get what they want.

If the previous films has generous use of mythical or theological element concerning the treasure they are hunting. In this film it shift towards science fiction. No curse, no grail, no Kali, just an ET.

If you wanna good family friendly action film with very little blood, watch Indy...
If you are sick of all those CGI extravaganza flying people film, watch Indy...
If you are sick seeing a guy in tuxedo had a bad day but never a bad hair so, watch Indy...
If you wanna know how godly Steve has become, watch Indy...
If you are a Indy fan...we should have already watch it, this is indeed, a pilgrimage...