INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL. Unfairly maligned

The final shot of the third Indiana Jones film seemed to definitively suggest that Dr. Jones would not return to the big screen. After all, it’s hard to imagine a more telling image than the hero riding off into the sunset. But everyone wanted to see another film in the series. With that in mind, Harrison Ford tried to stay in good shape, and although he focused on other projects during the 1990s, a fourth installment of the series was still in the plans. As usual, the main obstacles were the lack of a good script and the difficulty of coordinating the packed schedules of Spielberg, Lucas, and Ford.

At one point, George Lucas came up with the idea of linking the artifact to aliens. Jeb Stuart wrote a script titled Indiana Jones and the Saucermen from Mars, which didn’t appeal to Harrison Ford. However, the actor said that if Spielberg agreed, he would also consider it. The director resisted, as he didn’t want to make another movie about extraterrestrials (having already done E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind), and in 1996 Independence Day had just hit theaters. Meanwhile, Lucas turned his attention to the Star Wars prequel trilogy, and the plans for a fourth Indy film were shelved for a while. They resurfaced in the new millennium, and when the aliens were replaced with interdimensional beings (which was really only a cosmetic change, since they still fit the most common pop culture image of aliens), Spielberg finally gave his approval and the project could move forward.

It was clear from the start that Harrison Ford’s age (he was 64 at the time) would need to be taken into account—something the actor himself pushed for—so the story was set in 1957, in the midst of the Cold War. This time, instead of Nazis, the villains wore red stars on their uniforms. Several people worked on the screenplay (including Frank Darabont, creator of The Shawshank Redemption), and several versions were written, with the final draft penned by David Koepp, who had previously worked with Spielberg. The film’s style also changed somewhat—whereas the earlier installments paid homage to 1930s and ’40s adventure films, the fourth entry nodded to 1950s science fiction. That era was dominated by movies about alien invasions and giant insects. The film is full of elements unmistakably associated with that decade—Elvis Presley plays in the background, McCarthyism runs rampant in the U.S., atomic bomb tests are conducted, and greaser subculture is popular among youth. In terms of atmosphere, Crystal Skull nails it.

From the moment of its release, however, the fourth film earned the infamous title of being the black sheep of the series. Many claim it’s just a pale shadow of the brilliant trilogy. And while there are certainly some unfortunate ideas—like the infamous fridge scene (which entered the lexicon as “nuke the fridge,” meaning a completely implausible and ill-fitting plot device), the poorly written character Mac (Ray Winstone), the unnecessary off-screen deaths of Henry Jones and Marcus Brody, the wasted opportunity for an epic action scene with the Soviet jungle-thresher, and the underuse of John Hurt’s acting talents—I actually quite enjoy the fourth Indy movie. If you accept that it’s a slightly different film with a slightly different tone, you can have a genuinely good time watching it. There are enough familiar elements to rekindle the spirit of Adventure. The 1950s are wonderfully portrayed, and you get the sense that Dr. Jones is slowly losing control over his fate as age begins to catch up with him. Harrison Ford delivered a phenomenal performance, and the film belongs to him. The burden of the action scenes and chases was partially shifted to Mutt (Shia LaBeouf), but aside from the jungle chase sequence, Indy remains front and center.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is, in my opinion, unfairly maligned. Yes, it has its problems, but it’s still a competent adventure film, just a notch below the previous three. It’s a solid, light, escapist option for a relaxed evening—which is more than can be said about the next installment. But more on that soon.

Written by Piotr Zymelka