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| Beloved characters, some new ones and a wealth of exciting situations and elements are teased on this classical poster for Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull |
Archeological doctor Jones is in trouble with the vexatious Russians in the 1950s, when he gets a whiff of an ancient crystal skull in South America, SPOILER which turns out to stem from an alien.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is written by David Koepp (Inferno (2016)), with George Lucas (Radioland Murders (1994)) and Jeff Nathanson (Rush Hour 2 (2001)) contributing story elements, and directed by Ohioan master filmmaker Steven Spielberg (Firelight (1964)), whose 25th feature it is. It is the 4th film in the Indiana Jones franchise (1981-).
As a boyhood fan of the Indiana Jones movies, I so wanted to see one last great Indiana Jones film that the production of the 4th film made me genuinely excited. And so it was with great sorrow that I had to face the fact that my dream would not come to fruition. Crystal Skull should have never been made. Despite inordinate testaments to the opposite (promotional interviews stressing the live stunt work and old-time honoring crafts involved in the production), the adventure here obviously now mostly takes place in front of green screens with more or less fantastical animations later conjured up as backgrounds. The feelings of wonder and awe at the physical sets, props, special effects and stunts of the original three films here vanish along with any sense of cinema magic.
With what remains, it is hard not to think that Harrison Ford (Firewall (2006)) has aged too much, although he tries tenaciously to appear sprightly, along with his recommissioned love bird Karen Allen (Bad Hurt (2015)), - and that Shia LaBeouf (Bobby (2006)), despite sometimes looking quite cute with his 1950s duck rump hairdo, doesn't really liven up his big adventure scenes. Cate Blanchett (Borderlands (2024)) embellishes her Ukrainian, power-mad Communist villain. But however way you turn things, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull should have remained an idea game between old friends, or a script in a dusty drawer somewhere.
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Watch a trailer for the movie here
Cost: 185 mil. $
Box office: 786.6 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 4.25 times its cost)
[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull premiered 18 May (Cannes Film Festival, out of competition) and runs 122 minutes. Lucas' ideas and wishes for a 4th film were brushed off by Spielberg and Ford for many years, allegedly until Spielberg's children demanded another Indy movie, when development began more seriously. Shooting took place from June - October 2007 in New Mexico, California, including in Los Angeles, Connecticut, Hawaii, Brazil and Argentina. The film was shrouded in heavily guarded secrecy, and a 37 year-old who was found to be in possession of stolen photos and budget papers from the production was sentenced to 2 years and 4 months prison time for the offense. Paramount reportedly spent 150 mil. $ promoting the film. Ford, Spielberg and Lucas forewent salaries in favor of a profit participation payment, reportedly beginning their payment once the film crossed 400 mil. $. - Ford eventually had made 65 mil. $ from the film. It opened #1 to a 100.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#3-#5), grossing 317.1 mil. $ (40.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 53 mil. $ (6.7 %) and the UK with 50.7 mil. $ (6.4 %). It was the year's 2nd highest-grossing over-all, behind The Dark Knight, and the 3rd highest-grossing in North America, behind The Dark Knight and Iron Man. The film was nominated for a BAFTA and a Grammy, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 3 notches over this one. The film made in excess of 117.2 mil. $ on its home video releases in North America. LaBeouf stopped defending the film at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival and was criticized publicly by Ford for it. He later said he regretted this, but probably only made things worse when he elaborated about Spielberg; "He told me there's a time to be a human being and have an opinion, and there's a time to sell cars. It brought me freedom, but it also killed my spirits because this was a dude I looked up to like a sensei." Ford returned as Jones in James Mangold's massive flop Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023). Spielberg returned with A Timeless Call (2008, short) and theatrically with The Adventures of Tintin (2011). Ford first returned in Crossing Over (2009). Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is certified fresh at 77 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
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