Indiana Jones

Indy IV (as the film will be lovingly called for the purpose of this review) has been a long time in the making. And throughout its final stages Spielberg, Lucas, et al. have been very secretive about the plot. I intend to honour their tightlippedness. So if you want to know what Indy IV is about, move on for you will not find it here. This review just offers an opinion on the film itself. Suffice it to say that Indiana Jones, with the help of new character Mutt Williams and old flame Marion Ravenwood goes to seek out a mythical crystal skull. He needs to find it before the Russians do, because they intend to abuse its supposed powers to achieve world domination.

Generally speaking, both Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas have nothing left to prove. They have made more than their share of iconic films and are in fact icons themselves. For Indy IV however, expectations were exceptionally high. It has been nineteen (!) years in the making and so had nineteen years of audience anticipation to live up to. Luckily for everybody (including the audience) it manages to come out on top.

Indy IV is, how could it not be, an extremely well made movie and it shows not just the total commitment of all the people involved but also the prodigious skills of its director and producers. The set pieces (and there are many of them) are great, the transitions between them are smooth and logical, there are many winks and nudges to the previous three movies and what is most important: Spielberg and friends have managed to achieve the magic associated with those previous three movies. Most of the action has a nice ‘low tech’-feel about it. There is a lot of bare knuckle fighting going on, not the polished wire aided kung fu we are used to seeing. Unfortunately, on those instances where Indy IV loses credibility it is at the moments where the action does become slicker. However well executed those elaborations are, they clash with the old-school tone of the rest of the film and are no match for it.

In addition, some elements of the plot are based on urban rather than historical legend and that, combined with a few rushed discoveries in the interest of exposure, makes for a few lapses in credibility. At those moments the audience may realise they are not in fact part of the movie, but are merely watching it.

This is particularly unfortunate because most of the other elements of Indy IV work so very well. Spielberg does a wonderful job at explaining (and credibly at that) how time has progressed. He shows us in a few short scenes, where Henry Jones Jr. has been, and how and why he has changed in the past nineteen years. Spielberg perfectly sets the atmosphere of the era, so from the first minute of the film on, we know precisely where and when we are. Spielberg and Ford even afford themselves a few jokes on Indiana’s inevitable aging. However, Indy IV never veers off into comedy (as its predecessor did); its feet are firmly planted in the action-adventure genre and it manages to recapture the ironic tone of voice that Raiders of the Lost Ark had. One god-awful creature gag aside, that is. Here’s hoping that is removed from the film, come the directors cut.

With a history as long and deep as the Indiana Jones-franchise, the scriptwriters had a lot to work with and work from, in terms of character development. Even with that in mind, the characters and their relationships are exceptionally well rounded. There are real histories here, and stemming from those, real stories being told. Shia Labeouf and Harrison Ford have a great chemistry together. Both the actors and the characters complement each other well. Ford has lost no credibility as an action hero because his scenes and character are so well written. Karen Allen, who was always the best Indiana Jones heroine (Kate Capshaw was too hysterical, Alison Doody was too cold) is also back in fighting form. She and Indy crackle like before, but not exactly in the same way as before. The script is respectful and thorough regarding the time that has passed and the changes this has brought for both of them. This makes any developments credible and desirable, even.

Cate Blanchett meanwhile is not going to win any Oscars for her turn as Russian superbaddy Irina Spalko (the accent is too wobbly, for one), but her performance has instant camp value. I can predict with quite a fair amount of certainty what the next Halloween costume hit will be.

So overall, and despite a few slip-ups, Indy IV comes through. It is well made, but more importantly, made with a lot of love from everybody involved in the project. The magic of our childhood films can never be recaptured or remade and it would be foolish and naïve to expect this from any sequel.

However, judged on its own merits, Indy IV holds the banner high and adheres to the standards the previous three films have set.

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