Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a certified smash hit and has gone over relatively well with critics. However, the film has come in for a pasting from some fans to whom the franchise is a sacred cow. As there are countless reviews of this film available, this article will not go into plot summaries or provide any kind of overview. Instead, the following will address what have been the most loudly voiced criticisms of ...Crystal Skull.
To CG or Not to CG?
The film has been criticized for apparent over-reliance on CGI. Sure, when Cate Blanchett’s Russian villainess goes toe-to-toe with Shia LaBeouf’s spunky sidekick across two speeding military cars, utilizing everything from swordplay to martial arts, the green-screen trickery is more than obvious. But, cast your minds back to the one-on-one fight scenes in Blade 2 or just about every action sequence in The Matrix Reloaded and it becomes pretty apparent that director Steven Spielberg has kept it as real as can be expected in the current era of action filmmaking.
The sequence in which a number of monkeys appear to have simultaneously escaped their barrel in order to assist Shia LaBeouf by showing him how to travel via vine, has earned the ire of many. As unbelievable as this sequence is, it’s over and done with relatively quickly and the CG monkeys are rendered very believably. This is something that other films featuring computer-generated animals have failed miserably in. Top marks have to go to the animators here.
The Supernatural Versus the Extraterrestrial
The film’s opening action sequence showing Indiana Jones escape his Russian adversaries is inexplicably followed by an unrelated, gratuitous and completely unbelievable scene in which the titular character escapes an atomic bomb explosion in a nuclear testing site. Certainly, this sequence is totally contrived, but anyone going into an Indiana Jones film that can’t derive an ounce of enjoyment from witnessing how Harrison Ford makes his escape might want to check their pulses pretty soon.
Perhaps the biggest issue audiences have had with …Crystal Skull is its X-Files-like ending, but it’s hard to understand why. It seems strange that the supernatural elements of the previous films are okay but the extraterrestrial exploration of the new film isn’t. ...Crystal Skull is no more a film about aliens than the first three were about God. The previous Indiana Jones adventures covered pretty much everything there was to cover in terms of Biblical imagery, so after nineteen years what’s wrong with exploring something new?
Divorcing Indiana Jones From Childhood Experience
Critics have been relatively kind to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, so it seems that it’s those who grew up with Raiders..., Temple... and ...Crusade and for whom this franchise is untouchable that have voiced the loudest disapproval. If this wasn’t an Indiana Jones film it possibly would have scored much more favorably among these people. But it's worth remembering that the archaeological action adventure is a rarity nowadays, as are filmmakers of the caliber of Steven Spielberg.
The Indiana Jones films have always been about smart, blockbuster thrills and ...Crystal Skull is consistent with the earlier entries in this regard. The only real difference this time around is about twenty years of technological advancements in the craft. This film should be enjoyed for what it is; a fast-paced, exciting action-adventure suited to audiences of all ages. Put your prejudices and childhood memories aside, and enjoy.
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