The Cinema of the Four

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

It appears in my notes that May of ’08 brought a rapid succession of cases in the art of movie detection, so many that numerous accounts were never presented to the public. The entertaining affair of “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” that dreadful “Narnia” business . . . and even my steadfast refusal to even come close to the matter of “Sex in the City.” But of all those cases that slipped by, I knew that I could not let my old friend Indiana Jones fall among them.

Were I chronicling Dr. Jones’s latest adventure, I think I should have entitled it “Indiana Jones and the Return of Marian Ravenwood,” for to me, she will always be the woman of this movie series and possible the best character other than Indy. Forget Russians who are merely filling in for Nazis. Forget the significant acting chops of Cate Blanchett. Forget nuclear explosions, area 51 alien artifacts, undead natives, military vehicle chases, and that kid who might be Indy’s son. Marian Ravenwood’s perky smile and rough-and-tumble attitude, delivered once more by Karen Allen, were what put this case head and shoulders above its two predecessors.

In the end, however, I found myself wondering if I’ll just go back and look into “Raiders of the Lost Ark” again, should the urge ever hit me to see my old friend Indy once more. Any strength “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” might have was stronger back in those days, and while it’s a nice tribute to the original, it remains only that, a tribute and not a true original.