Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull Dvd Review
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
The ending of a film can be a strange thing. I used to live with a friend who always had a problem with films that he deemed to finish with a contrived happy ending, so much so that even if the previous two hours had been fantastic, a few seconds later and it could all be ruined for him (the end of L.A. Confidential had him in a fit of rage).
It was something I never really understood properly until I watched The Departed and witnessed Scorsese so drastically undermine the whole point of the film by changing the ending from the original source Infernal Affairs to one that I couldn’t accept the film on any level.
This a very rare incident for me, especially when I confess that up until a few years ago I refused to accept how bad The Phantom Menace is as a film, as my love for movies and especially sequels to those I grew up with can blindside any critical faculties I have. I find myself defending their flaws as one would defend a family member from outside criticism. And so to Indy IV.
It’s likely that as I’ve decided to let the majority of the review base itself more on the issues raised by the special features, that at some point the ending will be spoilt, so I suggest until you’ve seen the film not to read any further.
After seeing Crystal Skull at the cinema and having been so incredibly excited about the prospect of seeing more Indy on the big screen, I came out like so many people I talked to, feeling underwhelmed. The one thing that has been agreed by everyone I know is that the ending was too much, nobody wanted the George Lucas ‘money shot’ and moreover everyone instinctively knew that it was his influence that had detracted from what should and could have been a more intimate denouement.
Looking back to the previous Indy films I by far prefer the conclusion of The Last Crusade, where the outcome for everyone rested merely on picking the right cup. Crystal Skull has more in common with the ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark, being more effects driven, but lacks the threat of the first film, while simultaneously ruining the rest of the film’s attempts to avoid using a lot of CGI where possible. The worst thing is that on one of the featurettes Spielberg admits that it was his idea to shoot the scene with the crystal bodies morphing into one flesh covered being, a moment that I really wish didn’t exist. Thankfully it didn’t speak like Jar Jar so the option is there to close your eyes and pretend it never happened.
Strangely, I had no issue with other parts of the film that people moaned about, from the fridge escape to the monkeys, as they all seemed in keeping with the over the top sense of fun that has always been part of the Jones franchise, but that ending was just one step too far.
A second viewing of Crystal Skull was actually a lot more enjoyable, as with the level of expectation dropped it enabled me to enjoy the simple pleasure of watching Harrison Ford do what he does best and notice more of the references to his other adventures throughout the film,. The high point of which came again for me when I heard him utter the line “I’ve got a bad feeling about this”, a moment of such incredible geek joy that I cheered a second time out loud.
Tags: cinema, conclusion, critical faculties, crystal skull, denouement, family member, george lucas, indy films, infernal affairs, l a confidential, last crusade, money shot, original source, phantom menace, rage, raiders of the lost ark, scorsese, sequels, special features, strange thing