MOVIE REVIEW: Indy 4 Solid But Missing Something

Indy fights mano a mano and vehicle to vehicle against Soviet thugs in the jungles of Peru in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES

SEBRING, May 23, 2008 – Dust off your fedoras and put on your khakis and boots. Today is opening day for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  The fourth installment in the estimable franchise is a solid adventure.

Indy (Harrison Ford) must stop Soviet Russian agents from their attempt to steal one of the deepest secrets America keeps. That effort lands him in Nevada; then Indy is off to the dense jungle of mountainous Peru, where the Soviets seek a legendary skull that bestows unspeakable psychic powers on the possessor.

Ford is in good shape, and he is ably supported by Shia Labeouf, Karen Allen from the first Indy film, Jim Broadbent, and Cate Blanchett who, overall, does a good job as the Soviet agent provocateur but slips into her native British accent, especially when she says, “know.”

The difficulty in selling The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the plot is essentially the same as the first two movies, the Soviets do not come across as malevolent as the Nazis, and the premise of the film – Stalin’s desire for psychic power – seems weaker.

And Indy 4 adds a new element to the whole mythos that it fails to develop and that is not spiritual.

On the positive side, the idea behind the story hooks one enough to keep one watching, and action and adventure abound. Ford has lost none of his acting or stunt skills.

But we get some sense that the story could have run in a different direction, that maybe some larger issues went untreated or treated only a bit, like the romance between Marion and Indy.

While many of the sets and scenes looked authentic and spectacular, continuity botched when we see Red Army vehicles in Peru with the signature communist red star on the side. Can you say “stick out like a sore thumb?” Even the stodgy Russians would have been more discreet.

A few other plot holes exist, too. And I am tired of what I sense is Steven Spielberg’s anti-Christian attitude. He won’t show the cross during a marriage ceremony. Are there any true Christians in any Spielberg film?

Indy 4 is a fun frolic with gaps in it, solid, just not superlative. Of the two major films now playing at the Carmike Cinema 8 in the Lakeshore Mall, The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian is the stronger.

Indy 4 is rated PG-13 for “adventure violence and scary images.”

Our SEBRING CINEMA AND SPORTS rating (1 to 5 reels, 5 being best):