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Fabulous fourth? Film reviews

Film: Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Cast: Harrison Ford

Direction: Steven Spielberg

Dr Henry “Indiana” Jones is the ultimate tomb raider. He set the template for rocking adventure with an impertinent mix of covert societies, runaway boulders, creaking rope ladders, powerful, old, secrets and of course a mad race against time in the most exotic locations in the world.

Spielberg has gone on record to say that he always visualised the franchise as a trilogy, which is why at the end of “The Last Crusade”, he had the characters riding into the sunset.

However, fans would not let Indy be and always asked Spielberg when Indy would return. In 1994, Ford signalled his willingness to don the fedora again when giving Spielberg his Oscar for “Schindler’s List.”

The movie is set 19 years after the last film, in 1957. It is the height of the Cold War and the dean of Marshall College (Jim Broadbent) tells Indy the government is suspicious of him and wants to sack him.

As Indy heads out of town he meets Mutt (Shia LaBeof), a rebel without a pause, who ropes Indy into a quest for the fabled pre-Columbian crystal skull. So off goes Indy to the misty mountain tops of Peru. Hot on his heels is the evil KGB agent Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett) form-fitting uniform, malevolent haircut and all, who wants the crystal skull so that the Soviets could rule the world or some such standard megalomaniac dreams.

While the first movie, “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” a tribute to the ‘40s cliff-hangers, was a smash hit for its irreverence and breathless pace, one wonders if Spielberg and company are committing the fatal flaw in “Crystal Skull” by taking themselves too seriously.

However, whether the film would become a stand-alone classic is something only time will tell.

MINI ANTHIKAD-CHHIBBER

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