Like Roger Ebert, I would like to award a Special Jury Prize as a precursor to my Top Ten List, this year my award goes to "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"The most fun I had at the movies this year was going to see the new Indiana Jones film. When it came out, it had many detractors, people thought the "Nuked by the fridge" part was too implausible, "South Park" had an episode where they accused Steven Spielberg and George Lucas of raping their beloved hero, and Ben Mankewitcz chose it as the worst movie of the year.
Well let's face it, Indy was never a critic's favorite, but he always had a special place for me. An Indiana Jones movie was always for kids, the hero would get hurt sometimes, but he was pretty indestructible meaning you knew he would go through rough stuff but he would always come out of it ok. Indy has now survived being chased by a huge boulder, a pit of snakes, surviving a plane crash by jumping out in a raft, came back from being possessed by an evil cult, a sewer full of rats, and God's wrath. You can now add a nuclear blast to the list, the point being Indiana Jones is a comic book hero who can not die and it's nice to know some heroes still come indestructible.
I suppose the joy I got from watching this film was knowing what to expect, I didn't want Indy to change and become more complex which is what some people complained about, I wanted the same Indy from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" so many years ago.
Perhaps we didn't need a new Indiana Jones, we could've stopped at three and no one would've complained, but it's a joy to see Indy back on the big screen where he belongs, there's something old fashioned about these films that have kept them enduring. When it all comes down to it, these films bring the kid out in me, I had a big smile on my face in the opening sequence when Indy cracks his whip, and yes when he survives the nuclear blast by hiding in a fridge, that's the world of Indiana Jones and that's what's so fantastic.
The big movies of the summer were "The Dark Knight" and "Iron Man" which dealt with more human and fallible heroes, and while I admired those films very much they sometimes took themselves too seriously. Indiana Jones was always winking to the audience and we just get to enjoy the ride with him. As an observation I saw more kids at an Indiana Jones movie actually looking like they were having fun than the kids I saw at "The Dark Knight"
"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" wasn't really breaking new ground, nor did it rise above its formula to give us something new, but it was the film that had me smiling with joy the most this year and the one film that made me feel more like a kid than anything else. So I would like to put this much maligned movie to rest and say it was a joy for this fan to see his hero on the screen again.
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