7 Times The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull Ignored Everything The Original Indiana Jones Stood For

7 Times The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull Ignored Everything The Original Indiana Jones Stood For

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull left a lot of longtime fans feeling let down.

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Despite receiving positive reviews from critics upon its release, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has become a notorious film to fans of the original Indiana Jones movies – and even to those less passionate about the franchise. Many fans decry the movie and view the first three as the ‘proper’ films of the franchise.

Aside from the oft-commented upon older Jones, with the film coming out 19 years after The Last Crusade, people also took umbrage with the film’s story and its reliance on CGI in a previously largely practical effects-based franchise. There are some specific moments that drive audience anger, and show the disconnect from the original films.

7 The Soviet-Hating Monkeys Are Too Far For Many

There is no denying that Indiana Jones is rarely able to get out of scrapes solely by himself, often relying on his friends and allies – and in Temple of Doom even needing a company of British Indian Army riflemen to serve as the cavalry. Nonetheless, his victories in fights tend to be at least in some way due to his luck and skill, and always believable in the context of the film.

The scene in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull where, during a convoy fight scene, a horde of monkeys joined in on the side of Indy and his allies, however, screamed to many that the writers had no idea how to finish the action sequence. It became mocked for being ridiculous and making suspension of disbelief difficult in a way the older films rarely did.

6 The Introduction Of Mac Adds A Rare Superfluous Character

The Indiana Jones films often make use of relatively small but important casts, centering on Indy and his allies along with a small number of potent villains. If a character is given a name and characterization, they are typically important to the story in some way, in keeping with the relative straightforwardness of the series’ storytelling.

This cannot be said for the character of ‘Mac’, however. Introduced as Indy’s friend and ally who is actually working for the Soviets, Mac is a play on both Sallah from Raiders of the Lost Ark and Elsa from The Last Crusade. However, those characters factored into the plot in a major way, unlike Mac who primarily follows the cast around being untrustworthy. The inclusion of a character reminiscent of those two without adding what made them tick shows the disconnect between the films.

5 Its UFO Ending Took The Series Too Hard Into Sci-Fi

The second-most controversial scene in all of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is its climax. The characters return the Crystal Skull to the Lost City of Akator, where the inhabitants are revealed to be aliens studying Earth. After it is returned, they kill the main villain, Spalko, and then the city begins collapsing.

Except it doesn’t collapse, instead it begins to take off, shooting off into the night sky as a UFO. The series has always had the supernatural, especially during its third acts, but these elements have always been mysterious and religious in nature. An actual alien spaceship taking off was too well-explained and too sci-fi for many fans, feeling out of place with the other films.

4 Indiana Jones’s Characterization Lacked Much Of What Made Him Beloved

Few would claim that Indiana Jones was ever an especially amiable person. The character has always been grumpy, snappish, and generally fed up with the ridiculous situations he finds himself in. However, he has also always been brave, intelligent, and had a roguish charm that endeared him to audiences.

The grumpiness is definitely there in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but few of the more positive and charming aspects are. Despite a highly-praised performance from Harrison Ford, the actual characterization is generally much less fun to follow for an entire film and a departure from what made the series’ protagonist so iconic.

3 Its Army Ants Fight Scene Is Just Slightly Ridiculous

Fight sequences in the Indiana Jones movies have always had an air of the fantastical pulp about them. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indy gets into a fight early on in a burning bar and things only escalate from there. This can be taken too far, however, and a central fight in Crystal Skull tips the needle too far for many.

Jones and company get into a fight with Spalko’s Soviets as a convoy of army ants pass by, devouring all in their path. Seemingly entirely unaware of the situation, Indy and a henchman continue to battle one another, only protected by supernatural forces. The fight itself stretched suspension of disbelief, especially with the notion that the two wouldn’t seek to escape a horrifying death before continuing to pummel one another.

2 The Double-Triple Agent Plot Twist Is Unnecessarily Convoluted

In addition to Mac’s character largely not contributing to the plot, what he does contribute is unnecessary convolution. He appears to be allied with the Soviets, only to claim to Indy that he is actually a double agent for the CIA. It is only when they reach the Lost City that he is once again revealed to actually be with the Soviets, having lied about being a double.

Although not overly hard to follow, this sort of convolution adds nothing to the story, and appears to be twists for their own sake. Previous films in the franchise largely worked off of an older form of plotting where the characters were confronted with obstacles and overcame them, with the twists being few and impactful, such as Indiana becoming possessed in Temple of Doom. You could remove Mac’s double-agent antics from the film, and with a couple of changed details it would flow just as well.

1 The Nuclear Fridge Scene Killed Any Tension

By far the most frequently mocked part of the film, the end of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’s prologue sees Indy escaping the Soviets by hiding in a model town, about to have a nuclear weapon tested. In order to survive, Jones empties a lead-lined fridge, and hides inside, being tossed miles by the blast.

Hair-raising escapes have always been part of the series’ formula, but they have always made sense and been intelligent, even if they were slightly absurd. Indy hiding in a fridge and surviving the heat, concussive force, and impact from the blast made him appear immortal, and hindered any remaining tension in the film. Compared to earlier films that kept tension by often showing him be hurt or outright beaten, this is a major step down that remains a point of humor to this day.

Link Source : https://www.cbr.com/kingdom-of-crystal-skull-ignored-original-indiana-jones/

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