Graphic guide to “Indiana Jones”
My colleague George Lang and I assembled this graphic guide to “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” based on the poster. This also ran in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Poster provides plethora of particulars
After almost two decades of waiting, cinema’s favorite archaeologist/adventurer returns to action in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” The movie opened Thursday and promises to prove a big-screen juggernaut over Memorial Day weekend.
We’ve compiled a graphic guide to the long-awaited fourth film for your rediscovery of Indiana Jones:
1. Dr. Henry Walton Jones Jr. (Harrison Ford).
Status: The archaeologist took the name “Indiana” from a malamute puppy he had as a child. By 1957, Jones is 58 years old and teaching at Marshall College. He is suddenly under “red scare” scrutiny when the “Crystal Skull” adventure begins.
2. Snakes.
Status: Long before “Snakes on a Plane,” there was a snake on Indy’s plane in 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” – “I hate snakes, Jock. I hate ‘em.” Dr. Henry Jones Jr. fears and despises asps and adders of any kind, and it would not be an Indiana Jones film without something limbless slithering onto the set.
3. Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf).
Status: Mutt is the son of Marion Ravenwood and a Royal Air Force pilot Marion married after “Raiders” – maybe. A self-styled rebel and motorcycle mechanic, Mutt dropped out of school and drops into “Crystal Skull” as the impetus for Indy’s return to barreling through jungles and strangely mechanized ruins.
4. Crystal skull.
Status: Crystal skulls are generally claimed to be pre-Colombian artifacts, though most have been discredited as 19th century hoaxes. In Indy lore, the swashbuckling archaeologist recovered one previous skull in 1933, the Crystal Skull of Cozan. But this one is the Crystal Skull of Akator, the city of gold best known as El Dorado.
5. Iconic outfit.
Status: All tweed in the classroom, Indy always dons khaki pants and shirt, boots, his brown leather jacket, haversack, bullwhip and his trademark fedora when on an adventure. Eighteen years after he last put it on, Ford was still able to wear the original Indy costume for “Crystal Skull.”
6. Natives.
Status: Generally restless in the Indiana Jones series, they come bearing spears, poisonous darts and politically incorrect characterizations. An intrepid, whip-wielding archaeologist always knows there are two sides to a blowgun, and the business end can change at any time.
7. Spiffy logo.
Status: The distinctive “Indiana Jones” lettering hearkens to the 1930s movie serials on which the first three films were based. But “Crystal Skull” is set in 1957, and the movie reflects that era, from the Cold War to leather jackets to the popularity of science-fiction films.
8. Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen).
Status: Marion, the feistiest of the hero’s leading ladies, and Indy were thrown back together in “Raiders.” Indy’s former flame doesn’t hesitate to punch him in the jaw, battle snakes with torches or drink guys under the table whenever necessary. They are reunited in an unexpected way in this film, but will their love last?
9. George “Mac” McHale (Ray Winstone).
Status: Indy has a charming new pal in Mac, another of those colorful sidekicks who have surrounded our hero throughout the series. But not all of them have proved to be true friends. Will Mac stay stalwart as Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) or duplicitous as Indy’s first onscreen helper, Satipo (Alfred Molina)?
10. Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett).
Status: Steely and ruthless, head baddie Spalko leads an elite Soviet military unit trying to track down the Crystal Skull and unlock its legendary powers. She sees Indy – who at times has shown a weakness for bad girls working for the opposing side on his quests – as the key to finding the mysterious relic.
-BAM
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