Space Between the Spaces

Remember the last Indiana Jones movie? You know? The one called The Last Crusade? Whatever happened to “last” meaning final, concluding, the film after which there will be no more films in the series?
Well, I guess Steven Spielberg knew that he wouldn’t really be able to pull off a full-fledged Indiana Jones sequel. Which is why he pulled out the other ace in his sleeve: space aliens.
What’s the deal with Spielberg’s obsession with aliens? If he could have somehow tied in the concept of benevolent space invaders into the Holocaust, you know they would have shown up in Schindler’s List.
Whatever the motive for Indie’s return, he’s back. It’s the fifties. It seems like the whole first half of the movie was made with the sole intent of you getting the fact that it’s circa 1957.
The Russians have replaced the Nazis as the bad guys and they are out to find some crystal skull that will give them an edge in the booming industry of psychic warfare. The movie-goers of this generation may not remember, but the red scare had as much to do with the Commies getting their hands on supernatural powers that would enslave the free world as it did destroying capitalism. That was what the whole race to the moon was about.
While an illegitimate Indie Jr. joins the gang and they race around to Mayan ruins, make sure to keep your eye out for Bigfoot and Leprechauns. Because anything at this point would seem to make as much sense as the spiel Spielberg is schlepping.
There are some classic Indie style adventures with secret passages and codes and treasures. So that’s nice. But it all just seems to be missing the mark a little.
And then the coup comes with the standard moral of “be careful what you wish for” and “don't over-grasp your limits” and – oh yeah – “there are space aliens everywhere waiting for humans to wise up.”
Well, if it weren’t for stupid movies maybe we’d be ready to process the knowledge of the universe. I doubt it and it doesn’t look like we’re going to get the opportunity to find out. Mayans predict the end of the world in 2012. But between now and then Saw VI-IX will be coming out.