| | We catch up with all of Indiana Jones' old (and new) friends and enemiesBy Tom Forget of Here Indiana JonesWho: When last we saw intrepid archaeologist Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr. (Harrison Ford), it was 1938, and he was crossing the desert after discovering (and subsequently losing) the legendary holy grail of Christian mythology. With his father, Henry Sr. (Sean Connery), mentor Marcus Brody and sometime sidekick Sallah in tow, Indy seemed to have the perfect "ride into the sunset" ending to his adventures. But greed is eternal. With Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the now-aged professor/adventurer is forced to once again don his flight jacket and fedora to protect the world's treasures from those who would exploit them.
Will he return? The franchise pretty much depends on it.--  Marion RavenwoodWho: Indy's hard-drinking old flame (played by Karen Allen) and the daughter of his mentor Abner Ravenwood. They teamed up to fight the baddies (and rekindle a little of that spark) in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Will she return? Off the radar since that first adventure, Ravenwood is back in The Crystal Skull, helping Indy look for the titular Mesoamerican artifact, and her long-thought-dead daddy (John Hurt) might not be quite so cadaverous. Could she be Indy's baby-mama, too?--  Rene BelloqWho: The dark mirror image of Indy's swashbuckling, altruistic archaeologist, Rene Belloq (Paul Freeman) is a suave, self-interested thief of antiquities. Concerned more with his own glory and profit than with benefiting mankind through preservation of its history, Belloq is in constant competition with Jones for the same artifacts. We first see him in Raiders, snatching a golden idol right out of Indy's hands with a force of jungle mercenaries. That's the pattern: Indy does the hard work and Belloq swipes the spoils.
Will he be back? Anyone who's seen the end of Raiders knows there's no way that's gonna happen. Belloq's sins, greed and vanity, marked him as all too human, and humankind is not fit to gaze upon the naked power of God. He was arrogant enough to open the legendary Ark, and God's power literally blew his mind (and his face) apart.--  SallahWho: Jolly Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) is a semi-legendary excavator living in Egypt. Although he's introduced as working for Rene Belloq and the Nazis in Raiders, he quickly switches sides to help his old friend Dr. Jones outfox the baddies and capture the Ark (briefly) for themselves. He came back for The Last Crusade, this time providing some crucial assistance when Indy and his dad need to find the Holy Grail. Sallah was last seen leaving the site of the Holy Grail with Indy, his Dad and Marcus Brody.
Will he return? Nope. Last we saw the round-bellied friend, he was crossing the desert with the Joneses on camel indulging in a hearty belly laugh at Indy's expense upon learning that his dashing archaeologist pal got his nickname from the family dog.--  Marcus BrodyWho: Brody is the guy behind the guy. The sometimes bungling, but decent and ethical, museum curator funds most of Indiana Jones' adventures. A longtime friend to both Indy and his father, Marcus has a long history of "artifact acquisition" and, in fact, is the one who dispatches Indy to snatch the Ark of the Covenant from under the nose of the Nazis in Raiders.
Will he return? The indispensable friend would be a major catalyst for the series, but sadly, the death of actor Denholm Elliott will prevent him from appearing in Crystal Skull. A portrait in fictional Marshall College commemorates him in the new film, and a barbershop sports his name. A new character played by Jim Broadbent seems to be a surrogate Brody role.--  Willie ScottWho: In Temple of Doom, Wilhelmina "Willie" Scott (Kate Capshaw) is a brassy nightclub singer in 1935 Shanghai's cheekily-named Club Obi-Wan. She gets caught up in Indy's whirlwind when his dealings with a gangster go horribly wrong and one of his friends is killed. Screaming Willie escapes with Indy, but it's out of the frying pan and into the fire — like, actual pits of fire, where human sacrifices are performed. The two barely seem to tolerate each other, so of course they end up an item.
Will she be back? Willie and Indy weren't built to last. They returned to the States together, but by 1936 and Raiders of the Lost Ark, she's out of the picture. Maybe removed from the life-threatening thrill of escaping a guy who can pull your heart out of your chest, they found they had little in common. Plus, Capshaw married Steven Spielberg, so he's unlikely to cast her against eternal heartthrob Ford ever again.--  Short RoundWho: Wan Li, aka Short Round (Jonathan Ke Quan), is a streetwise orphan who plays the "son" in Indy's weird little surrogate family unit in Temple of Doom. Shorty was a pint-size 11-year-old Shanghai cabbie and ally of the good doctor, who accidentally ended up helping Indy clean up an evil cult/child-slavery ring in India.
Will he be back? At the end of Temple, Indy, Willie and Shorty return to the States safe and sound. The little guy hasn't been in the mix since. We'd like to think he wound up running a Fortune 500 company.--  Dr. Henry Jones, Sr.Who: Indy's distinguished but obsessive archaeologist father. Too busy chasing after the Holy Grail of Christ while his son was growing up, he wasn't much of a dad to young Jr. The two men mend their fences (and find the grail) in Last Crusade.
Will he return? Dr. Jones the elder barely survived his father-son adventure (shot by the baddies, saved by his son), so our money's on permanent retirement. Oh, and there's that thing about Sean Connery proclaiming he's never acting again …--  Dr. Elsa SchneiderWho: Dr. Schneider (Alison Doody) is a beautiful, elegant Austrian archaeologist introduced in The Last Crusade. She charms the pants off Indy and his father (literally) and joins the search for the Holy Grail of Christ. Unfortunately for the Joneses, this dame is more turned on by the treasure hunt than she is by either of them.
Will she return? Maybe if Elsa had sided with Indy and didn't backstab him by stealing his plans to find the Grail; and maybe if she weren't so greedy to ignore the centuries-old warnings written within the tomb … Maybe, just maybe, she'd have lived to tease Indy again.--  Mutt WilliamsWho: The classic "wild one" style '50s greaser, he's Indy's new partner in crime in Crystal Skull. Mutt (Shia Lebeauf) is, on the surface, an odd protégé for tweedy academic Dr. Jones, but he and Indy both share a thirst for action. The hog-riding greaser carries a switchblade and has the openly rebellious demeanor of a young Brando — and most likely would rather be caught dead than hanging out with an archaeology professor. Indiana, however, is much more than a teacher …
Backstory: This is Mutt's first outing, as he joins Indy on a trek through the jungle to find the crystal skull. He's poised as the latest punk-kid sidekick, but if this franchise continues, rumor has it that Mutt will be a central figure going forward.--  MacWho: An English war buddy of Indy's from his days in military intelligence, Mac (Ray Winstone) is both a friend and competitor. He teams up with Indy and Mutt in Crystal Skull, but Mac's motives have more than a little of Raiders antagonist Rene Belloq in them.
Backstory: Mac worked with Indy on the Allied side in WWII, but while Indy hasn't had any contact with the Soviets after the war, Mac has (suspicious-much?). While the nature of America and England's relationship with the U.S.S.R. has clearly changed post-war, it's unclear what that means for Mac's relationship with the Russkies. Once a spy, always a spy?--  Irina SpalkoWho: An icy Soviet Agent, Spalko (Cate Blanchett) is yet another in a long line of deadly women Indiana has to contend with. With a sleek, dark bob and the severe utilitarian clothes of a KGB interrogator, Spalko is the picture of a dominatrix. She's trying to get her hands on the mysterious crystal skull for Mother Russia, and Indy wants to keep it out of her clutches.
Backstory: Crystal Skull takes place in 1957, so anyone Russia-affiliated is obviously a foe. She's a stern believer in the U.S.S.R., and will stop at nothing to harness the possibly extraterrestrial power of the crystal skull for her homeland's benefit. While there's certainly some sexual tension between her and Indy, her real lover is the hammer and sickle. |
| | Posted 5/21/2008 10:28 PM - 80 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
- recommend
  - recs0
- share
- email
 - sent0
|
