Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Year: 2008
Directors: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Shia LaBeouf
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Running Time: 124 Mins
Review Rating: 2 Stars





Harrison Ford is back as Indiana Jones, in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. This time around Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones is search of the crystal skull. The film takes place in the height of the Cold War where the Russians lead by a (lifeless) scientist (Cate Blanchett) are looking for an extraterrestrial skull that can give them power to the point that they can take over the world. They have kidnapped Dr. Jones and his sidekick (Ray Winstone) and taken them to a remote desert in the southwest. He manages to escape them and returns home to find out that he is being questioned for treason by the government. Not happy about that, Jones decides to leave town until he meets a rebellious teen (Shia LaBeouf), who has a proposition and a grudge with him. The two set out to find the mysterious crystal skull, but the Russians are following them, as they desperately want it so they can rule the world. Can Indy save the day by finding the Crystal skull and keep it away from the Russians? Jim Broadbent (Hot Fuss) Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and John Hurt (Hellboy) also co-star

After watching this installment of the Indiana Jones series, I was wondering that Paramount should have left this series alone, as it ended perfectly in the last film. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the biggest disappointment of the year so far. Director Steven Spielberg has really lost that the magic touch that made his previous films like Jurassic Park and ET that were so great. There are major problems with this film. First, there were way too many special effects. What made the first three Indy films great was the fact that it didn’t rely heavily of special effects. At times it felt like an effects film that an Indiana Jones film. Second, was the script with the film, which was written by David Koepp. It was not that great of a film that Indiana Jones fans are a custom to. I knew from the first scene this was going to be a long movie with the films film first scene where the Russians take Indy out of the trunk at this army base where there they find an alien. I was thinking to myself, especially when Blanchett’s character (which I’ll take about in a minute) comes on with no signs of life, Aliens, what movie am I watching? A sci-fi film or an Indiana Jones film. Why did they have to begin the movie there because it felt like that there was a scene or two in the beginning that were missing. In fact, I really didn’t get into the film until the dinner scene when Indy is meeting his son for the first time in the dinner. Another thing that he doesn’t do well was developing the relationship between Indy and his son. Even thought there is a scene or two that does that, to me for most of the film, it felt like the son was just a sidekick not a son. Even though there were a couple of good moments, the screenplay for the mostly, hurt the film. But the major problem with the screenplay was the fact the villain was fucking lifeless. It seemed like everytime Blanchett’s character was on screen, it slowed the movie down, as the villain had no personality and was lifeless. And no it’s not Blanchett’s fault, as she was given nothing to do here, it’s David Koepp fault because the character was totally lifeless.

The only thing that saves this film from become a one star film was the acting. Harrision Ford proved me wrong, as he still capable of playing the legendary character. Also, I thought Shia Lebeouf was surprisingly good, as I’m still a bit skeptical about his acting abilities in these high profile films but this was a good performance.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the first film is the summer movie that left a bad taste in my mouth as it was boring and not exciting enough. I never thought, I would say this about a film in this series.