Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Review

Hype:  Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is one of the most hyped movies of the 2008 summer.  This is expected since it is an Indiana Jones film which is a hugely popular franchise.  All of the big names from the previous Indy films are back, Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, George Lucas as writer and Steven Spielberg as director.  The first 3 films of the Indy series are extremely entertaining and a joy to watch (some will disagree when it comes to The Temple of Doom).  The reviews for Crystal Skull so far are decent (sitting at 77% on RottenTomatoes).  Let's see if this Indy can hold up against the rest of the series.

Initial Review:  Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull puts Indiana up against the Soviet Union, who are after these crystal skulls that have this mystical power.  Along the journey, Indiana meets up with Mutt Williams, played by Shia LaBeouf, who tells Indy he needs to save Harold Oxley and Mutt's mom, Marion Ravenwood.  For those who have seen the first Indy movie (Raiders of the Lost Ark) will recognize the name Marion for she was the female lead in that one as well.  Oxley was in South America looking for the crystal skulls and he was suddenly kidnapped.  Mutt and Indy head to South America where they, of course, run into the Soviets and also find Oxley and Marion.  Indy and the gang are able to escape from the Soviets and find where the crystal skulls are.

This wouldn't be an Indiana film if Harrison Ford did not have some crazy escape scenes.  The problem with Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls is that most, if not all, of the escapes were pretty lame.  In one of the first escapes Indy hides in a refrigerator and survives a nuclear blast.  I mean come on, how does that fit with the other Indy escapes?  Another escape, probably the best one, involves Mutt and Indy starting a Greasers vs. Jocks fight in a local diner that allows them to get away from the KGB.  During a jungle chase.  Mutt and the leader of the Soviets, Irina Spalko (played by Cate Blanchett), have a sword fight across two vehicles and Mutt actually gets hit in his man-region by bushes.  Mutt actually ends up getting stuck in a tree and this monkey finds and helps him.  Why does the monkey help him?  Because they have the same haircut.  You won't find stuff this ridiculous in the other Indy films, well maybe the Temple of Doom.  None of these scenes had me sitting at the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next.  Instead I was sitting in my chair laughing at how ridiculous they were.

There were many instances while watching The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull where I actually wanted to walk out.  That doesn't happen to me with movies.  I felt like this movie lacked the Indiana charm that can be found in the first three.  I really hope that this is the last of the Indy films or that it follows the pattern of the first three: biblical artifact, some random artifact, biblical artifact.  That would make Indy 5 have some biblical artifact that would hopefully help make it feel less silly and more enjoyable.

I didn't have too high of expectations for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but I didn't expect it to be as bad as it was.  I don't recommend it at all.  If you want to see a movie wait until The Dark Knight or see Iron Man again.

Repeat Viewings: N/A