Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

It seems like the thing to do in movies today is to make sequels to the classics, even if it has been 24 years since the last installment. Fans have wanted Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ever since the end of The Last Crusade. Indiana Jones is an icon on the big screen that just about everybody knows, so why not bring back the legendary teacher and see what kind of trouble he can get himself out of.

Steven Spielberg (First three Jones films) steps behind the camera to film this fourth installment in the life of Dr. Jones. His best friend and co-producer George Lucas (Star Wars) wrote the storyboard, while David Keopp (Spiderman, Mission Impossible) writes the screenplay. Harrison Ford (Star Wars) dons the fedora again as Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones Jr. Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Arc, The Sandlot) returns as Marion Ravenwood a former love interest of Jones. Shia LaBeouf (Transformers, Disturbia) enters as Mutt Williams, a greaser/biker who is sent to find Jones. Cate Blanchett (Lord of the Rings trilogy) plays Irina Spalko, a Soviet agent who seems to has paranormal senses.

The story starts with Indiana Jones (Ford) and his friend George “Mac” McHale (Ray Winestone) being forced by Soviet Union forces, led by Irina Spalko (Blanchett), to find a crate located in Area 51. Jones shows them where the crate is by using the crate’s magnetic properties. Jones tries to escape but is double crossed by McHale. Jones eventually escapes into a atomic bomb test site and is found by the FBI. Jones goes back to work as an archeology teacher, but then learns he has been relieved of duty by the college. Jones is then found by Mutt Williams (LaBeouf), who needs Indiana’s help to find his friend Professor Oxley (John Hurt). Jones and Mutt then embark on a mission to find Oxley and Williams’ mother Mary, who was also abducted by the same people who took Oxley.

(This summary is short because I don’t want to give away too much of this movie and I want you to see it for yourself. With that said I have some thoughts and criticism. I am only doing this because I believe this movie could’ve been done better.)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a fantastic movie. There are some parts that did not sit well though. The whole aliens thing has been played out. Was this homage to Close Encounters of the Third Kind by Spielberg? Or was it just Lucas not knowing how to write anything else but science fiction? I just can’t believe with all of the history that is out there why do the whole aliens angle? Spielberg could’ve saved this story line for a later movie and still introduced all the new characters with a different script. All in all Indiana Jones was a great movie there was just a lot of holes left to be filled by future movies hopefully. I liked the character of Mutt, except for his hair; they seem to have a good angle on him and I loved the ending. This movie unfortunately does not exceed any of its predecessors.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull gets a 3.9 out of 5.

This is a must see on the big screen and a must own dvd.