Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

The Story

This is the story of an aging archaeologist who has seen many things on his adventures including The Holy Grail, The Ark and a colony run by a religious cult with magical powers.

The film begins with Indiana played by Harrison Ford held in captivity by the Soviet army and taken to a secret hanger carrying many artifacts and is told to find a mysterious crystal skull for them. After escaping he finds himself in a remote ghost town inhabited by mannequins, an alarm goes off and our hero shuts himself in a leaded fridge then the town blows to smithereens throwing Indy to safety.

He is then found by American intelligence and questioned about his involvement with the Soviets. After his questioning he bumps into a young man called Mutt played by Shia LeBeouf who claims that Indy used to know his mother and tells him of a story of Harold Oxley played by John Hurt, who had disappeared so Indy and Mutt decide to find out where he had gone missing.

A note left by Oxley that contains a riddle lead Mutt and Indy to a graveyard and they discover another crystal skull. The Soviets find Indy and Mutt again (not very good at hiding from them but great at escaping it seems) and take them to Brazil where they catch up with a captured Oxley and also Mutt’s mother an old friend of Indy’s called Marion played by Karen Allen.

Hypnotized by one of the crystal skulls Oxley tells Indy of a temple that holds the secrets of the skulls and again Indy, Mutt, Marion and also a ‘friend’ called George McHale played by Ray Winstone who had previously betrayed Indy and led to his capture at the beginning of the movie escape from the Soviets.

After a great escape sequence featuring killer ants and a thrill ride down some waterfalls they make their way to the temple. At the temple the Soviets once again catch up with Indy and his crew and they all make a discovery that will change their lives forever.

What I liked about the movie

It was like going back to the old Indiana adventures, a bit aged and not so fast on his feet it was like Indy had never gone from our screens. All the elements where there from the previous adventures including breathtaking set pieces, escapism at it’s very best and John William’s ever so present music.

It even had the return of Marion from the first Indiana Jones film and you keep thinking with all this included how can an Indy adventure possibly go wrong.

What I didn’t like

As with all the Indiana Jones movies they were all a bit far fetched and some of the chase sequences made Indy like a indestructible entity but this movie made the far fetchness go a little too far. Crystal Skulls with psychic abilities left on earth from an Alien species left years before was a little too much for me and kind of spoiled the film a little.

Was so looking forward to this movie and felt slightly let down by the story but it was better than the third Indy film The Last Crusade.

Would I recommend this

I think that you would have to be a real die hard Indy fan to really appreciate this film and anyone new to the Indy franchise would do best to invest a bit of time in watching the previous films first before giving this a go. As an action film it ticks all the buttons but as a story it really will just go over your head.

But saying that it is better than some of the no brainer action films out there and if you just want to sit back and enjoy a bit of adventure then you can’t go far wrong.

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