Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

***Spoiler Alert – Do Not Read This Post If You Have Not Seen The Movie Yet And Are Planning On Seeing It***


I went and saw the latest installment of the Indiana Jones series Friday night, and even though I went in with low expectations, I still left the cinema disappointed. The fact that it took George Lucas (who has now ruined a second film series) and Steven Spielberg 20 years to find the “right script,” should have resulted in a better movie.

The first half of the movie is generally enjoyable, and there is plenty of action, Indy wit, nods to the previous films and characters, and some exciting scenes – the motorcycle/car chase scene has been talked about a lot and it is probably the best sequence in the whole movie. But the second half of the movie leads Indy fans into a new territory – one that not even the bravest fan should have to explore.

Here are a few things that really bothered me:

-The ridiculous aspects of the plot are easy to point out, but the movie’s biggest fault is how it treats its characters. If you think about Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, the things that set those movies apart is the character interaction – notably Indy and Marion in Raiders, and Indy and his father in Crusade. Skull is too preoccupied with the plot and doesn’t spend enough time with the characters, which leaves them hollow and underdeveloped.

-Harrison Ford delivers a fine performance, but he is given little to work with. Most of the other characters seem like they are action figures that have come to life.

-The movie is loaded with scenes that are just so over-the-top that they border campy – these include the scene where Mutt Williams is swinging through the tree tops with his new monkey friends and the three times Indy and crew fall down huge waterfalls.

-In fact almost everything with Mutt Williams was excruciating to watch – like the numerous times he combs his hair and his “dramatic” scenes with Professor Oxley.

-John Hurt (Professor Oxley) is a good character actor, but unfortunately he is given a very bad part in this movie. Oxley may go down as the most unnecessary character in the entire Indy series.

-Aliens? Really? The three previous Indy films were at least grounded in some degree of believability. Did Lucas and Spielberg really have to drag extraterrestrials into yet another movie?