Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Review 1 of 9

TheEnemyBelow writes:

3of 4 Stars

Aw C'mon!!!"Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull"Was A Lot Of Fun!!
Okay,Maybe Cate Blanchett's Russian Agent Acted a Little Like Natsha from Rocky&Bullwinkle,But still it was Just good Fun!!
Shia LaBouef was Pretty good As Mutt and Karen Allen Still Looks Good as Marion Ravenwood!!!
And Hey!!Compared To Sly Stallone's Dissapointing Turns as Rocky and Rambo,Harrison Ford Looks Damned Good As Indiana Jones!!!
I Still Think Harrison's Got at Least One More Indy Jones Left in him before He Starts Demanding His AARP Discount At IHOP!!!
Keep On crackin'That Bullwhip Indy!!
We'l still come See Ya!!

Oct 18, 2008 07:31:32

Review 2 of 9

AlbertoRocks writes:

2of 4 Stars

Well I really don't have much of a passion for sequels but this film really hasn't done much good for it. Little of this film makes sense and the action wasn't really entertaining mainly because it looked horribly fake. Real people infront of digital backgrounds and filmed with a high definition camera brings a result that obviously shows they were acting in front of a green screen. They would have had better results if they had done real stunts on asemi real set.
Well te plot, like I mentioned, maded no sense because there was little if any plat at all and what ever was in this plot ussually made no sense. The only thing in this film that made any sense at all was the idea that ancient civilizations had contact with aliens which makes sense because how else could some of them have such great technology that is comparable to ours? Well my reviw does not make sense just like this film so, uh, yeah.

Aug 15, 2008 15:02:34

Review 3 of 9

speak25 writes:

1of 4 Stars

As an Indiana Jones trilogy fanatic, it is very, very hard for me to watch this movie. The truth is that not only does it not live up to the other films, but it is in fact a bad film. Not disappointing - bad, like B-Movie bad, like Phantom Menace bad. In other words, it's awful, and, like the Star Wars Episodes 1-3, be written off entirely by true fans into non-existence. Just a terrible film by people who should know better.

Jul 29, 2008 14:44:05

Review 4 of 9

roderickdeweever writes:

1of 4 Stars

So the final ride of Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones gallops onto stage after almost 20 years of waiting and a few years of writing and development, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull finally hits theatres, and if that's not a mouthful, wait until you see this degenerate of a classic series. Crystal Skull is by far the worst of the Indiana Jones films, however, that could still mean that the film is good. (If one remembers Die Hard 4 was the worst Die Hard but still a good movie) However, sadly, Indy 4 is simple puerile hogwash.

I must say I did not have much expectations going in, but even my lowered expectations weren't low enough to be met by this film. Unlike most fans I was able to get past the fact that the film took us in seemingly odd regions for Indiana Jones. I was willing to go on that ride and quite excited once I saw the old storage warehouse made infamous from the closing scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark. There was even a glimpse inside of a crate that got destroyed by Indy's jeep that showed the golden shrine, which is the Ark of the Covenant. However, all this excitement was built up to lead me no where, for with all the silhouetting of Indy's Fedora on every background imaginable, the screenwriters, Spielberg and Lucas himself, couldn't think up of an original image or idea to make this film stand out from all the other Indy flicks.

Basically after the first five minutes, once Indiana Jones gets pulled out of the trunk of the car and is silhouetted putting his hat back on, Spielberg seems to have sort of taken a step back and the camera work suffers immensely from then on, as well as the film on the whole. For a film that supposedly took so long to get 'the right script', it is immensely disappointing to see what filmmakers of the caliber of Ford, Spielberg and Lucas have put on celluloid. I will spare sharing in detail the annoyances that made this film drop below acceptable.

Yes Mr. Ebert, this pound of sausage tastes different, because it was left out behind the fridge, growing mold for nineteen years and overcooked to make up for the sausage’s age. One would think that after many, many years of writing, the creators, especially Spielberg and Lucas (who happen to screenplays themselves!) would have had some brilliant ideas about Indiana Jones that they wanted to see on the screen for this swan song. Sadly that remains to be seen, and probably forever will. Instead we get vignettes of images and ideas that were rehashed or simply better done in other movies, like "The X Files: Fight The Future", "The Mummy" and "National Treasure: Book of Secrets".

This film is best summed up in one line, Indiana Jones escapes a nuclear explosion via a lead-lined refrigerator, and walks out without any regard for the fallout, nor any injuries from the 8 miles he must have been tossed through the air (And I haven't even began to mention the monkeys or the ants.) Just reiterate what Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) says in the film, 'what are you like 80?' Sean Connery smiling photo on Indy’s desk says it all, ‘I’m glad I’m not in this movie’. And much like Connery, Indiana Jones should have stayed in retirement.

Jul 19, 2008 16:36:47

Review 5 of 9

chuckmadruganorris writes:

4of 4 Stars

Indiana Jones is back(not like in Raiders).

Jul 5, 2008 20:20:52

Review 6 of 9

matthew95 writes:

4of 4 Stars

If you loved all the other indiana jones movies you can not go wrong with this one

Jun 19, 2008 06:06:16

Review 7 of 9

FV77 writes:

2of 4 Stars

INDY HAS LEFT THE BUILDING

After watching Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull I feel the same way as George W. Bush felt about Scott McClellan's new book: "surprised, saddened and disappointed". It was just THAT kind of stab of betrayal, you know? Although, in this case, and unlike Dubya, I really had a good reason to feel this way.

Like countless others, I'm a BIG fan of Indy's. Therefore, I was willing to forgive a lot. But, in all honesty, and much to my chagrin, I can't.

Maybe I'm all grown out of this kind of sticky kids’ stuff (unlikely). Maybe my expectations were too high (improbable). Or maybe, Lucas is an emotionally-retarded, tin-can-eared, pedantic middle-age geek who, not quite satisfied with ruining one whole franchise of his own creation, he set out to burn a second one and, somehow, convinced Spielberg to tag along.

Indeed, Spielberg seems tired and bored directing the film, never one with the underachieving script.

And it pained me to see a Harrison Ford sweating bullets to keep up the pace, failing to trick us into believing Indy an improviser, wickedly stealing the treasure and effortlessly stealing the show and our hearts with a wry smile and a crack of his whip.

The well-meaning cast seems adrift. John Hurt is wasted. Ditto Ray Winstone. And do they really think that someone with a weirder name than "Indiana Jones" -like Shia La Beouf- can take on the franchise into the next generation? In fact, the only two people who land somewhat safely on their feet are the ladies, Cate Blanchett and Karen Allen. But the best bit of acting, hands-down, is performed by Henry Jones Sr. That's right, one shot of Sean Connery's mug on a framed black-and-white picture was more inspiring and transporting than anything else put forth by such a respected cast.

Verisimilitude is not a subject the creative team was quite concerned about. Neither was basic geography or plain-old common sense.

I took a serious hit when Indy flew the atomic skies with Fridge Airlines. Similar hits followed until the final blow came in the form of Shia commuting through the jungle a la Tarzan. After that, I regret to announce, I stopped caring.

Never thought I'd live to see the day I wouldn't give a rat's-ass about Indy's fate.

I guess I should have seen this coming when Sean Connery said he wouldn't be taking part of Indy IV. He said he was "enjoying his retirement too much". Now I know what he really meant: "I'm not going to crown my long career with this bag of crap."

Jun 1, 2008 18:30:37

Review 8 of 9

OlderWiser writes:

3of 4 Stars

Of course the New York Times hated it. Shakespeare is glad Clive Barnes wasn't alive then, or we would never study The Merchant of Venice. The New York Times shouldn't even have bothered. For those of us who don't have our elitist nose caught firmly in a place that never sees sunlight, this is a fun movie. Not as good as Last Crusade or Raiders, but a solid third. A little more energy, and little more snappy repartee would have helped, but Cate Blanchette was great, and I didn't want to slap Shia LeBouef as I was sure I would. Ford is still great. Get over yourselves and buy the large popcorn.

May 24, 2008 18:19:03