Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.
I went into watching the newest Indiana Jones movie with a LOT of trepidation. For years this hasn’t been a series but one of the great trilogies. Works of art that should not be added to. There was 3 solid stories in this series and with how badly the new Star Wars were done I was terrified of what was coming. When the movie hit I read a slew of negative comments and reviews with how it goes partially science fiction near the end. Now having watched the movie I’m going to say this. While not as good as the original trilogy I found this nearly as fun to watch and hope the (now) series continues on.
The big negative people complained about, the science fiction aspect, I have to laugh at how there was so much negativity towards this scene. In Raiders of the Lost Ark located the Ark of the Covenant whose powers spread forth and destroyed an entire regiment of Nazi’s. In the Temple of Doom there was 3 powerful stones are being brought together to give mystical power to the cult who believes int hem. Finally in the Last Crusade they locate the Holy Grail guarded by a knight from the times of the crusades (who also happens to speak modern day English quite fluently, neat!) It’s practically canon for Indiana Jones movies to rely upon mythical ideas evolving in the movies so this complaint I really have to disagree with.
Speaking of the past movies there is a great throwback to Raiders as one of the boxes destroyed in the initial warehouse that the movie has about 15 to 20 minutes in has a certain cracked open crate with the insides looking EXTREMELY familiar. Throwbacks to the original trilogy? Well we have our original love interest back, missing friends are explained, the fedora is once again rocked, and the action is ALL in classic Indiana Jones style. The plot itself? Indiana is put on leave for possibly being a ‘red’ and is soon after involved in a plot by a Russian agency who is trying to track down an alien artifact. Harrison Ford for being getting on in his years still proves he can be a great action hero with the perfect Indiana Jones wit. The entire cast really felt as if they were extras in comparison. He really stole the show and as good of a job that both Cate Blanchett and Shia LaBeouf did they were honestly just blown away by Harrison. If you can get over the fact that aliens are mentioned the ridiculousness of the entire concept you will fully enjoy this new installment of the series and be eagerly hoping for another one!
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