Movie Review:

Indiana Jones and

the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

By Kate Evans

There’s an old saying that goes “out of the frying pan and into the fire.” That perfectly describes what happens in this movie. Every time you think things are finally calming down, something even crazier happens.

But hey, this is Dr. Henry Jones, Junior, we’re talking about here. The man who found the lost Ark of the Covenant (Raiders of the Lost Ark), who rescued a village full of children from the villainous Thuggees (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom), who found the Holy Grail (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade)! He can handle it, right? Right?

Well, maybe. The problem is that, as our hero himself once said, “It’s not the years, it’s the mileage.” And there are a whole lot of miles on Indiana Jones. He’s made it through World War II, but now he’s being kidnapped by Soviet Russian spies who want to know what he worked on in Roswell, New Mexico. Since Indiana doesn’t know what it was either, he can’t tell them what it was. But of course, they don’t believe him. This could be a problem.

Enter Mutt Williams, a juvenile delinquent drop-out who’s more into riding a motorcycle than school books. He’s got a letter from his mom, Marion, who told him to go find Dr. Jones and help her get out of the mess she’s in. He doesn’t know why his mom wants Indiana Jones, but he loves his mom and he wants to help her. Now, remember those Russian spies? They want that letter from Marion, too, and Mutt and Indy have to fight their way out of the malt shop and run for their lives. Thus is born a beautiful friendship, and the adventure begins.

---

It’s been nineteen years since Indiana Jones fought with Nazis and squabbled with his father while finding the Holy Grail, and most of you reading this review probably have no idea who Harrison Ford is or why you should be excited about a new Indiana Jones movie. But that’s OK – you can get excited about Shia LeBeouf, who plays Mutt Williams, and does a pretty good job of keeping up his end of the action. And, boy is there a ton of action.

Don’t worry about knowing what happened in the movies that came before – in fact, you might actually enjoy this movie more if you’ve never seen them. The script does a pretty good job of filling in the blanks. It’s loaded with sight gags and groaner puns that will have you laughing until you cry. This is a fast, fast, fast film – and just keeps getting more and more over the top. Of course, that’s what this kind of movie is supposed to be – just go with it. (Do watch the other Indiana Jones movies later if you like this one – they’re great!)

Cate Blanchett plays the villain of the piece, a Russian psychic who you just love to hate. She does a great job of being menacing and hateful, not to mention swinging a mean sword from the hood of a moving car, swearing a lot in Russian, and constantly ordering her henchmen to beat the crud out of Indy. She’s obviously having way too much fun with that.

There are a couple of scenes that might be a bit intense for the little ones (some really brutal fights, and giant ants that apparently eat people), so think twice before you take the very young ones to see it. But everyone else ought to enjoy this as much as I did. Load up on the popcorn and don't forget the Junior Mints!

---

 

This movie is rated PG-13 for adventure violence and scary images

Official Movie Web Site - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Pictures courtesy of and copyright Paramount Pictures, 2008