Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Reviews

I agree Indianna Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the weakest of the series and has a lot of flaws. But it is not a bad movie. The story is not as well-thought out and paced, the script lacks that extra wit and energy, the film can get too slow and Cate Blanchett is wasted with a rather unexceptional character. And the film is perhaps a tad too long too. But.. it does look great, the costumes, sets and cinematography are still truly fabulous, and the music score is rousing enough. The action is often breathtaking, such as the motorcycle chase through a university campus, the pursuit through the Amazon Jungle, the giant ants, the secret passageways and even the alien visitors, and I liked the old school stunts. Harrsion Ford displays a good amount of world-weary charm, and Shia LaBoeuf is likable enough. Overall, it lacks excitement but it is not a bad film by all means. 6/10 Bethany Cox

A goofy yet fun some-what fun time. Which definitely isn’t necessarily a good thing. When Spielberg and Lucas took 20 years to agree on a script they liked. Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull should have been so much better.
There’s more comedy than adventure. With Cate Blanchett playing a silly Russian villain who thinks she can read minds. You also have Shia Leboeuf swinging on vines with monkeys. Among many other head scratching moments.
REPLY

That's it! I've finished the tetralogy of 'Indiana Jones' with 'The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'. Some people like it and some people hate it! I don't like it! I don't like how it comes after my favourite 'Indiana Jones' movie 'The Last Crusade'.

I love the visual effects as usual but the plot just makes no sense and the action is boring! Also how does Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) survive a giant explosion by hiding in a fridge? This franchise may have nuked the fridge, it is a waste of actual talent like Harrison Ford and Cate Blanchett and is nowhere near as good as the first three!

"Legend says that a crystal skull was stolen from a mythical lost city in the Amazon, supposedly built out of solid gold, guarded by the living dead. Whoever returns the skull to the city temple will be given control over its power."

It took nineteen years, at least a dozen screenwriters and several false starts and stops, but it finally happened: the iconic professor-come-adventurer Indiana Jones made his long-awaited return to the silver screen. However, in the years since its release, 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has become the franchise's black sheep, receiving a distinctly mixed reception from critics and moviegoers. But in this reviewer's eyes, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is far from the abject failure of the Star Wars prequels, and it's not far behind the quality of the previous Indiana Jones sequels. While the original trilogy homages old adventure serials of the 1930s, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull embodies the spirit of 1950s B-movies, resulting in a different type of Indiana Jones adventure that still retains familiar franchise elements. It's Indy 2.0 for the 21st Century, delivering a welcome amount of joyful action-adventure fun coordinated by one of the industry's finest filmmakers.

The year is 1957, and tensions between the United States and Russia are high. Still working as a professor of archaeology as he progresses into his autumnal years, Dr. Jones (Harrison Ford) is rustled out of his everyday routine by a group of Russian soldiers led by the ruthless Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), who are seeking to uncover the location of an enigmatic crystal skull. Working to obtain the skull before the Commies get their hands on it, Indy is joined by young greaser Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) as they globe-trot to South America, following the clues left behind by Indy's old colleague Harold Oxley (John Hurt).

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is structured like a classic Indiana Jones picture, opening with a large action set-piece before shifting into expositional territory as the relic hunt begins. Hell, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas even dust off the old Paramount Pictures logo and the trademark title font to match the mood left hanging in 1989, and they resurrect the traditional travel montages, with a map displaying the characters' journey. Furthermore, the film retains a warm, orangey colour palette reminiscent of the previous films, and each punch still sounds as thunderous as ever. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is eager to provide light-hearted fun, a quality often lacking in modern action cinema. We get too many grim and ominous action pictures like the Bourne series or The Dark Knight, so it's refreshing to witness a buoyant action-adventure that is straight-up entertaining from start to finish. Personally, I'll take Spielberg's marvellously orchestrated action scenes - which eschew rapid-fire cutting and shaky-cam - over most of today's "grim and dark" action films. The film's playful sense of humour is welcome, too. Composer John Williams also deserves credit for his contributions. It has been decades since we first heard it, but the Indiana Jones theme remains as exhilarating as ever, and each action beat is all the more enjoyable when accompanied by those iconic trumpeted notes.

Screenwriter David Koepp takes full advantage of the picture's 1950s setting. On top of containing a handful of classic rock 'n' roll tunes, it's wonderful to watch the interactions between Mutt and Indy: the rebellious young rock 'n' roll type versus the more traditional sort of American. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is goofy, but Indiana Jones has been goofy since its inception. (Seriously, re-watch Raiders of the Lost Ark - nostalgia may cloud your judgement, but the film is goofy as hell.) The only problem is that Crystal Skull is not quite as gritty as its predecessors - it's a bit too "clean," whereas the original trilogy possessed a veneer of '80s grit. This is due to the use of digital effects over the primitive but endearing special effects of yesteryear and the fact that Crystal Skull is not as violent as its forerunners. (Indy seems reluctant to kill people here, and he never fires his gun.) Admittedly, the CGI glaze is not a bother for the most part, but the film becomes far too cartoonish once it shifts to the jungles of Peru. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull fares better in its smaller set-pieces, including a giddily amusing brawl in a restaurant and an exciting motorcycle chase. When it goes bigger, it lacks the punch of the earlier pictures simply because it looks too much like the product of sets, green screens and computers, rather than the result of expansive location shooting and risky stuntwork. A handful of moments are much too ridiculous, as well, including Mutt swinging on vines like Tarzan. It also feels as if none of the heroes are actually at risk of being hurt.

Ford looks bored in many of his recent roles, but here, he seems to have that glimmer of delight back in his eyes. Ford plays the aging Indy with a low-key charm and never pushes the old man routine too hard, instead just playing a ripened version of the role with a sense of humour. Thankfully, Ford is joined by his old Raiders of the Lost Ark co-star Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood. Allen hasn't been in many films of late, so it's a thrill to see her onscreen again, and it's even better that she's as wonderful as ever. Inviting Allen back to the franchise was an ingenious idea, and it's great that she and Ford still have sizzling chemistry. Meanwhile, LeBeouf is surprisingly likable as Mutt, dialling down his irritating acting habits to portray a credible greaser and an effective side-kick. Blanchett is also deliciously villainous as Irina Spalko, and John Hurt is agreeably colourful as Oxley. Less successful, though, is Ray Winstone - he does what he can as Mac, but his character is ill-defined and pointless, a lazy conflict catalyst who could have been excised without any detriment to the narrative.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is definitely at its strongest during its first and second acts, with its dynamite character interactions, exciting globe-trotting, light-hearted spelunking, and gripping action scenes. Beyond that, the film is distinctly hit-and-miss, alternating between the shonky and the exciting. (The rainforest chase is too cartoonish, though a brawl between Indy and a Russian hulk is a true white-knuckle sequence.) Nevertheless, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull does not deserve the negative press it receives. Even in its silliest moments (FRIDGE!), the film is hugely entertaining, delivering an irresistible amount of matinee-style action that we rarely see these days. It's not on the same level as Raiders of the Lost Ark or The Last Crusade, but it's at least as good as - if not better than - The Temple of Doom.

7.7/10

It is actually really difficult to judge this flick.... I mean, they waited 20 years after the 3rd Indiana Jones was released to come out with a new installment and it would have been really surprising if the whole thing would have been a masterpiece. Still, I thought it was fun to see Indiana Jones again and this guy remains one of the best characters ever created. The directing was solid (With Spielberg, would you expect anything else?) and the action sequences were pretty spectacular. There were some good ideas (Shia Lebeouf portraying Indiana's son, the communists as the baddies instead of the Nazi) and , of course, some other stuff that just didn't work. The biggest issue was obviously to have Indiana face some aliens.... That was a really bad call.... Why not looking for some good old Aztec treasure? Indiana always looked for some historical artefacts. To put some Science-Fiction in the mix was definitely the biggest disappointment for me. Still, as a blockbuster, it was pretty entertaining even though it would have worked better if they made the movie 10 years earlier. It is even weirder when you think that they waited for so long because they supposedly were looking for a good screenplay which was eventually definitely the biggest issue with this production (Frank Darabont put his heart and soul for a whole year in a script but he was crushed when it was rejected by George Lucas.... I really wonder how his version would have turned out to be...). Anyway, I don't think it is that bad, it remains a decent blockbuster and even if it is definitely the weakest Indiana Flick ever made, it is still worth a look.

Yesterday i watched this movie for the second time, lol first time i lost the end because i fall asleep ... Indy get older but still good.
lot of action and surprises the Indiana son, aliens starship at the end and some almost true facts area 51 and i heard once crystal skull really exist .
in complex is good to watch just one thing i don't like mutt Shia... is not credible he plays the role of the tough guy with that baby face ! was better have chosen another actor for this role .
ok the return of Marion and good Cate Blanchett like Irina ( i didn't recognize was her)

I really really really hated this movie... it just dosent feel like an indiana jones movie at all!...

For the most part, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is hugely entertaining. It features a ton of cool stunts, most of which we've seen before, but none of which will fail to keep the audience engaged with the film. It's very easy to accept the movie's simplistic, often loopy, approach to things because we realize that it's an Indiana Jones movie and that something would actually be wrong if the whole affair felt even slightly more complex or serious.

When there's about an hour left on the film, things seem to be on their way to making this turn out to be a really solid piece of fun summer movie fare. There are a lot of pretty intense stunts (particularly a very good one involving a motor vehicle chase through the jungle) that all seem to be leading up to a high-energy climax. Instead, all of a sudden, these seemingly conclusive stunts which pit the good guys against the bad guys end, and we're left with our group of heroes faced with the task of returning the crystal skull, and it is here, when there are still about 30 minutes left (in what is definitely an overlong movie) that the flame goes out, thus leaving us with a shockingly underwhelming conclusion. Even when the lead villain (played by Cate Blanchett) re-emerges when there are about 10 minutes left, she doesn't show up to do much, and hence we don't get a satisfying payoff at the end at all.

The large amount of entertaining action sequences during the movie's first three quarters, coupled with the fact that Shia Labeouf looks incredibly hot in the outfit he wears throughout the film, make this a pretty worthy film that ultimately loses steam at the end. If I'd been on the editing crew, I would've definitely chopped off a lot of the stuff in the last half hour, so as to ensure that the movie ended leaving its viewers with an adrenaline high rather than in a state of restlessness.

i thought it was a treat to be honest - although Indy now looks like my grandad running around with a hat on and whipping around the world bless

When I heard that there was going to be a fourth Indiana Jones film I was thinking to myself: "Cool, but wonder how good or how bad it could be". I thought this film was bloody brilliant because it is very original with really cool characters apart from Mutt. Personally, I think Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull became just as successful and has earned very similar sorts of reviews as Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace did. Also because it was a new film to a franchise that was released over 10 years previously which connects Indiana Jones so well with Star Wars. Also because of George Lucas' involvement. I admit that the story wasn't as powerful as Raiders Of The Lost Ark nor Last Crusade but it was just as thrilling as them with same type of action. It felt like a family comedy because there were some humorous scenes particularly about Indy's age.


Harrison Ford brings Indiana Jones back into action in a huge way. Because of the story, Indy was funnier in this one than the other three. I don't think Harrison Ford liked Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull because he said "I didn't hate Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, I just thought it was disappointing." I really liked Cate Blanchett as villainous Col. Dr. Irina Spalko. She pulls off a good Russian accent and does look evil even though it is her first attempt at playing a villain. It was about bloody time that Cate was working with a director like Spielberg. I would love to see her in more of his films. I hated Shia Lebeouf as Mutt Williams. I thought his character and personality was absolutely pathetic. I mean, a biker in an Indiana Jones film. Come on! I really loved Karen Allen's return as Indy's old flame Marion Ravenwood who was in the first film: Raiders Of The Lost Ark. Ray Winstone plays Indy's friend Mac. Ray always makes his characters interesting because he plays, looks and sounds like Ray Winstone every time no matter what characters he plays. John Hurt was really weird as Professor Harold 'Ox' Oxley who is an old friend of Indy's. Jim Broadbent makes an appearance too as Dean Charles Stanforth who is another teacher in the school Indy teaches at.


I don't know whether Steven Spielberg was keen on Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull or not because I remember reading an article on IMDB about Ford and Spielberg not accepting the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull storyling that George Lucas thought of. Well, if they didn't like the story why can't they have thought of a different one. Despite this, I am sure Spielberg and Ford wanted to make Indiana Jones the original hero like he was before but I totally agree that they did do that with this fourth film. The story wasn't quite as realistic because there were aliens involved which is one very light but not very effective disappointment with Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. Indy's relationship with Mutt was a lot like working together hard but working with a lot of impatience. There is a revelation of how Mutt is related to Indy in the film which you will just have to wait and see. Marion's relationship with Indy brought back memories of Raiders Of The Lost Ark. They both squabbled and argued over things in that film but they still did that in Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull but not as hard. It was Indy and Marion's first reunion in 27 years. Mac and Indy's relationship sort of confused me because one minute Mac was with Indy then he was against him. I guarantee that confused quite a lot of other people who have watched this film before. The sound effects were outstanding just like in pretty much all action films. The art direction brought us back down memory lane to the Temple Of Doom because Indy enters tombs, graveyards and churches in Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull which is very original of Indy to do that. Also, there are dead corpses found so that brings originality into it. Indy wears the same costume once again. Mutt's boots, gelled hair, leather jacket etc is just inappropriate. I mean, he could be the new Indiana Jones. It doesn't bring his taste to the missions. I loved Cate Blanchett's black haired wig she wore. It really suited her. The make-up and visual effects were just so stunning.


It sort of turned out like The Phantom Menace did in the Star Wars franchise regarding satisfaction within it. Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull is a fantastic action-packed family comedy thrill ride which I loved. One of the best summer blockbusters of 2008. I wouldn't call the whole film disappointing at all but it did have very light flaws I thought. Out of the four films there have been, Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull is my 2nd favourite of 4th with Raiders Of The Lost Ark - 1st, Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull - 2nd, Last Crusade - 3rd and Temple Of Doom - 4th. Welcome back, Indiana Jones. Please bring us some more Indy action but with a decent storyline. Thank you Ford, Lucas and Spielberg!