Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Cast: Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Shia LaBeouf, John Hurt
Director: Steven Spielberg
Rating:
The fourth in the Indy series comes after a long break but yet it manages to enthrall the audience with awe and wonder with the magnificent sets and locations.
This Indy flick takes you back to the late 80’s during the height of the cold war, with plenty of Soviet agents milling about, to attain the ultimate weapon. However some where, down the line this becomes kind of boring as the Russians constantly keep popping up every now and then.
First off are the disappointing facts about the film, the character of Mac (Ray Winstone) which appears to be under-developed and at times confusing with the constant switching of sides… Prof. Oxley (John Hurt) seemed like he was on dope all the while except towards the end, sadly but true.
If that’s not enough then we have the crazy jungle vine swing sequence… now wait a moment, though this is an Indy flick, but this just seems a bit over the top….
Now the good part Harrison Ford still IS Indiana Jones. He has retained the magic to impersonate this character. You really see his efforts to make this film work. Great camera work and sets. Shia LaBoef is actually quite good and not annoying at all, he has some funny lines and scenes. I never regretted that he was in the movie.
As far as action goes there are some really good scenes, esp. in the first half of the movie with believable stunts and not too much CGI, e.g. the motorbike chase or the Warehouse battle. Great! Humor was OK and most jokes worked for me and more so the quicksand scene.
On the whole if you are an Indy fan this is simply a must watch and for the others the film still remains a complete entertainer and is definitely worth the time and money.
