Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Movie Review

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

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Written by: David Koepp (screenplay), George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson (story), George Lucas and Philip Kaufman (characters)
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Shia LaBeouf, Karen Allen, Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Jim Broadbent
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer

Plot
In 1957, Indiana Jones is called back to action when he becomes entangled in a Soviet plot to uncover the secret behind mysterious artifacts known as the Crystal Skulls.

Verdict
An Indiana Jones film nearly twenty years later certainly seems like a cash grab. The movie never does much to change my mind. It's an impossible task to live up to the original trilogy. It leans into the common sequel tropes; more characters, bigger set pieces, and an attempt at a bigger story. The alien aspect is outlandish even for this series. Ultimately it's a weak story with an attempt to prop that up with action set pieces that are equally ridiculous. The best of the franchise focuses on historical artifacts with a cultural cache. That's where this falters, in addition to a fascination with CGI animals.
Skip it.

Review
From the start, I don't understand the fascination with prairie dogs. It really seems like this was the first opportunity for easy inclusion of CGI in the franchise and they took it. There's no other reason to focus on them so many times.

Shia LaBeouf, Harrison Ford play Mutt Williams, Indiana Jones

The Russians led by Spalko (Cate Blanchett) capture Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and take him to the warehouse featured at the end of the first movie. It's a bit of fan service as dialog nods to how long it's been and how much older Indiana is. He's forced to locate an alien artifact for the Russians. He manages to escape, and on his way out we get a glimpse of the Ark of the Covenant. Indy wanders into a model town moments before an atomic bomb test. Indiana hops into a lead lined refrigerator. Assuming he could survive the radiation in a fridge, he'd have to be injured as the fridge is thrown across the desert.

Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett play Indiana Jones, Irina Spalko

Indiana teams up with Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) which eventually ends up being part of more fan service. When the movie released the fan service didn't seem as egregious, overshadowed by the alien aspects of the story. Mutt recruits Indy to help find a father figure to Mutt and also an old colleague of Indy's. That leads them on an adventure to Peru involving crystal skulls. The Soviets claim it's evidence of aliens, but it's a bit far out for an Indiana Jones adventure.

Harrison Ford, Shia LaBeouf play Indiana Jones, Mutt Williams

This checks the boxes for an Indiana Jones movie, but so much of this movie feels like was made for the audience. Bringing Marion (Karen Allen) back is a nice nod, but then the movie has Mutt use a snake as a rope to pull Indy out of quicksand. While Indy hates snakes, no one has ever tried to use a snake as rope. It's a comedic gag that adds nothing new.

Of all the artifacts this could have used, why aliens? It's far fetched, especially when there are other relics related to Mayan temples that would be more grounded. Though factually, Mayan type temples aren't in Peru. Indiana has always been chasing history, and changing the artifact would immensely help this movie. It wouldn't fix the story, and this also has too many characters. Even two side kicks is pushing it, three in this movie is just too many. The Indiana Jones name lends this a lot of undue credibility. It checks the boxes of what should be in the movie, but it misses on the spirit of the franchise.