Dr. Venkman Reviews: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I have been looking forward to this movie since I first heard it was being made. I grew up on the Indiana Jones films and have always been a huge fan of the most famous Archeologist in the world. All through the process of this film production Spielberg and Lucas told us this movie was for the fans. I also knew about the plot line the whole time and how it deals with Aliens, and the famous Crystal Skulls, which I thought was a great idea because there is so much a person can do with that history and story. I was all set on this film.

The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a fun popcorn flick but nothing more. I don't even put this movie in the same league as the first three Indiana Jones films. Those films were just so much better. As crazy as they were the way the stories were structured, the acting and the dialogue made them believable, there was a sense of realism. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull did not have that. It was completely over the top. It was like a live action cartoon, but it was to much like a cartoon. I felt I wasn't even watching an Indiana Jones movie, but a totally separate movie directed by someone like Steven Sommers. There was no point in the film where it grabbed me and pulled me in. I did like the little nods to 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', but it didn't save the movie.

The special effects in the film were ok but not great. A lot of shots that would have been done practically back in the day, and could have been done practically now were done with blue screen, and you can tell. The huge special effects were done pretty well.

I loved the story and Concept for this film, but I didn't like where they took it in the movie. There was a way to ground this thing in reality like the other Indiana Jones films but they didn't. If you have seen the other Indiana Jones movies and then see this you will know what I am talking about. There was way to much cheesy dialogue. I don't have a problem with cheesy dialogue, it just needed to be done in moderation like the other movies. The delivery of the lines by the actors was a little flat as well.

There were a couple scenes in the movie I just can't live with. Both of them involve Shia LaBeouf. There was a scene where he is having a sword fight with Cate Blanchett, where she is on one jeep and he is on another, at one point he is on both. The other scene involves Shia Swinging through a jungle surrounded by an army of monkeys, like Tarzan. These scenes were just a bad idea, executed poorly, and just plain stupid. It was scenes like this all throughout the film that made this Indiana Jones movie not an Indiana Jones movie.

The acting was fine. It was just the way the characters were portrayed that bugged me. Harrison Ford is old and it shows, they also bring it up in the film. Shia LaBeouf was Shia LaBeouf, Cate Blanchett was fun as an over the top bad girl. I would have liked to get to know her character more because of who she was and what she did. Everyone else was good.

I would have been happy if they would not have made this an Indiana Jones movie and gave it a different title with different names and different characters. Since they went through with it anyway I wish they would have spent a little more time on it and make it more like an Indiana Jones movie. I'm just saying we have waited 20 years for this movie, the least they could have done was make it good, and fit in with the rest of them.

This movie had the potential to be the best of the series, but it wasn't it was the worst. I'm not sure why Lucas and Spielberg took did it the way they did. Literally this movie is like riding the Indiana Jones Adventure Ride at Disneyland, which is fun but its not the best ride at Disneyland is it?

So that's what I thought of the film. If you are a fan of Indiana Jones you will go see it because its Indiana Jones. If your not a big fan of Indiana Jones or you have never seen the movies go and see it because you might just like it. After to you see it though go watch the original movies! If you have kids they will love it. Like I said it is an over the top live action cartoon and the kids will eat it up.

What ever the case enjoy your times at the movies!