Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Tags: comedy, mystery, murder, stupid, cult, plot twist

Plot synopsis:
In 1957, Indiana Jones and his partner George "Mac" McHale are kidnapped in New Mexico by Soviet agents under Colonel Dr. Irina Spalko. The Soviets infiltrate a warehouse labeled "Warehouse 51" and force Jones to locate a mummified alien corpse, recovered ten years earlier. Upon its discovery, Mac reveals he is a double agent working for the Soviets. Jones escapes and unsuccessfully attempts to retrieve the body. After a fight with Spalko's sadistic henchman, Colonel Antonin Dovchenko, Jones escapes to Doomtown (a model town), at the Nevada Test Site, minutes before an atomic bomb test, and takes shelter in a lead-lined refrigerator. Jones is rescued, decontaminated, and apprehended by FBI agents, who suspect him of working for the Soviets; and though freed on the recommendation of General Ross, who vouches for him, he is put on indefinite leave of absence from Marshall College. His leaving also causes the dean's resignation to keep Indiana's job at the college.
Jones is approached by greaser Mutt Williams, who tells him that Harold Oxley had found a crystal skull in Peru, suffered a mental breakdown and was later kidnapped. Jones tells Mutt about the legend of crystal skulls found in Akator. Mutt gives Jones a letter from his mother, who is also held captive, containing a riddle written by Oxley in an ancient South American language. KGB agents attempt to capture them, but Jones and Mutt evade them and reach Peru. At the local psychiatric hospital, Oxley's scribbles on the walls and floor of his cell lead them to the grave of Francisco de Orellana, a Conquistador who has searched for Akator. They discover the skull at the grave, with Jones reasoning that Oxley had returned it there.
Jones and Mutt are captured by Mac and the Soviets and taken to their camp in the Amazon jungle, where they find Oxley and Mutt's mother, Marion Ravenwood, who reveals that Mutt is Jones' son, Henry Jones III. Spalko believes that the crystal skull belongs to an alien life form and holds great psychic power, and that finding more skulls in Akator will grant the Soviets the advantage of psychic warfare. Spalko uses the skull on Jones to enable him to understand Oxley and identify a route to Akator. Jones and his four allies escape with the skull, but Marion and Jones get caught into a dry sandpit, to be recaptured by the Soviets. On their way to Akator, Mac tells Jones he is a CIA double-agent to regain Jones' trust, and Jones' team fights its way out of the Soviets' clutches, while Dovchenko is devoured by giant ants. Jones and his allies survive three waterfalls in an amphibious vehicle, while many of the Soviets fall from a cliff while trying to pursue them. Jones and Oxley identify a head-like rock formation that leads them to Akator, unaware that Mac lied about being a CIA agent, is still loyal to Spalko and has been dropping transceivers to allow the surviving Soviets to track them.
The adventurers escape the city's guardians, gain access to the temple, and find it filled with artifacts from many ancient civilizations, identifying the aliens as extra-dimensional "archaeologists" studying the different cultures of Earth. They find and enter a chamber containing the crystal skeletons of thirteen alien beings, one missing its skull. Spalko arrives and presents the skull to its skeleton, whereupon the aliens reanimate and telepathically offer a reward in ancient Mayan through Oxley. A portal to their dimension becomes activated, and Spalko demands knowledge equal to the aliens'. The thirteen beings fuse into one, and in the process of receiving the overwhelming knowledge, Spalko is disintegrated and sucked into the portal. Jones, Marion, Mutt, and Oxley–who has regained his sanity–escape, while the remaining Soviets are also drawn into the portal. Mac is caught in the vortex while trying to scrounge some of the treasure, and even though Jones offers him his whip to pull him to safety, he willingly lets go and is sucked in. Jones and the others escape and watch as the temple walls crumble, revealing a flying saucer rising from the debris and vanishing, while the hollow in the valley floor left by its departure is flooded by the waters of the Amazon.
The following year, Jones is reinstated at Marshall College and made an associate dean, and he and Marion are married. As the wedding party leaves the chapel, a gust of wind blows Indy's brown fedora off the coat rack and deposits it at Mutt's feet. Mutt picks it up and is about to don it before Jones snatches it from his hands and puts it on with a grin.

Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) isn't a bad film -- there are a few dazzling sequences, and a couple of good performances -- but the unprecedented blend of comedy and action that made the movies so much more fun than any other adventure series is mostly gone.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will may not be the greatest film of all time, or bad ass like Riders and The Last Crusade but it is still a good film, it is the weakest entry but still a worthy sequel.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull finds Indy (Harrison Ford) trying to outrace a brilliant and beautiful agent (Cate Blanchett) for the mystical, all-powerful crystal skull of Akator.
Teaming up with a rebellious young biker (Shia LaBeouf) and his spirited original love Marion (Karen Allen), Indy takes you on an action-packed adventure in the exciting tradition of the classic Indiana Jones movies!In regards to the "nuking the fridge" scene, the thing about Indiana Jones is that there are not some good things in all of the previous three Indy films, especially Temple of Doom, so it's not fair to criticize Crystal Skull for having aliens or the fridge nuke scene without also acknowledging all the dumb stuff in the original trilogy, such as Indy either flying off a cliff on a tank and walking away from it without a scratch, or dropping out of a plane on a rubber raft and sliding down a mountain slope without sustaining any whiplash.
I mean, Indy has dealt with ghosts that come out of an ark and spontaneously melt people's faces, voodoo dolls, beating hearts being ripped out of chests through use of magic, and a seemingly immortal knight from the 12th century guarding the Holy Grail, but it's not OK to have aliens?Also, everyone seems to forget what the Indiana Jones franchise was originally about in the first place; it was created as a tribute to old b-movies and adventure serials.
This is defiantly my least favorite out of all of the Indy films but its still a lot of fun even though the cgi was kind of bad and although I was kind of interested in the whole alien I thought the ending was kind a stupid when they show the flying saucer but overall I really like it.Famed archaeologist/adventurer Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones is called back into action when he becomes entangled in a Soviet plot to uncover the secret behind mysterious artifacts known as the Crystal Skulls.Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a 2008 American science fiction adventure film.
After the Last Crusader Indie should have been able to hang up his trademark hat and whip and ride into the sunset as an unforgettable movie icon.Sadly the greedy folks in Hollywood wouldn't allow that, there was money to be made and a legacy to taint.Crystal Skull got a lot of flack and rightly so, it just doesn't feel like an Indie movie and reeks of cashgrab and desperation.With the awful Shia LaBeouf in tow Ford sells out unforgivably in a movie that couldn't hold a candle to the original cult trilogy.Awful on every level and simply should never have been made..
I mostly agree with all the ones who found it disappointing, I can see why the Michael Bay-loving GTA-generation could give this a '10', however: Lots of CGI, fake green-screen action and style over substance.For me - a die hard Indiana Jones fan, who grown up attending premieres for the first three - this was a big letdown, primarily because of the script, which could have been written by a 11 year-old.
A lot of Indiana Jones fans all over the world are probably scratching their heads these days, wondering why a script (Darabonts) which Spielberg called "the best he has read since Raiders", was scrapped by Lucas.
(Well, there was also the fact that Lucas' dialogue SUCKED.) Here, the stunts and action sequences and in-jokes keep us feeling entertained during the course of the film, but when we walk away, we wonder where was the real story.Indiana Jones is a homage to 1930s serials about treasure hunters.
I actually think it's a little unfair to present this new type of film under the great Indiana Jones reputation, and however smart marketably I believe this, and the lack of understanding and inaccurate expectations on the audience's behalf will ultimately lead to the film's demise.The film itself is well written, and well made with only a few exceptions.
Beyond that, the plot, characters and acting all fit with this new kind of Indy film.The cinematography is not the 80s style we'd probably all like, but it's not bad.
Here he returns to the basic fundamentals of the lost arts of practicality and just plain good old fashioned genuine storytelling (something that's solely lacking in today's CGI-heavy world) helped along by the big guy himself Harrison Ford along with witty and charming Shia LaBeouf as a newcomer to the franchise with George Lucas lending some support to cinematography.
YES this is another great adventure from Indiana Jones.Harrison Ford is simple the greatest hero and leading man of the past 30 years and this movie cements that even at his age of 65, he still jumps, runs and punches with the same energy as the past three movies and he's joined by a new rising star in Shia LaBeouf as Mutt Williams who has some great action scenes as well and let me tell you the action is top notch and it's classic action with break neck set piece after set piece.The plot is classic Indy with the mystery of the Crystal Skull but with a new twist that some may like and others will not but the simple fact is they don't make movies like this anymore so go see it in the cinema while you can because it will be the greatest adventure you will go on this year..
This Indy movie tries hard to approximate what went before--and even brings KAREN ALLEN back for a few laughs--but the story is a dismal thing about the desperate search for a Crystal Skull that gives the possessor all the knowledge he'll ever need.
I wanted to like it because I miss a good Indiana Jones story as much as anyone--but this isn't it.CATE BLANCHETT remains one-dimensional throughout, although her make-up is good and she looks the part of a Russian adventuress.
And then we have JOHN HURT wearing a wild-eyed stare and the year's messiest male hairdo in what might have been an interesting role if we could figure out what he's all about.HARRISON FORD is still afraid of snakes and there's a bonus scene where he has to hang onto one if he wants to get out of quicksand, but other than a few reminders of the Indy of past films, he looks a bit hardened and tired, lacking the zestful playfulness that characterized his earlier way with the part.
i know the title of my review is strange, but personally i think that maybe the reason the movie is getting some negative reviews from younger users (yes, most IMDb users are usually teens/20 somethings) is because they want "badass" hero these days and not the triumphant wisecracking teacher hero like Indiana Jones.
As in all Indy movies, there is a long and spectacular signature chase sequence, this time a multi-vehicle chase through the jungle with the heroes jumping on the full speed from one car to another, two characters engaged in the sword fight standing on the parallel moving jeeps, the Crystal Scull of the title falling back and forth from the good guys to the bad ones.
Raiders of Lost Ark,Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade were three excellent adventure films because they were exciting and hugely entertaining.ButIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull is a genuinely crappy film.The movie does not only have a very poor screenplay...the action scenes produce zero excitement and the movie easily bored me.Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull is the worst disappointment I received since The Phantom Menace.The old films never fell on ridiculous elements and they were very entertaining.The Kingdom of Crystal Skull is full of ridiculous elements.Let's forget Indiana Jones is invulnerable on extreme situations...after all,it's an adventure film and I totally understand it may be unrealistic on some occasions.But,as absurd elements I'm talking about the moments in which the film seems to be laughing at the spectator(Aliens?
Give me a break.).A very important fail from this crappy movie is that the action scenes lack of emotion and they could never produce impact on me,so that scenes were very cold and I did not care for the characters when they were in danger.Harrison Ford is not bad on his role but I found Shia LaBeouf very irritating on his role.I think there was bad casting in there.Ray Winstone and the great John Hurt are two excellent actors but they are both totally wasted in here.One of the few positive elements from this movie is Cate Blanchett on her villain role.She always shows credibility on every movie she participates and she's one of the few pros in here.Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull is a mercenary movie.It was done with the only intention of making money.I do not recommend this crappy adventure film,which bores and does not produce any excitement on the spectator..
With "The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", undiscussed geniuses Spielberg, Lucas and the other classic Indy filmmakers accomplished the challenge of realizing an Indy movie of the 1950s in all senses, yet enclosing the complete Indiana Jones style.The light sparkling adventure style is all there, as well as the multiple references to the older movies - even more than ever, since the return of Marion from "Raiders".
There are even the classical references to other Lucas/Spielberg movies, this time very interesting.The peculiarity of this movie is that we are in the 50s, so instead of Nazi we got Russians (Cate Blanchett is too sexy and fun with short black hair and a USSR suit), and the movie encapsulates all the essential topics that historical period, including cold war and McCarthyism (not by case one of the new characters is called Mac).
Yet, just as in the tradition of the older movies, you get an adventure revolving around an artifact, which is important for the religion of an ancient civilization; and the main characters tie together when facing enemies, tombs, horrible animals and other perils.The Indy/50s style fusion is everywhere, from the set production (traditional archaeological sites and university, but also Harley-Davidson motorbikes and diners) to the photography (intentionally a bit in lighter tone); from the special effects (real sets and stunt-men, but digital for determinate scenes, just as the revolutionary visual effects in the "Raiders" finale) to the music: to classical themes like Marion's and the one of Indy's father, Williams adds new themes for the Russians and the Crystal Skull, and scherzos in the chasing scenes in style similar to "The Last Crusade".As for Indy's physical limits due to his older age, Spielberg chose a right compromise between realism and the traditional Indy cartoon-like style: if in the beginning you see lots of Indy action but also auto-irony, as the movie progresses part of the acrobatic action is moved to other characters, and for the tombs Indy uses more brain than muscles - Ford, to use his words, wanted to show that Indy is not only an action hero.
Luckily, Shia went a little crazy and said some bad things, so he never became the new Indiana Jones type character, but unfortunately, this movie seemed to put all of its eggs in that particular basket.
Not only were these scenes present, but I had trouble at times figuring out if I was indeed watching the new film or one of the older ones.The first three Indiana Jones movies worked because they all teeter-tottered on the line of reality and fiction.
I like to say that the whole Indiana Jones series without Spielberg and Ford will never be the same, there is a spirit in those movies that the director and the main actor gives to the movie this spirit will not be there if Shia LAPouf replaces Harrison Ford in Indy5 (if there is Indy5), I am sorry to say that there is NO one who can give that Charmaine's and attraction to the character of Indiana Jones but Harrison Ford, its a chemistry, or like they say in "Shekespere in Love" ...."its a Mystrey", personally, I wish to see the same couple, Spielberg and Ford in Indy5 without the new kid, the only comment on Indy4 that there is some scenes which is longer than it deserves/expected, if we make a simple comparison between Indy4 and Indy2 you will find that the old one has very short scenes in a lot of different locations and each of them has a different kind of adventure, from the casino to the car to the air to the mountain to the water to the palace to the tunnel to the Cliff....
After seeing this film at a drive-in they all looked at me and said at once, "dad, that was the stupidest movie we have seen in a long time".Luckily, Iron Man played at the drive right after Indiana Jones and the evening was saved!
Cliché lines, predictable effects, bad acting, was there a plot?....My family and I are just going to try to pretend the movie never existed and continue watching our boxed DVD set of the previous Indiana Jones films.
Before I go on, I would just like to say that Indiana Jones IS my favourite film series, and that Last Crusade is my all time favourite movie of all time.
Of course if this wasn't a Spielberg movie and this wasn't the longest most anticipated movie sequel of all time and if the Indiana Jones character was a completely new one to the world, very little people would complain about this movie and actually without doubt call it one of the most entertaining movies of this decade.
It can't stop making references to previous Indiana Jones entries which at times makes this movie feel like an homage to the good old days was something completely new and hot.
Indy, who's known Oxley since his own college years, agrees to go with Mutt to the Amazon to find him and discover the mysteries surrounding his obsession with the legend of the crystal skulls.The same look, style, and attitude is nostalgic to the previous films every time you see Indy on screen, whether he's in a close-call escape, fighting one-on-one with a soviet thug, arguing with a mistrusting Mac (Ray Winstone) or the giddy Marion (Karen Allen), or just simply being professor Henry Jones, Jr. Marion Ravenwood returns to the screen, bringing not only her debating charm, but a few new surprises for Indy, as well.
Newcomers to the series are the greaser Mutt, the delusional Professor Oxley, the deceptive Mac, and of course, the mysterious and intimidating femme fatale Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), each with their own unique personality that has Indy spinning in a whirlwind of problems.There are plenty of action sequences (some FAR more ridiculous than others), but that is precisely what makes the adventure in any Indiana Jones film.
Yet I couldn't stop thinking about how he looks like he belongs in a nursing home growing old with Marion Ravenwood."Crystal Skull" is there for curious fan of ROTLA, but I can't recommend it as an introduction to the Indiana Jones character for those younger people who might have never seen the original.
I saw it with my fiancée last night, and as the end credits were rolling, we both said "I want to see it again!" We laughed, we oohed and aaahed, we gripped the armrests during tense moments, we cheered when bad guys bit the dust, applauded when Marion appeared, gasped at the spectacular moments - we did everything we expected to do,and wanted to do, during an Indiana Jones movie, and we had a damn good time doing it.This film starts off slow, throws in a couple of unnecessary (but very fun) sequences, and then ramps up with a vengeance.
This time they are after a Crystal Skull that has mysterious powers just like the three previous artifacts that Indy discovered.The opening scene is incredible, as we return to the warehouse last seen at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Here we see Indiana Jones for the first time since Last Crusade.
What Spielberg did this time around was have an Indy that is more in the role of Henry Jones Sr from Last Crusade.In a way, we have watched Indiana grow up over the course of the four films.
Spielberg tried too hard to make another Raiders of the Lost Ark, which condemned this movie.I had so many expectations for this movie---and I'm not the typical Indiana Jones fan who has watched the original trilogy 100 times---but I walked away from the movie disappointed.1) The Jokes were OK.
The story could of been better, but it is not bad.My likes; Harrison Ford still has it, He looks Great, and got back into the character of Indiana Jones quite well.The pacing was good and about the same as Raiders in that regard.Nice to see Karen Allen again on the screen.
When it comes to reviewing a movie like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the hardest thing to do is to keep expectations intact and not expect a film that will blow Raiders of the Lost Ark out of the water.