Indiana Jones (4) and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Review

Crystal SkullRewiewed by Reel Ninja’s Wife (RNW)

As I am surely one of the few movie goers of my generation (in North America at least) who has not seen the first three installments of the Indiana Jones films, I can only judge this movie on it’s own merits, therefore lacking any comparisons.

Harrison Ford in my opinion, did as he always does, ‘a decent job’. He’s not particularly a favourite of mine, but I suppose he does have a certain Cinderella fit for this role.

Shia LeBeouf on the other hand, was god awful from my perspective. Perhaps a little more time spent screening some ‘greasers’ from the fifties might have lent him a bit more depth to his arsenal for this performance. I just didn’t buy it, plain and simple.

Cate Blanchett - I love this woman! I often describe her as the quintessential movie chameleon. She is just fantastic in her work, and especially creepy in this role. The way that woman’s face speaks without any need for words is delightful to watch.

The storyline is imaginative and interesting enough to keep one entertained over a two hour period, even without the prior series background knowledgebase. To quote The Reel Ninja, “the special effects were f^#&ing amazing!”. I have to concur, the special effects were spectacular minus the scene with the ants, which was disgusting. I cringe even now ;)

I give this movie 7 ‘Mayan temples’ out of 10.

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May 26, 2008 | Filed Under General 
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Comments

6 Responses to “Indiana Jones (4) and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Review”

  1. SizzlingPopcorn on May 27th, 2008 1:55 am

    I liked it for it’s action and entertainment value. A lot of things tried to stay true to the rest of the series except for the stunts, which are now mostly done with computers, and the storyline. I find the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a little too far fetched for Indy’s world. It looks like something you’d find in a X-Files movie!

  2. Reel Ninja on May 27th, 2008 4:18 pm

    I agree Sizzling… very X-Files - in a previous post, I added something about plots for new movies including aliens… it seems to be the new craze…

  3. enemy on May 29th, 2008 2:53 pm

    I thought the cgi looked really bad throughout the movie, but nowhere was it worse than in the jungle scene. The Tarzan scene? Come on now. The thing that made the old films so great was that most of the stunts were done by real stuntmen, and I wish they would have stuck to that. regardless, I thought overall it was a good movie.

    As far as the alien theme goes, the first 3 films were inspired by the serials of the 30’s and 40’s. This film takes place 20 years later, and is inspired by the sci-fi films of the 50’s and 60’s.

    Oh, and Indy barely uses the whip! That’s just criminal!

  4. Reel Ninja on May 29th, 2008 4:06 pm

    Enemy - it’s so funny that you say that… it was exactly what I said to the Reel Ninja when we left the movie - “he barely used his whip”… and that’s from someone who never saw the first three flicks…. I thought it was something his character was famous for.

  5. Indiana Jones Didn’t Change, We Did : on June 24th, 2008 6:30 am

    […] Reel Ninja […]

  6. Jaden @ Screenwriting for Hollywood on June 24th, 2008 6:33 am

    Really interesting to see someone’s perspective who has not seen the series. I’d say you gave the fairest review. I agree about Shia, he was a bad fit for the role. Just finished writing my 2 cents on the whole thing.

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