Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Review

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a science fiction adventure film starring Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf. It is the fourth and the last entry in the franchise.

It follows Indie who along with his son and former lover is on a quest for the crystal skull. It is a story that is somewhat different than before, in terms of genres. Whereas the previous films were fantasy adventure flicks, this one is an adventure but with strong science fiction elements which is an interesting addition. And although it is ridiculous and hard to believe being just pure fantasy at the end, those elements are still somewhat intriguing. But it still has way too many action sequences which really got on my nerves and it is as silly as ever. The whole quest has some intriguing mysterious moments and provides some atmospheric thrills, but it is mostly too fast-paced and action-oriented with a rushed beginning and ridiculous ending.

The characters are okay, but nothing to write home about. Indie is thankfully not as annoying or as arrogant here and I like that they emphasized the actor’s age. I liked that aspect a lot. Also, Marion is a lot better and more likable here than she was in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark‘ and his son played by Shia is quite a solid character and the relationship between all three of them was definitely the highlight here in my opinion. Irina Spalko is a typical over-the-top villain and although her conclusion was somewhat interesting, she is still pretty annoying. And the rest of the characters are all forgettable.

Harrison Ford did a nice job and Karen Allen and Shia LaBeouf are surprisingly good as well. And Cate Blanchett also gave a pretty good performance in a pretty unlikable role and she looks good with this looks they gave her. Overall, all of the actors and actresses did a fine job with their roles.

As for its technical aspects, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull certainly looks good. It is solidly directed and very well shot. The effects are questionable, but I like the photography a lot as it is for once very light and you can see everything with nice colors. It is a badly paced movie, but is well acted. The action sequences are boring and tend to last for an extended amount of time. The scenery is at times beautiful to look at and the dialogue is solid. The score is so-so and the movie is tonally inconsistent with too many silly plot points and a lack of comedy. But it has a couple of funny moments which is more than can be said for some earlier Indiana Jones films.

Speaking of earlier films, I have to say something that a lot of people do not think – I don’t understand how this film is bad when compared to other Indie films, I just don’t. All of these movies are silly, not just this one, all of them are incredibly silly and just so over-the-top and frustrating which are the reasons why I am not a fan of this franchise and I never have been. But honestly, only ‘The Last Crusade‘ is better than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in my honest opinion. It is far less annoying than the original and it is more entertaining than ‘Temple of Doom‘. People pinpoint how silly the movie is which is ridiculous having in mind that all Indiana Jones films are endlessly and laughably ridiculous and unrealistic.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has too many action sequences which are boring and annoying, some parts are silly, the ending is ridiculous and the pacing is troublesome, but the characters are solid as is the relationship between them and it has its moments and is overall somewhat entertaining. It is an underrated movie which is on par with its predecessors. People hate it for being silly which is ridiculous as all of these movies are immensely silly and laughably unrealistic which is why I am not a fan of them. But it is frustrating to read those comments when in reality this movie is just the same as the rest of entries in the franchise.

My Rating – 3