Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Starring Harrison Ford and Cate Blanchett
The best thing about *this* member of the Indiana Jones franchise? No monkey brains for dinner!
Yes, I’m happy to report, upon closer inspection of this movie, when I watched it again last night that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is definitely better than Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom
, which for me, is the worst of the three original ones. I just can’t get past those monkey brains that they served up. Maybe it’s because I was around 8 years old when I watched it for the first time, but still.
THEY ATE MONKEY BRAINS.
Okay, I’m moving along swiftly, from monkey brains to CRYSTAL SKULLS OF EXTRA TERRESTRIALS.
As always, Indiana Jones is based on pure fact. Hah!
Jest though I may, but The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull contains all the right ingredients of action, intrigue, betrayal and ancient artifacts as the other two main ones (Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade) that keep me glued to my seat from start to finish.
I think that one of the reasons we are happy to suspend our sense of reality for the 90 or so minutes that it lasts, is because it is set in the time of the Cold War, and Cate Blanchett makes a very welcome appearance as the Russian femme fatale, and never has a shapeless blue jumpsuit and black boots been more appealing.
Totally loved the hair too Cate ! But yes, this shift in time allows us to easily imagine the goings-on as possible.
Ray Winstone, Shia LaBeouf and Karen Allen (from the original movies) are all featured, with Shia catering to a younger audience, and probably winning the IJ franchise some new fans, in much the same vein as which Episode I did for Star Wars.
Did I just compare Shia LaBeouf to Jar-Jar Binks? You betcha! No insult intended though.
Which reminds me, I’ll be reviewing the Transformers Movies in due course as well as Twilight, so stay tuned for that movie lovers!
What struck me is that at 60-something, Harrison Ford has still got that ‘it’ factor that makes him so watchable, and I’m sure many a post-menopausal tannie was getting their hair blown back whilst enjoying him in this movie.
So, if ancient Mayan is your lingo, chase scenes with killer cold war Russians your kind of action, along with giant killer ants, massive waterfalls and lots of suspense and betrayal your gig, then by all means do pick up a copy of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull


