Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Poster5-rating  (5/5) action, adventure
I had a silly Indiana grin on my face as I strode out of the cinema whistling the John Williams theme song. Did I like it? Yes indeed.

        "Too Much of Life is Wasted in the Waiting"

cate blanchett - indiana jones and the kindgeom of the crystal skullThis quote from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull(2008) imdb6 sums things up nicely. It has been a long 19 year wait since Indy and his father rode off into the sunset (literally) at the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade imdb6.

I liked it despite a questionable plot, err, ‘twist’. It held fast to the winning Indy formula:

exotic locals, James-Bond-style action sequences, beautiful cinematography, ancient treasure hunts, pictogram puzzle solving, the supernatural, wise-cracking quizzical humour, whips and guns, hero vs. villain, feisty and reluctant love interest, implausible, yet engaging, fantastical story, snappy (and sappy) dialogue, snakes, critters and Harrison Ford’s trademark grin.

mutt, indy and marion - indiana jones and the kindgeom of the crystal skullHarrison was Harrison. A flawless performance despite 19 intervening years. It was great to have Karen Allen reprise her role as Indy’s original love interest Marion. I asked in my recap what happened to Marion? The Crystal Skull neatly answered the question and tied it up in a bow.  Cate Blanchett played a wonderfully eccentric and strangely sexy KGB agent. Shia LaBeouf (a relative unknown to me) adequately played Marion’s son and adventurer in training. The happy-go-lucky Denholm Elliot (Marcus Brody) passed away in 1992 so Jim Broadbent ably stood in for him as the dean of Indy’s college. If you look closely you’ll see a picture of Elliot hanging on a hall wall. But, you won’t have to look closely to see a statue of him. 🙂 Sadly Sean Connery, chose not to come out of retirement to reprise his role as Dr. Jones Sr.

The cinematography, music, special effects, lighting and costumes were all spot on. It was Spielberg’s and Lucas’s ‘everything and the kitchen sink’ movie, and it worked.

Another fun romp. Go see it in a cinema, where it was meant to be seen.

Reference: Roger Ebert  |  IMDB External Reviews | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |wikipedia12

Indiana Jones Trilogy Recap & Mini Reviews

buy-from-amazon.ca

5-rating (5/5) action, adventure
In preparation for the much anticipated North American release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (1998), due out tomorrow (May 22, 2008), over the last week I watched the original Indiana Jones trilogy for the first time since their cinematic release. Alongside the original Star Wars Trilogy [wikipedia], the Matrix Trilogy [wikipedia] and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy [wikipedia], The Adventures of Indiana Jones [wikipedia] is one of the all-time great trilogies. I enjoyed them as much as I did when I first watched them years ago. They are true classics.

Each movie in the series follows the tried-and-true Indiana Jones formula: exotic locations, James-Bond-style action sequences, beautiful cinematography, ancient treasure hunts, the supernatural, wise-cracking quizzical humour, hero vs. anti-hero, reluctant love interests, implausible, yet engaging, fantastical stories, snappy dialogue, snakes, critters and Harrison Ford’s trademark grin.

John Williams brilliant Oscar winning Indiana Jones soundtracks are pleasantly seared into my brain from years of repeated listening and from the thirty or so enjoyable hours I spent playing the under-appreciated Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb video game on my original Xbox.

To bring you up-to-date, below are mini-reviews for each of the three original Indy movies followed by a reminder summary of how they all ended.

Continue reading “Indiana Jones Trilogy Recap & Mini Reviews”