Idiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

It's Indiana Jones! You know, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade, Indy, Dr. Jones. Indiana. Jones. Even though I really don't think a synopsis is required, here's an extremely brief one: It's 1957 and the Soviets are the bad guys. Period. A group of bad guys, lead by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), are on the hunt for a legendary crystal skull which, according to myth, will bring the bearer unimaginable power once it's returned to it's equally legendary kingdom. The bad guys, after doing their research, have decided that forcing Dr. Jones (Harrison Ford) to assist them is the best way to guarantee their success. While the bad guys may know their research, they obviously don't know Dr. Jones.

Full disclosure: For me, the only synopsis I needed (and the only one I had) was: It's been almost twenty years and finally, another Indiana Jones.

I really, really enjoyed this flick - the movie's a blast - it's paced well, the story is comparable to it's predecessors, the action and stunts are top notch, the finale is great, but most of all, it's fun. When Spielberg and Lucas set out to make the first Indiana Jones installment, they wanted to capture the exuberance and thrills of the Saturday matinee serials of the 1930's and 1940's, which they did, and that notion remained through the subsequent sequels and, thankfully, holds true for this film, as well. Then again, I'm pretty biased, just so you know. I was fairly sure I was going to like this movie regardless, and as soon as the Raider's March kicked in, I was hooked all over again. So what if it's been almost twenty years, it's freakin' Indiana Jones! So anyway, the movie is very enjoyable and there's just the right amount of nostalgia for the hardcore fans of the series, with my personal favorite being the return of Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), who was always my favorite Indy girl (I had a huge crush back in '81).

At this point, I normally take a moment to reflect on the performances in the movie, but what's the point? It's Indiana Jones! Harrison Ford is Indiana Jones. As for the rest, Karen Allen is great, Ray Winstone is impeccable, Shia LaBeouf fits in like he has always belonged and I've never seen Cate Blanchett or John Hurt turn in a less than stellar performance, and this is no exception. The best thing about the performances is that no one's looking for an any type of accolade, their performances mirror exactly the type of stereotypical characters that populated the old serials. The only way the performances could have been bad, would have been if they had taken themselves too seriously, which Spielberg would have never allowed to happen. So there we go, the characters are exactly who they are supposed to be and prove to be entertaining from the opening scene to the closing credits.

I realize full well that some people aren't going to like this movie and maybe I'll expand on that thought at some latter point. For now, however, I'm simply going to say that in my opinion, this was an excellent film and a worthy addition to the series. I think people unfamiliar with the series would enjoy this movie, as would those remotely familiar with it. The fans and hardcore fans (hardcore: meaning people who can quote more than five lines of dialog from either film) might be a little more discerning but, in the end, I think they'll be won over, as well, but I wouldn't expect anything else.......it's Indiana Jones!