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MOVIE REVIEW: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

**** of 5 stars (almost genius if but a wacky storyline)

Indiana Jones is back and is brought into a quest for this Crystal Skull by his son Mutt. The rest of the story is a tad far-fetched.

In the past I've been fascinated by the combination of archaeological pseudo-storytelling, the quest for treasure and of course the running into trouble and Indy just figuring out a way to cleverly get out. This however was a bit too X-files for my tastes. Which is why I couldn't score the movie five stars.

It did however keep me entertained and considering the director, I could overlook a bit of fantasy...or was it?

Could this really have happened? Yeah, I'm a bit skeptical, much like the Indiana Jones character is about most of his quests.

I heard an interview with Harrison Ford that one of the reasons why this movie took forever to make was he just wasn't comfortable with the sheer premise of the quest. If you've seen the movie, can you just imagine what the original script might have been like? OH BOY!

I didn't have a whole lot of preconceived notion going into this movie that I would love it. I did enjoy the trailer so I figured it would be entertaining.

What I have enjoyed about the Indiana Jones movies in the past was the sheer fantasy and set decoration and the fairly fantastic sequences where you just go "woah, what a brilliant eye steven spielberg must have".

There were a few of those. Unfortunately with sequels, you just lose a bit of the "aura of WOW" when you compare action scenes from previous movies to what you are currently watching.

Of course rocks must move - why else would John Williams music be playing in the background?

I did jump out of my seat once or twice...there's this scene where there's this wall and well, you just have to understand that I tend to get lost in movies so I jump sometimes at sudden things. (I think I scared the seriously odd random single guy who sat next to me in the relatively empty movie theater. When the movie theater is empty do you pick the same row and sit one seat away from the only person in the theater? I know I should have asked, but the trailers were already running. Seriously lame trailers too...)

I did have to close my eyes once or twice. I'm a tad squeemish when it comes to bugs.

Didn't the gopher at the beginning of the movie remind you of Caddyshack? Or was it just me?

I did get tired of the whole Ruskie/Red storyline. And they probably could have done without about 15 minutes of fight scenes.

Aside: Is there seriously a movie you can remember where Harrison Ford doesn't have to talk through a bloody mouth? Air Force One? Regarding Henry? Six Days Seven Nights? Heck, even Sabrina he gets punched in the mouth...I'm just saying...enough with the blood packets Harrison we know you've mastered talking through bloody teeth and it ain't pretty.

They could have lobbed off the ending and had a pretty fine movie. Although then you wouldn't have the whole allusion to the Young Indiana Jones sequels coming to a theater near you. (I can also see a nifty water ride coming to a theme park too.)

I wouldn't bring small children. I might even go so far as to say there are a few scenes with dead things and fights that just shouldn't be shared with tweeny's either. However for $4.00 a ticket, it isn't a bad way to spend two hours. (Yep, I just missed the Oakdale Ultra Screen so I headed to Woodbury where for under $8.00 I can see a movie, have mini popcorn, mini drink in a relatively clean theater.)

EDITORS NOTE: For perspective, apparently this movie is truly getting mixed reviews. Brother Jer who is a big Indiana Jones fan and he said he would rate this 4th outta 4 and probably wouldn't see it again. "It wasn't terrible, but the formula was too simple. It was too easy. They just solved things too easily. The skull solved everything. Even the action sequences - they just started and were solved rather easily." Ah well, like I said to him, at least it was somewhat entertaining for a couple of hours. Maybe it's best to not have expectations that it's going to be great so you aren't disappointed?