Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Not as bad as the internet would have you believe. I liked this more than The Last Crusade.

I’m giving it a thumbs up because I’m an Indiana Jones fan but this is easily the weakest instalment in the franchise. Ford still gets away with it despite his age but Labouf seems too light and despite a great supporting cast the plot is muddled and the action feels cartoonish

-Why Aliens?
-Why Communism?
-Why a crystal skull?
-Why Huxley?
-Why the Traitor guy?
-Why bring Marion back?
-Why Aztec?
-Why a bunch of natives living in the walls?
-Why marriage?
-Why introduce Indie’s son when he already had Shorty? Bring Shorty back

(Better than Raiders)

classic

Goes very underrated in the grand scheme of this franchise, and Spielberg’s filmography on a whole.

There’s a lot to NOT like, granted - but I think there’s far more to appreciate. Easily argued this doesn’t really need to exist, The Last Crusade offered a neat ending, but the character was always going to continue his work, so why rob us of more films.

CGI is a little bit gross with Spielberg and his team maybe pushing the boundaries of capability a few inches too far, but the shots captured on location are really quite good. Set pieces, if not overly digital looking, are really quite spectacular and are probably 2nd only to the third film - they’re explosive, grand and well choreographed. It’s just a whole lot of fun - I’ve seen the film countless times and it still makes me giddy.

I like what Blanchett did here, it plays into stereotypes heavy, but she plays with this strange earnestness that grounds it and make its really work. Same goes for Shia Labeouf, he’s easily dismissed as annoying but there’s a lot of emotion that really makes Mutt believable. Great decision to bring back Karen Allen, she was easily the best female lead of the trilogy - she’s great again here too.

I do vividly remember seeing this in the cinema when I must have been six in 2008. I was in awe with it then and I love it now, all its issues and all!

7/10