Review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) by Victor T — 28 Sep 2014

"The Last Crusade" was supposedly the end of the franchise but almost twenty years later, Spielberg and Lucas gave audiences a new chapter on the beloved franchise but it is now consider one of the worst sequels ever made as they "nuked the fridge". But is this film that bad or were fans blinded by nostalgia when they saw it?

Set in the 1950´s, Indy is captured by soviets lead by a woman named "Irina Spalko"; the soviets plan to force Indy to find an ancient crystal skull which "wasn't made by human hands". Indy escapes the Russians and shortly is accompanied by a greaser kid call Mutt Williams" in his adventure to find the skull before the soviets.

If you have read my reviews of the last three chapters of the franchise, you know that I have zero affection towards the Indiana Jones franchise so I had zero expectations for this fourth installment that enraged the fans thanks to certain actor and its plot device. "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" tries desperately to capture the essence of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" but changing the religious artifact for a sci-fi one. Despite the fact fans hate this change, I really don't mind it. I mean you have George Lucas, the creator of the epic "Star Wars" saga, and Steven Spielberg, the mind behind two of the best alien films out there: "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "E.T.", so it isn't a surprising move to ad aliens to Indy´s adventures. The writing lacks the charm and cleverness that made the franchise iconic, the acting is embarrassing with the only exception being Ford, Indy´s sidekick (Shia) is almost as annoying as Kate Capshaw in "Temple of Doom", the comedy falls into absurdity and the trademark over the top campiness is taken to such an extreme that its even hard to watch this film (Yes, even a non fan of the series acknowledges it). I mean sure, the last films also had some ridiculous moments which made me roll me eyes but "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" makes me laugh at its absurdity. But even with all those problems, the fourth chapter of the series manages be to somewhat entertaining as a B movie.

"Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" is by no means one of the worst sequels ever but still is a huge disappointment for any fan. It has some entertaining moments, thanks to the nostalgic fell, but it's extreme silliness is the fatal bullet of the entire film, but still I enjoy it much more than the over the top "dark" second chapter (Sorry but this one at least makes me laugh).