Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull

[crow316]

man, Mutt swinging was one of my favorite parts.  You dont get more pulp than a greaser swinging through the jungle to fight russians over an alien head.

[crow316]

Message board movie reviews crack me up.  All it is is people finding reasons to NOT like a film.  Trying to find and point out flaws so they can sound like they truley know film.  If Temple of Doom had come out in the age of the internet, the same people would be bitching about that film too.  Crystal Skull was a good movie. Raiders is one of the greatest movies ever. Of course its not that good.

[Nostradamus]

SPOILER

Although my expectations were low, this movie did not even come close to meeting them.  I predicted that the main problem with the movie would be Ford's age, but, to my surprise, I thought Ford did a great job.  In fact, I don't think he skipped a beat.  The problem for me was not the acting but the script and the plot.  From the start, I did not like the movie.  Each of the first three movies had fantastic opening scenes.  By contrast, this movie's opening was simply terrible.  It was so unbelieveable it was almost laughable.  For instance, I knew the movie had no chance once Ford got into the refrigerator and was thrown by the nuclear bomb.  Furthermore, I also felt that the character development was horrible, and the entire movie seemed rushed.   

More fundamentally, I thought the biggest problem with the movie was the alien plot line.  Not only was it inconsistent with the Ark/grail plot lines from the past -- I think the religious plot lines are inconsistent with an alien plot line -- but it is also a bit different than the historical themes of the past.  I know there are many that will claim that the religious plot lines are just as unreal, but the religious plot lines are at least somewhat historically based.  This plot line was a supernatural, science fiction plot line.  There were so many different historical stories that they could have done that would have been more interesting and more in line with the previous films.  Over the last few years I read time and time again that they went through a plethora of scripts because they could not find one that everyone liked.  If this was the winner, I would be scared to read the other scripts.

I am usually one of those people that hate when people look too critically at action/adventure movies.  Indeed, I may be in the minority of those that actually liked the Star Wars prequels.  This movie, however, given the possiblities, missed its mark.

[Eduardo]

Message board movie reviews crack me up.  All it is is people finding reasons to NOT like a film.  Trying to find and point out flaws so they can sound like they truley know film.  If Temple of Doom had come out in the age of the internet, the same people would be bitching about that film too.  Crystal Skull was a good movie. Raiders is one of the greatest movies ever. Of course its not that good.

No... That's not it.. The film is just plain bad, and almost stupid. Like Izzy said, there's no plot, you don't know what they're searching for, and you don't know what that skull does. Ford was great on it, but the script is so ridiculous, he couldn't save it. Blanchett was terrible and sounded really forced. And that Ox character, wtf was that??

You can really tell where Gerge Lucas "is" in the film. He has proved he has such a bad taste on the three Star Wars prequels, and once again. WTF was that monkey scene?? OMG!

Don't even get me started on how Indy survives the most absurd things throughout the movie.

I know Indiana Jones is supposed to entertain. And the first three ones really do. But this one really does not, and it's embarassing

[crow316]

Don't even get me started on how Indy survives the most absurd things throughout the movie

Not to get you started, but...  I giant boulder, a wall of arrows, the ark of the covenant, a fall out a window from the top floor, a skydiving raft, a rope bridge fall, a plane dogfight, etc.... You see my point?   The fridge was pushing it a bit, but its still the same.

Like Izzy said, there's no plot, you don't know what they're searching for, and you don't know what that skull does. Ford was great on it, but the script is so ridiculous, he couldn't save it. Blanchett was terrible and sounded really forced.

First off, they were searching for Ox,  which leads them to the crystal skull.  Was it really that hard to figure out?  And as far as what the skull did, nobody knew.  That was the point.  Legend said it would unlock the city.  But the characters wouldnt assume that it was an alien head.   Why would they? The russians seemed to know more than anyone.

I see some people around here who say that script was bad, but dont really say how.  Or they say that they see Lucas' fingerprints everywhere, but again, how?  Yes Lucas came up with the story, but he did not direct the movie. 

[AxlsMainMan]

Don't even get me started on how Indy survives the most absurd things throughout the movie

Not to get you started, but...  I giant boulder, a wall of arrows, the ark of the covenant, a fall out a window from the top floor, a skydiving raft, a rope bridge fall, a plane dogfight, etc.... You see my point?   The fridge was pushing it a bit, but its still the same.

Yeah, but even if you suspend disbelief with the original trilogy, all the actions scenes were shot in a way which made them look realistic, whereas with The Crystal Skull, the chase scene through the woods and onwards look fake and ridiculous as hell.

And it's not just the action scenes from that point in the movie and onwards that look fake as hell, it's also the backgrounds and settings.

In the original trilogy, pretty much every setting I can think of looked realistic, whereas in The Crystal Skull, all the settings from the chase scene in the woods and onwards look overly computerized, and ultimately fake.

[Gunner80]

Very disappointed in this last movie. Boring with no plot and a bad story.

[mrlee]

Very disappointed in this last movie. Boring with no plot and a bad story.

Ive been quoting various people to my friends saying how shit this movie is. and they insist on going today.

Sounds like im gonna be wasting some money, id rather see Iron Man.

[LeftToDecay]

If Temple of Doom had come out in the age of the internet, the same people would be bitching about that film too. 

Agreed. Mostly because people in general like to bitch about that movie. The kid is annoying, the girl is annoying, last 30minutes are stupid.
Had to be said!

[Rockin' Rose]

Wasn't quite what I expected but it wasnt bad, like Lucas and Spielberg say, it's just a B-movie 

Didn't have the same kind of "puzzle" solving as the previous movies but it offered the same kind of Indy adventure, 8,5/10

[mrlee]

wow. ive just watched this. whats everyones problem it was great.

i liked it as much as the first. and enjoyed it far more than the other movies in the series.

There were so stupidly over the top stuff, but every indie movie has that.

[Gunner80]

wow. ive just watched this. whats everyones problem it was great.

i liked it as much as the first. and enjoyed it far more than the other movies in the series.

There were so stupidly over the top stuff, but every indie movie has that.

This one was pure looney tunes. I grew up with the others, so they have a special place in my heart. Popcorn bliss.