Indiana Jones Review
Cast: Harrison Ford, Shia Labeouf, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, John Hurt, Ray Winstone
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Rating: 4/5
Crystal Skull is set in 1957 and an ageing well Indiana Jones is at Hanger 51 at a military base in Nevada, having been kidnapped by the Russians who are looking for an artifact that will help them become a dominating force.
After a daring escape more trouble waiting for Jones back at Marshall College, as his recent adventures have led to him becoming an interest of the government, the Dean of the college is under pressure to fire him.
About to leave for England Jones meets rebellious greased up Mutt (LaBeouf) who has a proposition for the ardent adventurer.
The mission could lead to unearth one of the most spectacular archaeological in history: the Crystal Skull of Akator.
But for Mutt the mission has very personal stakes as his mother is being held by the Russians, who also have a desire to find the skull.
Like many others who have become excited by the imminent release of the first Indy movie in nineteen years I too dug out the old DVD's to re-watch the original cinematic classics.
That nineteen years has done nothing for Indy's dress sense, yes that is the original costume, but it has done nothing to quench his thirst for adventure.
But first thing is first the story leaves a lot to be desired and many long standing Indy fans will question how faithful to the original this really is.
Apart from the questionable plot, in particular the end where they take it a tad too far, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a rip-roaring ride and nostalgia fest.
Despite the concerns over Harrison Ford's age he throws himself back into the character, as well as a very credible punch, and is the heart and soul of this movie.
Harrison Ford has grown old gracefully and is more than up to this physically very challenging role.
Naturally as a way to recognise the fact that Ford has aged there are little quips addressing this issue ``For an old man, you ain't bad in a fight. What are you, 80?''
Cate Blachett is almost unrecognisable as the evil Russian Irina Spalko but John Hurt, Ray Winstone and Karen Allen, while all playing their parts well, are vastly underused.
Shia LaBeouf is also a great new addition to the cast as Lucas and Spielberg have realised that a whole generation has not seen Indiana Jones on the big and he is being used to entice a younger audience.
His character Mutt Williams roars into the picture on a classic Harley and is a clear homage to James Dean or Marlon Brand but LaBeouf does well holding his own against Ford as well as bringing the trademark humour that we saw in Transformers.
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a welcome addition to the Indiana Jones franchise and while it is no match for Raiders of the Lost Ark it would easily hold it's own against Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade.
The conspiracy theories, backstabbing, personal revelations and swashbuckling action sequences, in particular the chase through the jungle, are everything that you would expect in an Indy movie to get your pulse racing.
And while many true fans of the franchise will claim that Spielberg should have used less CGI and done stunts on the sound stages like the good old days may be right, however the CGI does not detract anything from the movie.
So nearly two decades on and Indiana Jones is as exciting as ever and it's is a welcome return to the silver screen even if the storyline does leave you asking what the hell?
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw