Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Harrison Ford dons the trademark fedora and once again goes off in search of treasure. Characters from past Indiana Jones movies reappear. And new faces are brought to light. The bad guys in this latest caper are not Nazis, but Russians. The head bad guy is played brillaintly by Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth, The Lord of the Rings, Bandits, The Aviator). Shia LeBeouf (The Greatest Game Ever Played, Transformers) doesn't quite pull off the James Dean "Rebel Without a Cause" character. He's got the look, but that's about it.

In this movie, Jones goes off in search of a mysterious crystal skull that seems to have magical powers. Some say it belonged to aliens. The location of the skull is in the fabled "City of Gold", El Dorado, deep in the Amazon rainforest. He who returns the skull to its rightful owner will possess truly magnificent power. The Russians, of course, want this power and will stop at nothing to get it, including kidnapping a former associate of Jones and his family.

For a man in his 60's, Ford is still pretty spry. He's not as strong or violent as Stallone (Rambo) but his whip and wit are as sharp as ever. The action sequences are exciting. The music, some of John Williams' best (Jurassic Park, Star Wars) helps move the story along. Excellent special effects. The story is far fetched and doesn't try to take itself too seriously.

Recommended viewing.

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