Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

65

Paramount Pictures (123 minutes)
and Steven Spielberg
Harrison Ford , Shia LaBeouf , Cate Blanchett , Ray Winstone , Karen Allen , John Hurt , and Jim Broadbent

Rating: PG-13 for adventure violence and scary images

Summary: The newest Indiana Jones adventure begins in the desert Southwest in 1957 – the height of the Cold War. Indy and his sidekick Mac have barely escaped a close scrape with nefarious Soviet agents on a remote airfield. Now, Professor Jones has returned home to Marshall College – only to find things have gone from bad to worse. His close friend and dean of the college explains that Indy's recent activities have made him the object of suspicion, and that the government has put pressure on the university to fire him. On his way out of town, Indiana meets rebellious young Mutt, who carries both a grudge and a proposition for the adventurous archaeologist: If he'll help Mutt on a mission with deeply personal stakes, Indy could very well make one of the most spectacular archaeological finds in history – the Crystal Skull of Akator, a legendary object of fascination, superstition and fear. But as Indy and Mutt set out for the most remote corners of Peru, they quickly realize the Soviet agents are also hot on the trail of the Crystal Skull. Indy and Mutt must find a way to evade the ruthless Soviets, follow an impenetrable trail of mystery, grapple with enemies and friends of questionable motives, and, above all, stop the powerful Crystal Skull from falling into the deadliest of hands. (Paramount Pictures)

William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
(91) It's crammed full of the dash, filmmaking flair, swashbuckling magic, impossible stunts and tongue-in-cheek humor that made the series such a phenomenon of its time, and -- for those versed in its traditions -- almost every frame is enjoyable on some level.

Stephanie Zacharek
Salon.com:
(90) It miraculously pulled off the effect of feeling like a surprise: The picture both fulfilled some vague, unexpressed hopes I didn't know I had and also left me with the sense that I'd just seen something I wasn't quite prepared for -- the kind of contradiction that great showmanship can bridge.

Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times:
(88) I can say that if you liked the other Indiana Jones movies, you will like this one, and that if you did not, there is no talking to you.

Michael Sragow
Baltimore Sun:
(83) Despite the merry duo of Ford and Connery, The Last Crusade offered a familiar pursuit of the Holy Grail. The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull makes a better move: It goes back to the future. Once again, the Indiana Jones series is the rare franchise that treasures knowledge and embraces the unknown.

Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News:
(80) Entertaining, inventive and old-fashioned in the best way.

Todd McCarthy
Variety:
(80) Nineteen years after their last adventure, director Steven Spielberg and star Harrison Ford have no trouble getting back in the groove with a story and style very much in keeping with what has made the series so perennially popular.

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