Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I’m no Indiana Jones fan but after seeing the latest installment of the famed fictitious archaeologist’s adventure – Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I won’t be as enthused as before. For the hardcore Indi-fan, I presume the movie will be a kinda letdown and would invoke that dreaded could-have-been-better feeling but for most of the Indian audience, all the action, the adventure, the chivalry, the banter, the chases and of course, the puzzle-solving and cryptic-clue-cracking will be more than enough to spice up a lazy summer evening. And from that perspective, Crystal Skull would rank as an enjoyable and watchable action flick this summer.

19 years after his last crusade/adventure hit the screen, Professor Henry Jones a.k.a Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is back in a brand new adventure. Presented by George Lucas’ Lucasfilm and helmed by Steven Speilberg (who were also involved in the earlier 3 Indiana Jones movies) the movie is set in 1957 at the height of the US-Soviet Cold War. It starts off with Jones being dragged out of Mexico by a bunch of Soviet comrades and hustled into a huge warehouse in Nevada (yes, Russians in the heart of US) and ordered to seek out a rare artifact. Led by iron-fisted and heavily-accented Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), the Soviets are searching for a Mayan artifact – a Crystal Skull – which will give whomsoever returns it to its rightful place its control, and of course, supreme power! Indi is betrayed by his old sparring partner but nevertheless escapes from the warehouse amidst a hail of bullets a la Hindi/Telugu movie heroes and even survives an Nuclear explosion later on! Back at Marshall College, he’s approached by Mutt Williams (Shia LeBouf) whose Mum and Uncle Oxley were on the trail of the Skull but are now lost and need Indi’s help. They’ve mailed a crypt-o-gram which Indi must solve to get to the Skull’s location. Their quest leads them to the remote jungles of Peru and across the vast waterfalls of the Amazon, right into Inca/Mayan heartland where the Skull will finally unlock a long-hidden secret.