Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skulls unlock the legendary story of the Crystal Skulls. The skull, an impressive piece of quartz at almost 12 pounds, was rumored to have the power to kill. When a Mayan priest conducted arcane rituals and focused his concentration on the powerful relic, the skull could kill anyone at the priest's command. In all Indiana Jones films, Lucas explores some sort of truth or artifact behind the movie. In Raiders of the Lost Ark it was the Ark of the Covenant and in the Last Crusade it was the Holy Grail.
Of course, the main focus of this movie is simple like any other adventurous plot, "get to it before the bad guys do!" However there are the occasional twists and turns throughout the movie. It wouldn't be a Spielberg film if there weren't any.
Ford's character is portrayed as a professor, an archaeologist and a legendary hero. He was still very much amazed that he could still fit in his original clothes he wore in the first Indiana Jones movie. Also, he did all of his own stunts and still looked good doing it. Not too bad for a man in his mid 60'S.
In the new Jones film they have added a few new characters such as Cate Blanchett, who also starred in the Lord of the Rings series, Elizabeth: The Golden Age and other various films. Blanchett, the villain of the movie, plays an evil KGB agent who demands for Dr. Jones' help in seeking the Crystal Skulls. I must admit that the Austrian actress did an amazing job and really studied the role of her character. She was definitely the villain you loved to hate.
Shia LaBeouf, 21 years old, plays Mutt Williams the son of Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen, who starred in the first Indiana Jones film). His character is the tough, Marlon Brando type who is more afraid of his own shadow than anything else. Although he can definitely hold his own in a sword fight.
I think that the movie receives three and a half stars out of five and is definitely worth seeing.
For those of you, who are Indiana fans, you already know that this is the fourth film for the trilogy: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Of course, Lucas claims that this will not be the last Indiana Jones film they will do, even though, Ford disagrees.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skulls opened in theaters May 22 and is rated PG-13.



