Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

In my opinion, Indy works perfectly well in the 1950s. However, the situation is much worse with the 21st century. Visually, the film seemed sterile, ironed-out and sometimes pandering. Harrison Ford still has huge balls, but unfortunately the same cannot be said about Cate Blanchett (and unfortunately not only for understandable reasons). Shia LaBeouf also played his Legolas role with honor, but this winking to a younger audience, for which an old man with a whip is no longer enough, bothers me. And so does Lucas’ infantility... So what did I like about it? Some spots have the atmosphere of the old films. Spielberg's conservatism, which is not boring and does not feel anachronistic. Nevertheless, the word I would use for this film is “disconcerted". I get the feeling that where the original trilogy didn’t require a lot of extra stuff, part four had go too far into megalomania and exaggeration... It's a well-crafted product and a clear hit in my opinion, but not a cult hit. (26/05/2008)

I’m reading other reviews and what the not very satisfied viewers are complaining about the most is that the new Indie is science fiction. Personally, that doesn’t bother me it all, on the contrary, I welcome and praise this shift in Jones’s adventures. What I can’t praise, however, is that it has lost all the humour, or at least the humour that I liked – I don’t consider childish jokes like a ground squirrel (curious monkey) turning around behind me to be good enough for a legend like Indie. Indiana Jones was never about realism, so I don’t mind the innumerable WTF moments in the plot, but the triple slide on huge waterfalls in a Jeep and covering from an atomic explosion in a fridge were almost too much, even for me. 65% (01/10/2008)

The trio of Spielberg, Lucas, and Ford reminds me of a bunch of pensioners who will jokingly rebuke you if you want to let them take your seat on a tram. You will rarely meet them, but you will not forget them for a long time. Or... The original plan of having a worthy ending to the series that turned into a comedy-action hit that could be envied by folks generations younger than me, made me laugh like a little kid. This film features a full-blown two hours of stylish catchphrases, a great atmosphere, and a polished feeling that perfectly reflects two things: The mindfulness of aging gentlemen and the fame of Shia LaBeouf - the kid is incredible! (24/05/2008)

My god, so much hype! The discussion forum had several thousand posts before the premiere, half of the FilmBooster users experienced many sleepless nights playing the same trailer over and over again, and impatiently crossed off the days on the calendar until the midnight premiere, for which tickets had been lying on the table for quite a few days, of course. And all of this was totally shit, because as usual, the most anticipated blockbuster of the year, if not the decade, is utter crap, and nobody can believe what actually happened and what went wrong. Indy is the past. The feeling of the 1980s will never return, just like the time when these films were made. Spielberg tries to stick to the old ways (titles, references to age, sound of fights, filter-free camera), but brutally knocks himself down with a ton of visual effects and accumulating nonsense, which are a bit too much even for the playful Indy. Ford surprised me with his strength and vitality – he can still handle his fists and whip well – but otherwise it's just a plain and boring setup mashed up with today's trend of “action - plot, action - plot, action - plot...”. Boring and average, not even pretty. Even Temple of Doom entertained me more. (02/07/2008)

Indiana Jones is back after many years. Expectations were huge and it was practically impossible to please everyone, but the fourth installment of the famous series maintains its style and is not a disappointment. All the ingredients that made this film character famous, namely exaggeration, fast pace, gags, and casual style, are present. The typical musical motif and Indiana's essential hat are also there. In the exact style of American film productions, the hero's physique has not suffered any serious injuries over the years, so Indiana delivers precise blows to all sides and effortlessly jumps over obstacles with his necessary whip. The long hiatus is evident in his film partner, expertly played by Karen Allen. This change, where another partner of Indiana is not the usual sexy kitten, but a mature woman, is appealing. Although I am not familiar with how much she got paid, it was certainly a decent retirement guarantee. Hollywood is very ungrateful toward older actresses. The impressive setting of the Latin American jungle provided plenty of opportunities for action, and in some scenes, the film returns to the origins of the series, such as a wild chase along a rocky wall of a deep canyon resembling a similar scene in the first installment. The film loses a bit of momentum in the last ten minutes, where it seems to draw from a different genre and tries to imitate The X-Files, but I forgive it for that. Overall impression: 90%. Still a highly above-average adventure film within the genre. (25/06/2008)