Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls, Thoughts?

What did everyone think of the new Indiana Jones movie? I thought it was pretty good except for the end. IMO the alien sub-plot at the end kinda killed it. At least the other ones were remotely believible but aliens, come on!

Although anyone silly enough to look at this thread only to be horrified that major plot points are revealed, perhaps some sort of warning for SPOILERS is in order for those readers who have not seen the movie just yet.

Yes, I do agree that the alien explanation was rather out of place. That's just it: It's out of place. It's not stupid, or idiotic...just not Indiana Jones. As soon as the first whiffs of alien intervention began to crop up here and there in the film I thought that it was a giant red herring.

What I mean by this, is that the writers were deliberately making something as ludicrous as alien life so painfully apparent in order to trick the audience with the intention of making us all feel so silly about ourselves when Indy comes out with a line like "I bet some fools would have thought little green men did all this, when it was really...[insert ambiguous religious artifact here]."

Other things were completely out of place also. The now infamous 'Tarzan scene' had me looking left and right down the aisle to see if everyone else was having the same incredulous reaction I was. In addition to this was the best made fridge in the history of the world, and the snake who could have put Stretch Armstrong to shame.

Another gripe that I had was that several characters were entirely superfluous. Ray Winston's character was next to pointless, and only served to illustrate that Indy has a life that we don't see on screen. John Hurt was completely bland, and the apparently meaningful relationship that he shared with the main cast was almost totally unexpanded upon.

The passing of the torch (or hat) to Shia LaBeouf to play the next generation of our favourite archaeologist was so clumsy it was embarrassing. It could have been done worse, and I suppose my distaste for it is from no small part that I simply cannot stand the actor.

All in all, however, I was entertained. Which is what really matters, isn't it? It just wasn't an 'Indiana Jones' film, which is a shame.

I have been waiting for the fourth Indy for 19 years. Now I feel like Lucas said, "Hey, thanks for being a fan, now I'll kick you in the testicles." I guess I should have seen it coming after the Phantom Menace....

There was some good Indiana Jones to be found in the movie, don't get me wrong. Certain aspects still had the feel of the originals. The sidekick who turned his back on Indy at the beginning? Classic. Breaking his nose? Now that's an Indy film! I could even handle the surviving of an atomic blast in a lead-lined fridge. If you've ever seen one of those fridges you'd know they're hard-core!

But the movie takes a horrible turn that starts when Mutt swings on the vines. CGI monkeys, anyone?!? Lucas did the same thing with Phantom Menace. He had the technology to make a droid army and Jar-Jar Binx, but that doesn't mean he should have. Okay, droid army yes, but not Jar-Jar. That, seems to me, is the problem with Indy 4. I heard a lot of gripes about the ants, but Indy movies HAVE to have some sort of swarm of vermin. The prairie dogs and monkeys, just seem to be there because he has the technology. It's like saying, "well, the US has nuclear weapons, we might as well use them..." Wrong.

During the end sequence, when the alien skeletons combined to form a living alien, I, in the crowded theater, cried out WTF*, out loud. I could not have been the only one to think it. Then I sat through the credits, hoping for a message saying that the movie was a joke, not here's the real movie. But, nothing.

If you're still reading, it was okay until about the last 10-15 minutes, then the ending wraps up in typical Indy fashion.


*Of course, instead of "WTF" I actually said the words....

Oh, I don't know, I like Episode I! Attack of the Clones; there is your crappy star wars movie, with all the soppy love scenes between Anikan and Padme and not enough action, plus things like who erased the data aren't even explained!

Yes, I do hate Jar-Jar though. I saw TPM when I was 10 or 11, and didn't like him then, what does that tell us?

Yes, I do hate Jar-Jar though. I saw TPM when I was 10 or 11, and didn't like him then, what does that tell us?

And it's your age group that the character was aimed at...

Exactly!

What...you dont believe in aliens? Watch Men In Black. Youll see how they integrate with humans...even though that movie was a comedy...its true purpose was to reveal how they interact on earth...It takes a keen mind to see this though .

Indiana Jones was cool...but "the Dark Knight" was the Bomb

I love the ending to Men in Black, how the Earths Universe is inside that aliens marble. That was a really nice touch!

I have to agree with Chaos MD for the most part. Lucas has completely lost it. The original Star wars were brilliant, it was only when he could do what he really wanted with CGI that the movies were ruined. What an asshat.

I've never thought the prequel Star Wars movies were that bad (well, maybe episode II sucked), I just think the originals are better!

After seeing KOtCS again on DVD since I saw it at the movies i've warmed up a bit. I still hate that big scene with the UFO taking off and as The Inspector put it so well; "The passing of the torch (or hat) to Shia LaBeouf to play the next generation of our favourite archaeologist was so clumsy it was embarrassing." The way he calls Indy "Dad" was so B-grade it wasn't funny. Other things I had issues with before like the fridge scene and the aliens/Roswell thing (bar the ship) i've accepted.