Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Nearly 20 years after Dr. Jones’' last adventure, he'’s back, hunting ancient treasures in exotic locales and fighting the enemies of freedom. Despite drinking from the Holy Grail on his last big screen crusade, Dr. Jones has aged and the Indiana Jones formula for action and adventure has lost some of its fizzle, making for an uneven experience that doesn'’t quite satisfy all of the professor’'s course requirements. This time around, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) gets caught up in a Russian plot to discover the ancient city of El Dorado. Accompanying Indiana on his adventure are his ex-girlfriend from Raiders of the Lost Ark, Marion Ravinwood (Karen Allen), and his illegitimate son Mutt (Shia LaBeouf), whom he’s introduced to early in the story. Indiana and the good guys rush towards the lost city, fighting evil commies and racing to return a mysterious crystal skull to its home. There are a few moments towards the middle of the film that manage to recapture the spirit of the first three films but too many awkward, illogical and downright silly moments stop the story from reaching the greatness of the old adventures. The two-disc special edition contains a number of "Special Features,” none of which are anything that DVD owners haven’t become completely accustomed to. The most interesting feature is actually on the first disc, which has George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford talking about their decision to return to the famous franchise. It is Spielberg’s comments that are the most interesting, where he talks about some of George Lucas’s original ideas for the movie (including the original title: Indiana Jones and the Saucer Men). Listening to Spielberg, you get the sense that he only agreed to get involved with the project to stop Mr. Lucas from making a mockery of a great character and just barely succeeded in rescuing Indiana from a fate worse than snakes. There’s so much more that could be said about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, most of which would ruin the adventure for anyone who hasn’t seen the film. After you watch the movie you can finish this sentence: "What the hell was with the freakin’' ______?” Hint: there are several right answers. Fans of the original movies will find enjoyment in the experience but they should be prepared for a little disappointment as well.