Alden Bates' Weblog

Time marches on for both Harrison Ford and Indiana Jones, for this movie is set in 1957, with Nazis replaced by Soviets. As the movie starts, he and pal Mac have been taken to the warehouse from the end of Raiders to locate an artifact for said Soviets, which leads to the hunt for the crystal skull of the movie's title. And it does actually live up to the legacy of the previous three movies, though I can see why some aspects may have annoyed some of the stauncher fans. Anyway, go see it!

Shia LaBeouf's character is a lot less annoying than his character in a certain other recent movie, by the way.

Spoilers ahead!

Karen Allen is still gorgeous. John Hurt is... well, it's impossible for him to be bad, but the character he's given isn't one of the greatest roles ever. Indy's old buddy Mac (Ray Winstone) is a better role, if a bit predictable... Cate Blanchett's Soviet character was cardboard cutout though. Ex-Kiwi Alan Dale's American accent isn't all that convincing, and the fact his character's name was General Ross made me wonder for a moment if they were doing an Incredible Hulk tie in.

The special effects were smashing too.

Hrm, a crystal skull, and thirteen aliens which combine into one gestalt alien, where have I seen that before?