Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I liked this latest installment of the Indiana Jones Saga, but I did not love it. I thought it was better than Temple of Doom, but not as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Last Crusade.

In this adventure, Indiana Jones finds himself older and wiser in the 1950's. I loved that they acknowledged the passage of time and didn't try to pretend that Harrison Ford hasn't grown older. I also liked how the 1950's was used as part of the story - from having Russians as the villians to having Roswell, atomic testing, bikers, etc. it made the story fun. I also loved that Marian, Indy's love interest from Raiders of the Lost Ark, returned. She was always my favorite heroine.

The overall plot was that Indiana had to help out an old friend by helping to find a mysterious Crystal Skull in South America. The Russians are after it too.

I didn't find this movie to be the best Indiana Jones ever for several reasons. For starters, I thought the Crystal Skull story was interesting, but not riveting. The villians were not as evil and scary as villians in past movies. Cate Blancett did a good job, but she just wasn't menancing. Indiana's side kick that turned into a Russian spy, that turned back, that turned back again just wasn't that interesting. I had no interest in him as I did sidekicks of the past. It just all seemed mediocre.

Overall, I did like the movie and recommend watching it if you are a fan of the series. Just don't expect to be blown away.