Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Rated PG13 for adventure violence and some scary imagery

Starring Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Ray Winstone, Shia LaBeouf, John Hurt

It's been 17 years since we witnessed Indy's last adventure with his father, who is now deceased. Our story opens up, roughly 20 after the events of the previous installment, with Indy and fellow World War II veteran pal Mac (Winstone) being held captive by the Soviets and are forced to lead them to a crate stored in a warehouse on Hangar 51 in New Mexico. The crate is rumored to contain an alien corpse that was recovered from the crash at Roswell 10 years earlier. Indy manages to escape, but is placed under FBI investigation due to his ties with Mac. Soon after, he is told to take a leave of absence from his job at Marshall College due to the investigation.

While on a train out of town, Indy is approached by a greaser named Mutt (LaBeouf), who informs him that his former colleague Oxley (Hurt) disappeared after discovering a crystal skull in Peru, and he needs Indy's help to find him, his only clue being a coded letter Oxley sent. While on their adventure to find him, Indy and Mutt learn that the Soviets are also after the skull and have captured the now demented Oxley, as well as Marion (Allen), to use as leverage to get Indy to go after the artifact.

Despite mediocore reviews, this fourth installment of the classic Indy series was great. The critics and everyone had worked it up to be this great huge epic movie because it's been 17 years since the last one, when Spielberg did it with the same B-moviesque feel and corny dialogue one would expect of an Indy adventure after seeing the others. Too many people went into it expecting the greatest movie ever, holding it to such high expectations that they came out disappointed.

I personally thought it fit in just fine with the previous films in the series. If you liked and enjoyed the fun and adventure of the previous Indy movies, you'll like this one as well. And be sure not to miss all the subtle references to the previous films this one makes as well - seeing little things, like Ark of the Covenant from "Raiders" made this one all the more special.