INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (2008)

Hmmm.  I'm a little torn on this one.  On the one hand the story is interesting (at least at the beginning) and the action is fun, but then as it goes on, things start to fall apart and you got some dude swinging through the tree with a bunch of computer-generated monkeys!

1957.  Indy is kidnapped by some evil Russians and brought to a gigantic government warehouse in the Nevada desert.  Stuff happens and next thing you know Indy's involved with a nuclear explosion!  Once back at his teaching job, he learns from a Marlon Brando impersonator that there's some shenanigans going on with a crystal skull in Peru.  Indy goes to investigate.  All kinds of crap happens: Indians, lens flares, spaceships, floods, computer-generated ants, lens flares, sword fighting, bad accents, a graveyard, motorcycle chase, car chase, lens flares, auto-writing, dry quicksand.

I understand that the filmmakers were going for a kinda 50's sci-fi feel, but it didn't really settle all that well with me.  Fun first half, but it loses steam towards the end.  Worth watching for sure, but my least favorite of the series, so far.

Part 1 - Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Part 2 (prequel) - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Part 3 - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (2008)
Part 5 - Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM (1984)

"Kali Ma.  Kali Ma!"

1935.  Indiana finds himself poisoned and in an all-out battle with some Chinese gangsters in a swanky Shanghai nightclub.  During his daring escape, he accidentally picks up a female nightclub singer by the name of Willie Scott.  After getting away on a airplane, he finds himself in an even bigger jam and then mixed up in some bullshit where an evil priest is turning people into mindless zombies and stealing children from a local village to use as slave labor in his mine!  Even worse is this dude can use an evil Von Erich Claw move to pull out your still beating heart before tossing you in a volcano!  That's awesome!!!

For some reason (maybe because it's so dark, maybe because Kate Capshaw screams a lot), this film is kinda looked down on by members of the No Fun Club, but I love it and have watched it like 13 million times.  The story is badass and packed in tight as Hell, there's not a minute wasted in this sucker.  It's constantly going forward.  The action scenes get you all excited and that bug scene!  Holy shit, that scene was ickier than a dozen killer bug movies.

Awesome temple, great bad guy that's actually scary, fast pace, crazy action, gross/hilarious dinner scene, jaw-dropping roller coaster/mine cart chase.  INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM has everything a great adventure movie needs.  Highly recommended.  I love this movie.

Part 1 - Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Part 3 - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Part 4 - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Part 5 - Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)