Is ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ really a ‘banger?’ The head-turning claim, examined

There are some weird opinions out there on the internet but seeing someone call Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull a ‘banger’ is such a hot take it will melt your face off faster than looking inside the Ark of the Covenant.

The film may have been a commercial success, but don’t be fooled, it’s widely regarded as the worst of the bunch by a country mile. Ask most people and they’ll tell you that the Crystal Skull just ain’t the one. However, one brave soul has stood up and proudly defended the fourth entry after finally watching it.

“reviews for Dial of Destiny don’t matter to me because I avoided Crystal Skull for YEARS because of what y’all said only to find out it was a banger this whole time”

They went on to explain that, of course, it wasn’t the best, only that it’s not as bad as everyone made it out to be.

and yes it’s not as good as the first three but it’s definitely not awful. It’s only the worst because the other three are so perfect.

In all honesty, I actually kind of agree with this, (although Temple of Doom is my favorite, so that probably says a lot about my taste in films). I was young when Crystal Skull came out, it was the only Indiana Jones film I’d seen in the cinema and I was easily able to overlook the obvious flaws at the time. As the years went by, I fooled myself into following the herd and hating the film as everyone else did. But it’s true, the film gets a bad rep for no good reason. It has a decent score on Rotten Tomatoes, currently beating the fifth film, Dial of Destiny, which premiered at Cannes, so it may not be the worst entry for much longer.

Don’t be mistaken, there is still an awful lot to dislike about this film. It’s understandable why people downright hate it, from Indy surviving a nuclear explosion by hiding in a fridge, to Shia LaBeouf swinging through the jungle with the monkeys like some kind of off-brand Tarzan. And don’t even get me started on the aliens (what were they thinking?) If you’re one of the many that hate this film, that’s understandable, but it’s sort of charming how unabashedly bold and often stupid it allows itself to be.

It’s definitely one of those films that will gain a cult following the more time progresses. Like the Star Wars prequels, 15 years after the gut reaction, people are looking at it a little more objectively now.

Is it really a banger, though? If the rest of the trilogy are fireworks, then this one’s a Catherine wheel. Underwhelming compared to the rest and not exactly the main reason you’d go to a firework show but it’s a nice and fun addition nonetheless.