In a year where brilliant scientists transformed into green hulks of muscle and orphaned demon-babies saved the world from armies of golden robots, no film came close to the epic levels of shameless mysticism that ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ wore like a badge.
Instead of giving fans more of what they wanted, George Lucas surprised us by ditching the series’ trademark peril and adventure, instead creating a glorified live-action cartoon. Though sometimes embarrassingly make-believe, nothing is more magical than Shia LeBeouf transforming into a monkey. It’s one of the film’s pivotal scenes: Seeing Mutt save his comrades by traveling vine-by-vine through the jungle to reach them, and summoning his monkey friends for good measure. Maybe for the next pending sequel, LeBeouf can turn into something even cooler ‘mdash; like a dolphin, or an electric eel.