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This was good, but not great. Favorite Movie Quote: "Don't call it a snake, call it a rope!" What bothers me is that I know a great number of people will go to see this movie expecting to see a grand finally to an amazing franchise. The expectations will be so high that once they see this movie, they will almost subconsciously force themselves to like it out of sentimentality to the franchise. I went into this movie with one expectation; I wanted to see a good action/adventure movie. I wasn't going in being overly critical and with specific demands for it to live up to the other three films and the TV series. I didn't go in with a lot of leeway given because it is almost 20 years after the last movie and Ford has gotten older therefore less capable. Henry "Indiana" Jones was caught up in another artifact finding expedition gone wrong. He was contacted by a young man named Henry "Mutt" Williams who tasked Jones with helping him find their mutual friend Professor Harold "Ox" Oxley. Along the way the duo must deal with Jones' friend/colleague/competitor George "Mac" McHale, Soviet agent Irina Spalko and former love interest Marion Ravenwood in order to find and enter "The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Pros: This was a charming and fun movie. There were a lot of little nods to fans of the Indiana Jones series like the mention and pictures of Henry Jones Sr. (i.e. Sean Connery) and Dr. Marcus Brody (i.e. Elliott Denholm rip), a statue of Dr. Marcus Brody (that was needlessly decapitated, bad form), the trademarked distinct punching sounds (like a wet mackerel slapping against a full potato sack) and a brief appearance of the Ark of the Covenant. Bringing back Marion Ravenwood was great too, I had a minor crush on her when I saw the first movie (which would have been the second story in the series, the chronological order went TEMPLE OF DOOM, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and LAST CRUSADE.) Cons: The premise behind LAST CRUSADE was essentially the search for the Holy Grail so the premise in this movie had to outshine Jones finding the cup of Christ. This made it a bit far-fetched even for an Indiana Jones movie. I wanted to see John Rhys-Davies as Sallah, I liked the character and it doesn't feel like an Indiana Jones movie without him. The chemistry between Ford and LeBeouf wasn't quite right. Shia didn't want to steal the spot-light from Ford and Ford recognized that Shia is the future and wanted to put him in the forefront. Essentially you had two actors trying to hold the door open for the other out of respect. And one of the biggest issues (albeit rather a fan-boy LeBeouf ... I mean beef) was that at one point Jones lost his hat and magically got it back later without showing his trademark "narrowly escaping a booby-trap (yeah I said booby) only to go back at the last second to get his hat" moment. Harrison Ford (CROSSING OVER) as Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones was great of course. He has that character down so well he could have just about telephoned in the performance. That is the problem though. He is so good at it now that it felt like a little less effort was involved (even though the few stunts he did perform himself looked cool.) Shia LaBeouf (TRANSFORMERS) as Henry "Mutt" Williams was alright, but he just came off as Sam Witwicky from TRANSFORMERS when he has trying to show off in his car for Megan Fox's character. He tried to play it tough, but it felt like posturing. Cate Blanchett (FANTASTIC MR.FOX) as Irina Spalko was more like "Bland-chett." It wasn't that bad, but she just didn't stand out in her performance. Karen Allen (WHEN WILL I BE LOVED) as Marion Ravenwood was great to see. She still looks and acts as feisty and spirited as ever and very much true to the character (not to mention still looking damn good at 56.) Ray Winstone (FOOL'S GOLD) as George "Mac" McHale got on my nerves, pick a side and stick with it already. John Hurt (HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY) as Harold Oxley irritated me a little too. He was relegated to speaking in broken phrases throughout most of the movie which has more than enough talent to not have to suffer such a trait. I can't bash this movie though, it was a nice effort. I would not compare this to the other three movies (even TEMPLE OF DOOM which was on maximum rotation on the TBS and TNT channels for a good decade) or even the TV series (which I liked a lot.) I would say this movie ranks up there with the Mummy movies, but with much higher quality (what can I say; I like the Mummy movies too.) This was good, but not great. email this review to a friend
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