It's been 19 years since "Last Crusade" ruled the movie world. During those years the Indiana Jones trilogy has grown in fame and is now one of the world most famous movie series. It's not easy making a follow up to this popular series. Luckily Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have done a great job. "Indy IV" is a solid piece of work. Beside the computer effects it really feels like "Crystal Skull" keeps the traditions from the earlier Indy movies. I doubted Ford could keep up the pace being 65 years old, but he really delivers the goods. We get introduced to several new faces, and especially Shia LaBeouf as Mutt Williams succeed extremely well playing Indian Jones sidekick. I'm guessing we will se more of him in future Indy movies... Cate Blanchett delivers as suspected, she can play in any type of movie it seems. A few negative things are worth pointing out. Some scenes are a bit over the top, - like the car chase that last way too long and the computer enhanced monkeys and the Tarzan clone from Mutt were just terrible. I have not told you much about the movie plot, and I won't - the less you know the better. Besides you pretty much know what you will get in an Indy movie anyway... All in all Crystal Skull deliver great entertainment and is more than good enough to become an Indiana Jones classic. Enjoy!

The latest Indiana Jones is not the debacle that Phantom Menace was... but is that really even a compliment? Harrison Ford once again returns as Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones Jr., the world renowned archaeologist and adventurer. The basic plot mirrors that of every Indiana Jones movie - the bad guys want something and Indy's going to try to beat them to it. Replace Nazis with Communists. Add fights and car chases.

I think it's only fair to say that I will inevitably be in the minority in my lukewarm reception of this movie. Anyone who likes National Treasure, the Brendan Frasier Mummy movies, the Tomb Raider movies, or other Indiana Jones knock-offs will lap this up. The action is mostly passable and there are enough visual stimuli to occupy the viewer's attention in the latter half of the movie. But for me this installment has more in common with those films and misses much of the charm and levity of the other Indiana Jones pictures. Some may attribute this attitude to the undeniable hype surrounding the release of Indy 4, but going into this movie I wasn't putting the original trilogy on a pedestal by any means. And after George Lucas' Star Wars prequel ruination, I was already mentally prepared with lowered expectations. The problem is that this movie just misses the mark too often.

It's difficult to discuss the plot without revealing any spoilerish material, but some background is necessary. The movie is set about 20 years after The Last Crusade in the 1950s to reflect an older Dr. Jones. The illustrious explorer is in the custody of the Communists who break in to an instantly recognizable military warehouse searching for an artifact they want Indy to help them recover. After he aids them, he manages to escape and is debriefed by the FBI and given his new mission to thwart the Communists. Cue globe spanning adventure. Along the way he meets Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) and reunites with a former love interest.

I'm ok with the overall plot of the movie because all of the Indiana Jones movies have always involved the occult and required a little suspension of disbelief. What really kills this movie is the mostly horrid dialogue, George Lucas inspired touches, and lack of compelling characters. Aside from a good line here or there much of the discourse between characters falls absolutely flat. Even Ford as Jones has severely displaced most of his wit. One of his snappy comebacks early in the movie is "I like Ike!" Yes, we get the reference - but was that ever funny, even in the '50s? There are a couple of truly funny lines and situations, but for every one of those, there are three more that cause an involuntary rolling of the eyes. The first 30 minutes or so of the film are nearly utterly joyless.

The characters don't fare much better. Indiana Jones himself has lost quite a bit of his roguish charm, replaced with grumpiness and a casual apathy towards most everybody. The introduction of Mutt as a wise cracking tough guy greaser stepping right out of West Side Story is mostly laughable in a bad way. Cate Blanchett is serviceable as the villain, while Indiana's partner betrays him every five minutes with Indy seemingly being oblivious to this fact. Karen Allen is placed there mostly for continuity sake. Her character development consists of her being mad at Indy for leaving her (at least twice now) but she melts after hearing one line from him and then spends the rest of the movie driving the family jeep. Speaking of, a lot of this movie felt more like a Grizwold family outing with zany antics than an action adventure film.

There's also just two much George Lucas in this movie. No one else can be responsible for the multiple shots of prairie dogs and cute little monkeys. I'd bet if I was able to pause the film I'd even spot an Ewok or two in the trees somewhere. The heroes must've found a magic power-up that makes them invincible because nothing they seem to do can hurt them. They drive off cliffs with impunity. They boat over the edge of waterfalls the size of Niagara falls - three times - with no protection. Early on the movie establishes that almost nothing bad can happen to anyone you remotely care about. It's a far cry from Temple of Doom when Indy and co were cornered on the bridge and you felt like they'd be all right maybe - but you had no idea how it was going to work out. Same with raiders and the snake pit.

It's not all a wreck, there are a few good lines and some handy action sequences. But I would've been just as happy to live without this sequel in the end.