Indiana Jones and the Fun but Flawed Comeback

Indiana Jones is back. It's been nineteen years since the last film and the only real marks of change are some CGI heavy scenes and cinematography that's ever so slightly slicker. It's just as fun and fast paced as any of the older trilogy of films. In fact the story and action moves on so briskly that one barely feels the two hours whiz by. I dare you not to grin during the majority of this movie. The banter is still so playfully bitchy and the action sequences so face-rockingly exciting that it makes it impossible not to feel the same way you did when you first saw the original movies (well, at least the first and third films).

In this film Indy finds himself fighting Commies instead of the Nazis and an occult obsessed Hitler is traded for an occult obsessed Stalin. Much like the Hitler of the first and third Indy movies, Stalin believes that the titular artifact (here the mystical crystal skull) will lead to great military victory. Stalin puts his top scientist Colonel-Doctor Irina Spalko on the hunt for the skull, and with a nudge from Mutt Williams Indy ends up on the hunt as well. Along the way we see that all of the elements that make Indiana Jones great are there. There's the car chase/fight sequence (two actually) á la "Raiders of the Lost Ark". There's the pre-requisite creepy crawly this time in the form of scorpions and killer ants. There's the love story and aforementioned playful banter. And of course there's the mystical ancient treasure and a clue driven treasure hunt á la "Last Crusade" and "Raiders".

However it's not all fortune and glory for this film. There are a couple of clunky lines and the denouement of the film almost comes off like some sort of cheesy fan fiction. The last act of the film in general starts to dip into wacky sci-fi territory and the climax is a little hard to swallow partly because of a very distracting CGI set piece. The films were always a little cheesy and supernatural, but this film almost pushes it over the top. It's not as cheesy or ungainly as "Temple of Doom" but the ending doesn't do it any favors.

Speaking of the CGI, there are a few other moments where it becomes somewhat distracting. Big computer generated elements really stand out in a film that is based so much on the raw action of adventure serials. Thankfully most of the action is still done the good old fashioned way and the sequences are just as enthralling as they ever were, if not slightly more so (e.g. a car chase AND a swordfight). You're pretty much hooked as soon as you hear the first whip crack punch sound effect in the opening of the film.

The cast also does a great job of pulling the story together. It seems almost an insult to even bring it up but, for the doubters, Harrison ford is just as agile and badass as he was twenty years ago (when his hair was already starting to turn gray). The chameleon-like Cate Blanchett transforms into the very epitome of a menacing adventure movie villain. I know there are some Shia LaBeouf haters out there, but he gives a great performance and fits right in with the Indiana Jones world. He displays the right mix of humor and vulnerability and is pretty handy with a switchblade and a sword. The haters may as well get used to LaBeouf as he's got a huge career ahead of him now (he's got his foot in the Indiana Jones franchise and is already signed on for two more "Transformers" films as well as another upcoming Spielberg production, a suspense thriller called "Eagle Eye"). The rest of the cast is also fantastic and I was surprised that even the minor roles were played by actors that I could recognize (though, who wouldn't want to be in an Indiana Jones movie?). This film also marks the return of (my favorite of Indy's ladies) Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood who is still as spunky as ever (though it would've been nice to see her utilized a little more).

As I said earlier, Indiana Jones is back. The way you feel about this film will most likely depend on how you read that sentence. Do you err on the side of a sarcastic reading partly because of the advertising blitz that has come before the film's opening? Are you a hardcore fanboy who reads that sentence and adds three exclamation points to the end? The person that's going to enjoy this film the most is someone that falls in between these two extremes, i.e. someone looking for the fun of the last movies and isn't so obsessed with the series or so cynical that they're going to pick it apart and debate each moment. It’s definitely worth the price of admission and despite the outlandish climax, it seems to have been worth the wait as well.