It's pretty cool how this franchise runs parallel with our time. Progressing, but never to the present. Always a step behind. Events from the past, but always more present than the former.

The fourth Indiana Jones movie ties back to the first one perfectly! They're back at the warehouse again, back to fighting Nazis (I guess they were back to that in the third one too), and back on track with Marion - from which both second and third deviated. Indiana isn't Bond after all, there's room for more than the one, but in the end the one's the one, right?

I'm also really happy they introduced Shia LaBeouf in this one! He's a welcome sight. Great actor. Fits right in. Looks a lot like the early Indiana too, and I still feel like this movie had the most convincing set of villains, and a pretty damn awesome introduction with the warehouse robbery/nuclear test site. Also pretty cool how they manage to bring back the 1950s atmosphere even in this day and age! It can't have been quite as difficult forty years ago, in the 1980 (when the first movie was made)s.

One notable difference between this movie and the others is that here: the treasure in unknown. In the others they're always searching for something that has a definite link to history, but this time it's not so. It's all the more awesome, though in difference from the previous this one didn't win an Oscar! So... maybe people dislike the potential twist for fiction. Which would be odd, since interpretations of historic relics in the previous have never been without elements of the supernatural. One more difference between this and the previous: Communists instead of Nazis.

Of course, this will probably never become the same cult classic as the originals, but it's not bad. I'm surprised people don't see as much in this as I did. Harrison Ford may be growing old, but if this ends up being his final play as Indiana, it was an impressive finale! And the CGI was all but mediocre too.

What are you do disappointed with, people? How does this not stand on par or more with most of the entertainment being made today? I liked it; I am hoping and looking forward to a fifth! And so forth! In whatever form it takes; whatever main character it features

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

June, 2022

Watching this for the bazillionth (maybe more like 5th or 6th?) time I'm still just in awe over how wholesome it is.

The chain of events that lead you on. The way the characters interact. The little moments like when they glide through the library and Indiana just casually throws out some real-life wisdom, or when Mutt picks up his comb in the crypts. They're so well-timed, and memorable, and wholesome.

Everything is. The way the characters are portrayed. How they move. How they express themselves. How the background characters interact. How in the café it's just a regular mix of people until suddenly the last mentioned dude punches that other guy, and suddenly it's a fight.

It all builds so well! The fridge flying out of the blast area feels like the more unrealistic bit of the film - though an awesome one, of course.

I also love how well they managed the magnetism in the warehouse. I love how the crystal skull isn't just the same color - there's a reddish area in back that seems to resemble the brain - but also makes it seem like an exquisite stone, with nuances, actual cranium or no. Everything's so thoroughly designed, and enacted, and abridged with regards to plot progression and character development...

Spielberg really is a master at his craft.

It's sad to see Harrison Ford looking so old though. And this was fourteen years ago! Doesn't he look older now? I'm not sure I even noticed during his brief Star Wars reappearance, but here sometimes I'm thinking he just looks hunched and frail, withering away... then other times he's clearly not.
Even if they definitely have stunt doubles with some of his scenes.

Not all though. Like not his climbing up the mountain of crates, surely? No other old man could do that as easily. Hope he still has plenty of life left in.

In the end it sets a close on a legacy, throws in a little wisdom, and makes me feel a little sorry about Shia LeBeouf for some reason. When it's all over he's the one left standing. The era leaves in front of him. But I loved the movie. And I'm glad he was there to witness it.

The sense of mystery, adventure and grandeur, and of other worlds, and other gods, with nuances yet still that classic clash of capitalism and communism that somehow simplifies the battle... it's so good.

 rated 5/5: friggin awesome