Before I get to this review, I just wanted to tell you all how much I've missed hanging around this site.  I miss blogging more regularly.  I miss reading your blogs.  I miss conversing back and forth with some of you.  But I have just been busy.  And tired.  I'm in my second trimester now and while I have a modest amount of more energy, I would still rather take a nap than win the lottery.  Hopefully soon I will be back to normal.  Ha!  What am I thinking?!  My life will never be normal again....but I think you knew what I meant.

OK, now on with the review...

Brief Synopsis (with no spoilers...I promise!):  Man...this is a bit tough to summarize, but I'll do my best.  The movie opens with an aging Indiana Jones being brought by force by a group of Russians to a military warehouse in remote Nevada in the 1950s.  They are led by the villainous Irina Spalko played smartly by Cate Blanchett and are hoping to find the remains of some kind of space creature that crashed years before.  Jones escapes, of course, only to find out later that the college where he teaches is giving him a leave of absence because of some complications with his dealings with the Russians (remember...it's set in the 50s!).  On his way out of town, he's detained by a young "greaser" named Mutt Williams played by Shia LeBeouf, who tells him that Jones' old colleague and Williams' mother are being held captive in Peru and that it has something to do with a crystal skull that he unearthed there.  Needless to say, the same group of Russians are also interested in said skull, and thus we have the makings of an iconic Indiana Jones flick.

Why I went to see it:  Good grief!  Why wouldn't I?  It is Indiana Jones after all, and it has been 19 years since the last one after all.  I love the 1st and 3rd IJ movies.  I don't like the 2nd, Temple of Doom so much.  After reading several reviews, it was mostly touted as much better than ToD, so we decided that we'd see it.

Why you MIGHT want to see it:  If you have seen the others, you might as well see this one.  It is pretty good.  I was especially relieved to see that they allowed Indy to age along with Harrison Ford.  It would have been disappointing to see him still womanizing, still acting like a 40 year-old when he's obviously in the grandfather stage.  Yet, it would have been even more disappointing if he hadn't still had the same swagger and confidence that movie audiences had grown to love two decades ago.  The movie keeps the balance.  It has all the frights and thrills and cliff-hangers (literally!) that we've grown accustomed to with the original trilogy.  You won't leave the theater a changed person or with much to think on in a deeper realm, but it's a good popcorn flick.  I also believe that it is the cleanest film of the whole franchise, as I guess the makers thought Indy was too old for his former suggested bed-romping.  Just for the record, we're letting our kids see this one.

Why you MIGHT NOT want to see it:  It is rated PG-13 for adventure violence and scary images.  There is a scene with some large CGI ants that could be particularly disturbing for kids.  For the most part though, everything else is along the same lines as the original trilogy as far as scary images and violence goes.  There's also some language, but most of what I heard was uttered during intense action sequences, and I always find that not as noticeable.  The plot IS very different from your typical Indiana Jones movie, but I can't really go into it much without spoiling it for you.  I know some major fans, and they were a bit disappointed with the ending.

Will you die if you don't see it?: No, fan or not, I think it's safe to say that you won't, but you'll probably be glad that you saw it in the end.

A good substitute:  Honestly, I don't think anything compares with Raiders or Crusade.  However, when I saw the first National Treasure movie I thought it was in the same ballpark.  The second was just as good.

Let me know if you see it and what you thought about it!

• Post A Comment! • Send to a Friend!

Posted by jenn4him

We miss you too! But glad to know you are feeling a bit better. Thanks for the review. I will wait for the DVD.
Jenn

• Permanent Link

Posted by OhPumpkinshellz

Came by Monday and was like..WHERE IS SHE??? but thinking back I remembered the tired part of pregnancy. My suspicions were confirmed.

Cool review. Hope you get a nap or two in there this week. :-) Happy second trimester!

• Permanent Link

Posted by proverbsmomof3

Looking forward to it. Great review. We went and saw Prince Caspian today and the kids loved it. Your review of that was right on the money. Someone should hire you to write reviews for a living.

• Permanent Link

Posted by JenIG

those ants were SO scary. cuh-reeepy scary
jen
Visit me at my new blog, http://jeneralities.com/

• Permanent Link

Posted by Mycrazylife

Hi Kellie Ann!

I'm so happy to see you stopped by, but it should have been me that stopped by to see you long ago! As usual, life is chaotic and the things I like to do usually get pushed aside.

I am sorry you are so tired. I remember that all too well. In fact, I had less energy than any pregnant woman I know. Nothing got done and I was a heap on the couch. Fortunately your kiddos are older and you don't need to chase after them. So go get yourself a good book and lawn chair and pretend your kids are your waitstaff! That worked quite well for me!

http://www.fromtherubberroom.com

• Permanent Link

Posted by naturalpaths

We're looking forward to seeing this, but will be waiting until it comes out on dvd.

(((((HUGS))))) to you! I am not around much these days either. I am drowning in a sea of lesson plans and finding books to supplement our studies for this coming school year and then I have to plan what to do with my little guy (will be 3 in Dec.). He's going to do *school* too (or so he says). And of course dh waited until it's a bazillion degrees outside to decide that we need to do major tree trimming (that's a major undertaking at our house). In the midst of all this I also decided to do a decluttering binge around the house.

I've been having login/posting difficulties with HSB so I created http://a-skip-in-my-step.blogspot.com/ I am trying to post there daily, even if it's just a little something to see how I like it in comparison.

• Permanent Link

Posted by Susan

Good review. It has been interesting to hear peoples comments about this movie. We'll definitely wait for DVD!!!

Thanks for your puppy name suggestion. We had to pick a name by 3pm for her vet appt. We decided on Charlotte. I do love Gretel. That would have been at the top of our list... right up there with Sophie!! (Annie was dropped pretty early on - it just didn't seem to fit.)

• Permanent Link

Posted by CrossView

We're waiting for DVD. And I'm looking forward to seeing Shia as the sidekick!

Our 16-yr old saw it and wasn't impressed... =/
He said the first and the middle was good but he didn't like the last part. Not having seen it, I have no idea what that means??!!

• Permanent Link