Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull

This is the review I posted on another website that got the attention of a couple of good people who suggested I do it more often, thus spawning this blog. Figured it would be a good first review. While it's not as good as the original (how many movies are?), it's better than the second and on par with the third. Some of the action scenes were a little over the top, I blame Lucas for this more than Spielberg, the Indiana Jones movies, while fantasies, aren't set in a "galaxy far, far away" where implausible feats are a little more easy to swallow. Harrison still has it, and other than being a little more weathered, doesn't look any worse for wear than he did nineteen years ago. Cate Blanchett is good, but under-utilized as the villain, Shia LeBeouf makes a competent sidekick, and Karen Allen's chemistry with Harrison picks up where it left off in the original. A local critic and people at Cannes reported being bored in the middle act, but I didn't get that from the movie, not sure what they were expecting. But Cannes viewers and critics aren't typical moviegoers so I rarely put stock in much they say. The movie doesn't destroy the memory of the first three, unlike the new Star Wars trilogy did, instead it provides a welcome return of an old friend and a pretty satisfying conclusion to his story. Overall, 4 out of 5 stars, and two hours of solid if not utterly spectacular entertainment.