By Ben Lockridge

blockridge@themeridianstar.com



Let me go on record to say that “Raiders of the Lost Ark” is my favorite movie of all time. It’s been a long time since a movie could make me forget about everything else going on in the world while I was a spectator of Dr. Henry Jones, Jr. and his adventures looking for an artifact that huge in value to those who “believed.”

My love of Dr. Jones continued with “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” and my second favorite of the series, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” I’ve done a pretty good job of keeping my expectations at a low for the most part, but once I was standing in a line on May 22, my expectations went through the roof. I felt like a kid again, finally getting one more playground experience. I need this movie to be good.

After a short wait, I’m in the theater with my wife-to-be, Kacie. It was nice, because you know what? That theater had Indiana Jones fans waiting for their movie to start. They cared about this movie, so there weren’t any annoying cell phone incidents or rude talkers, because hey, it’s Indiana Jones, and this could be the old guy’s last dance.

Before the movie began, there were several people talking about the previous films, and just taking up the before time talking about things they loved (There was even a family playing charades), and then it happened, the lights dimmed, and the flicker began.

Most of you have already seen the movie by now, and if you haven’t, please do. However, I’ll spare you a full synopsis of the film and get to the review.

This is really Indiana Jones, but things are a little different these days. I really, really liked this movie. However, I didn’t love it. I knew that I would never love it as much as I did Raiders, but again, this adventure is a little different.

So, what’s good here? It’s shot the same, it has that same lighting style. It has the old-school Spielberg look. Harrison Ford slips right back into his role like he hasn’t missed a day, and honestly his performance is right on the money. It’s great to see Harrison Ford back in his most famous role. He had that old twinkle back in his eye once more, and it was really great to see. I’ll also say I hope I’m in as good of shape as Ford, who was still jumping off trucks, brawling with big thugs in the dirt,









all the while you see Harrison Ford’s face, and not some stunt double.

Shia LaBeouf is great as Mutt, who honestly seemed to walk right out of an old Marlon Brando flick. When Harrison Ford isn’t doing the action, Shia is picking up the pace, and their back and forth banter is really fun, and refreshing since the weak dialog experienced in the “Star Wars” prequels.

In addition, we get Marion back, and the introduction of Indy and Marion is classic. (Rumor has it that former “Raiders” screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan wrote the Marion/Indy intro scene.)

So, what’s not so great? In my opinion, an excess of CG effects that are so common in modern day movies. My stance is, only use CG when absolutely needed, and I couldn’t help but think that it was greatly overused. It will make future Indy movie nights hard when you transition from The Last Crusade to Crystal Skull, when things in the last movie don’t seem quite as truly physical or real. This is nit picky, but at the same time, it became distracting when Shia is swinging from vines with 200 CG monkeys. Yes, this happened in the movie.

My other problem was also nit picky and really just requires an adjustment in thinking. I’m used to Indy going after religious artifacts, and this time it’s clear from the start, that Indy is chasing a UFO.

This movie feels like Spielberg and Lucas got together and said, “Hey remember those really cool movies we did in the late ’70s and early ’80s? Let’s marry them into one movie!” That’s exactly what they did, too. The opening scene starts when some teens in a hot rod decide to race a military vehicle on a long stretch of highway in Nevada. This was a large nod towards “American Graffiti.” Some new characters towards the end of the film will have a striking similarity to some characters in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” Maybe the two bearded ones felt this might be their last shot to do all those kinds of movies again. I certainly hope not, though.

Again, this movie does a lot of things right. It’s still fun, it’s still exciting. The action is still completely impossible without dying, but you know what? That’s what you expect from an Indiana Jones film. This movie is absolute absurd bliss, and I truly enjoyed every moment of it.

Indy’s back guys. Enjoy him while he’s still with us.

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” is rated PG-13.





Did you know?

That in a scene from “Raiders of the Lost Ark” you can find hieroglyphics of C-3P0 and R2-D2 meeting egyptians.

In “Raiders” when Indy and Marion escape from the Well of Souls, there is an unconscious body sitting right outside with no explanation? Turns out there was a scene cut due to time restraints where Indy knocks out a guard and lays him beside their escape hole.