Ford = Fab

I remember when I fell in love with Harrison Ford. I was 12. It was summer and my Dad took me to see The Empire Strikes Back. I should take a moment to state that while I did see Star Wars (also with Dad ) at that young age of 9 I could not handle the man that was Han Solo. Instead I crushed on Luke 'cuz he was more boyish. Not so much 3 years later. Things only got worse, or better depending on how you look at it, the next year when Raiders Of The Lost Ark came out.

I even took the time to write Newsweek and disagree with their reviewer over what he said about Empire. It didn't get published, but I did get a rejection letter that I have around here somewhere. I also wrote to Harrison Ford and got a signed photo (though I think the signature was a stamped one), which I also still have. It was a still from Raiders and featured a shirtless Harrison. I'm lucky my young heart didn't explode right then.

My first big post-op trip was virtually decided for me. It was to go see Indy 4 and so I did.

If you haven't seen it and don't want to know anything about it, just skip today's entry till after you've viewed the movie. Otherwise...

I really enjoyed the movie. After one viewing, I would put it after Raiders and very close behind Last Crusade. Perhaps that makes it sound like it was a bad movie, which is not what I'm saying. Harrison is great. He continues to toss out the dry wit in a style that feels natural and not forced like so many other action heroes. He does many of his own stunts which also helps keep you in the movie. And, even at his age, he's still pretty damn fine to look at.

If you've read anything about the movie on-line, you already know the plot was going to have something to do with Area 51 and that Shia LaB's character was going to be Indy's son from his earlier relationship with Marion. The Area 51 stuff features mostly at the beginning of the movie and is the reference point for the rest of the story. The story covers the action/adventure motif that you expect from an Indy flick, but it adds some sci-fi because of the connection to alien intervention, as it were. Don't be scared off though. The bulk of the film takes place in Peru where Indy has gone to find a friend and Shia's mom who are there because of the crystal skull from the title.

Most of the action sequences are great. The opening bit in an Area 51 warehouse is entertaining and the sequence with Shia's character, Mutt, and Indy trying to escape the bad guys while going through the campus Indy teaches at has plenty of funny moments. All the stuff in Peru is great except for one bit I will get to later.

Mutt is a fairly decent character. He's not overly annoying, even though Shia seems to be attempting to channel Brando from The Wild Ones. He plays off of Indy pretty well and I'm sure the kids will relate to him better than they will the rest of the older cast.

I can't tell you how excited I was to see Karen Allen again. Marion was my favorite female character from the series and I always believe she and Ford had the best chemistry of all the combos we were given. My one complaint here would be it seemed to take forever before we saw her! When Mutt goes to visit Indy and everyone but Indy seems to know that the Marion Mutt is referring to is THAT Marion, you just want to see the two of them together as quickly as possible. There are several funny moments between them as they "discuss" their lives over the years, etc. I think watching them together was the highlight for me.

Cate Blanchett (sp) holds her own as the baddie, although they don't really go anywhere with her allegedly being a psychic. Still, she is one of my favorite actresses and she looked like she was having tons of fun getting to run around and shoot stuff.

Here's what I wasn't so excited about:

The groundhogs. There's a cute jokey bit with one groundhog right at the start of the film. Fine, it was cute, I chuckled, done. Nope, we get at least 2 or 3 more groundhog gags, which was a bit much.

Monkeys. The monkey from Raiders was fine (and the inspiration for the one from Pirates as far as I'm concerned). They were annoying and a bit dumb in this. While in Peru, during an otherwise great chase between the baddies and our heroes, Mutt ends up getting tangled up in some vines and yanked out of the vehicle the rest of the good guys are in. He just hangs there for a bit until...one monkey, then another, then another all sort of gather around him and start swinging from vine to vine towards the moving vehicles. The light bulb goes on over Mutt's head and he starts to do the same. Seriously? I almost groaned at this particular moment. Too cheesy. Sorry.

My last complaint is really picky and I've mentioned it before. Pictures. Why oh why can't we get real pictures taken rather than use stills from prior movies? Is it so hard to grab a camera? To explain why Henry Sr. and Abner aren't in this movie we have a moment where Indy is sitting at his desk and he tells the head of the college (the guy who replaced Abner) that it's been a rough couple of years. One year his dad dies and another year it's Abner. On his desk is a picture of each man and they were stills!!!!!! And Sean C's still had him looking up and off into the distance. Who the hell does that in a photo? Perhaps someone trying to get arty at Glamour Shots might try that, but really? You have millions of dollars to spend and you can't get someone to Scotland to snap a pic of Sean? Or hell, have Harrison fly over there himself and snap a pic...he's a pilot and I'm sure Sean would have loved to see him. It's a tiny thing I know, but it bugs the hell out of me and for a moment takes me out of the story.

Some of you may have issues with Indy surviving a nuclear test blast, but it's done with humor as it's end result and that was the big thing in the late 50's when the film takes place. Even though it's a bit over the top, it's over the top in an Indy sort of way which is okay.

I'm still a little unsure about the ending. Not the very, very end, but the end of the action stuff. I thought the effects here were well done, but something just seemed to be missing. The very, very end made me happy and when you leave the theater happy that is a wonderful thing.

So, go see the movie and leave the theater happy!

OH--and also enjoy the new WALL*E trailer!!! It gives one a better idea of the story and I can almost tell you know with 100% confidence that I will love the movie and will probably be crying at some point during it.