Indy's Return

I've been waiting since I was a little kid to see an Indiana Jones movie in theaters and at age 24 I finally got to see one. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull came out yesterday after almost 20 years in development hell. I grew up watching the Indiana Jones movies on VHS (how OLD is that?!) and later the remastered versions on DVD. So I'm pretty well versed on all things Indy. I admit I never saw the TV series based on his adventures as a kid but it's on my to-do list. I was pretty psyched to go see it. My personal favorite of the series was The Last Crusade purely because it was funny watching Indy squirm just being around his father. Now Crystal Skull is an enjoyable action flick. I admit when I heard that Harrison Ford was going to use the whip again, I was nervous. The guy's like,what,65? I thought he should leave well enough alone. I'm glad to say that I was wrong. He can still kick butt. It's not the age, it's the mileage. His backup this time around came from Shia LaBeouf (the kid from Transformers but was channeling that whole 50s street punk thing) The banter between him and Ford was entertaining. Watching Indy in the role of parent to LaBeouf's Mutt was hilarious. Karen Allen came back as Marion Ravenwood or Mutt's mom. The scene where she confesses that Mutt is Indy's son is....you have to check it out. 20 years have gone by and the filmmakers make no attempt to hide the fact that our hero's gotten older. Now in 1957, he's fighting Communists instead of the Nazis on an adventure that ends up the Peruvian jungles. Atomic blasts, motorcycle and car chases, vine swinging and ALOT of bugs bring back all the standard hazards you face in an Indiana Jones movie while slightly modernizing them. It's a fun way of wasting a couple of hours, especially if you're a fan. You know you're going to see it so enjoy. It's a great popcorn flick.