Well, I Saw It

Well, I finally saw it. Indiana Jones is back after twenty years. Overall, I'd give it maybe 3.5 stars out of 5. My lowered expectations were really crucial...it in no way would've lived up to my hopes if I had gone in cold.

Some more specific thoughts...and these will be packed with spoilers, so consider yourself warned.

What didn't work:

• Indiana Jones movies have always required some serious suspension of disbelief...but there were a couple of moments in this film that went too far. Mutt and the monkeys? Ugh.
  
• No human being could survive a being hurled hundreds of yards in a refrigerator. This is one thing that bugged me about Iron Man, too. Just because someone is inside of something strong (like a fridge or a suit of armor) does not mean that they can survive an impact with the ground at over 100 miles an hour.
  
• I really do miss the days before CGI. When movies required the building of sets, things looked real (Jabba the Hutt looked REAL, dammit). The effects were incredible...but the entire movie had a sort of washed out, pristine look that didn't fit with Indiana.
• I'm no fan of Indiana Jones in the 1950s. They really had no choice but to set it in the '50s, unless they pretended that Harrison didn't age, but it didn't feel right to put Indiana Jones in the world of sock hops.
• The first 20 minutes. For the entire opening 20 minutes, it felt like I was watching Harrison Ford pretend to be Indiana Jones.
• Not enough whipping!
• The dialogue. In spots, the script worked well...but it sometimes felt forced...particularly when trying to cram in 50s slang like "daddy-o". One friend told me that the dialogue made him feel "stabby".
  

What worked:

• Shia LaBeouf. He was surprisingly good and had some real chemistry with Harrison.
• The action. The chase sequences really did feel like old Indiana Jones again. The chase by the Russians through the university campus and the jungle chase were really, really good. Great stunt work.
• The cinematography. I had read that Spielberg wanted long shots, rather than the rapid-edit shaky cam style that's been popularized by the Bourne trilogy. There were several really impressive shots during the chase sequences that were long, unbroken shots.
• Harrison. After the movie got going, Harrison finally did seem to inhabit the character again. He's really at his best when crawling through a cave or involved in a sort of chase.
  
• The humor. The amount of silliness was basically just right. I found myself laughing several times (when the chase goes into the library; when Indy is caught in the dry sandpit).
• The references to previous films. The nods to the other 3 Indy movies were mostly subtle and clever.

This is one of those movies that I enjoyed, but didn't LOVE. I expect that I will buy it on DVD, watch it again, and like it more the second time.