Movie:Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

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The wife and I just came back from seeing the latest Indy. And this is what we had to say about it.

This is one fun movie.

Of course, it is updated. Harrison Ford isn't in his 40s anymore. And the movie doesn't pretend he is. And once they get that out of the way, the ball really starts rolling.

This movie is packed with fun moments. The sword fight on the moving vehicles. The fistfight in field full of ants. The swing from the vines like a bunch of monkeys.

There are a lot of, well, I guess you'd call them Easter Eggs in the film. Tips of the hat for long time fans of the franchise. Also a shout out or two to Star Wars.

The acting was great all around, but Cate Blanchett is superb. Really. Just by looking at her, you can tell what she's feeling at all times. She didn't even need dialogue.

As to problems people have with the update of the enemy and the logic behind the "MacGuffin", well, I look at it this way. The first three Indy movies reflected the serials of the time they were set in--the 30s or the 40s. This reflects the B-grade Sci-Fi films of the era it was set in--the 50s.

As for the CGI, well, that didn't bother me. Because it is pretty good CGI.

So, I had a blast. Indy 4 was a lot of fun.

Now, the trailers before Indy:

• The Dark Knight: The voice Heath Ledger does reminds me a little of Dustin Hoffman. I don't know why.
• Australia: Baz Luhrmann's (SIC) ode to his home country. It seems like a parody of all those cheesy "For Your Consideration" movie you get at the end of the year. I don't really know what its about, something about Hugh Jackman having to save Australia.
• Wall-E: Man, this looks absolutely cute and charming. Can't wait to see it.
• Hellboy II: The Golden Army: The weird thing about this is that Hellboy doesn't make an appearance until halfway through the trailer. It seem more like a sequel to Pan's Labrynth tham Hellboy. Maybe they thought they had to fool people to be interested.
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: It is a "Serious drama" about a man who ages backwards and all I can think of is Jonathan Winters character fron Mork and Mindy.
• Kung Fu Panda: It seems fun for what it is. Maybe if we see two movies this weekend, we catch it.
• Eagle Eye: This Shia trailer sneaked in on us. It has a Matrix like vibe, but in a good way.