Review by Travis Meacham.

After 19 years Harrison Ford returns to the beat-up hat and scuffed leather jacket of Indiana Jones. Can Ford, Lucas and Spielberg still bring the thrills in the age of superheroes and comic adaptations?

http://www.tomsgames.com/us/2008/05/22/indy4_review/

Nice write up Travis, I am actually more stoked to see it now than before.

I know everyone has that high expectation, but it sounds really good to me. In support of the Marion Ravenwood character, she is also older in the movie, probably more mature, and perhaps not so young and quick to get drunk and pull a knife on people? I don't know tho, cause I haven't seen it yet. Might go tonight or wait until the weekend rush is over or something. I would of loved to see Marcus Brody, Belloq or someone like that make a return too. Perhaps cause i've never been a huge Cate Blanchette fan, but she is a good actress so i'm sure she made a good villain.

I love that paramount logo morphing into a mountain that ends up being a gopher mound. Nice throwback to Raiders, and a good metaphor for a lot of peoples expectations of the film.

P.S. The youtube trailer stopped working... darn you youtube!

All of the criticisms are dead on. If it was any other movie, I probably wouldn't enjoy it as much, but Indiana Jones as a character is just too damn good. I hope they're encouraged to make a fifth movie. Maybe an old Indiana Jones trilogy? Only this time, focus more on the writing and character development. Sallah and Marcus Brody probably had less screen time in Raiders than any of the sidekicks in Indy 4, but still managed to be memorable and seem more developed. I think maybe if they introduced Ray Winstone's character differently and had a half hour extra movie time for character development, things would've been better. I know they wanted the fast-paced thrill ride feel, but even the previous movies had moments where the characters just relax, breathe, and share something about themselves without being on the verge of getting beaten up or killed.

It amazes me now that I think about it, how natural older characters seemed being thrown into the previous movies when really we never knew that much about them and everything was implied. It may just be a case of juggling too many characters on screen at once.

I did not care for it but I don't expect I'll get much support.

Will people at least agree that this is - by far - the weakest of the four movies?

Nah, I think Temple of Doom is the weakest, but then again Temple of Doom has lots of great quotes and scenes and I'm not sure this movie has that same influence. I'll have to watch a few more times.

I coulnd't have been more disapointed with this movie. Freaking aliens, are you kidding me? What a POS. I'm almost speechless at the reviews that are even sorta positive...I can hardly recall a single moment that was really good.

The acting was horrible by everyone, totally overdone at times and just stupid at others. The beginnign scene at the warehouse made me squim I was so uncomfortable and embarrassed.

Bad guys busting through 2000 year old concrete walls? Like they were hiding there for years, all sweaty and waiting for Jones to come?

Quick sand that looks like a set and something I could build in my back yard. A digital snake scene that goes on 5 minutes after jones is complaining about the snake when he's seconds from death? he tells the insane guy to go get help whent he bad guys are 50 yards away looking for him?

A HUGE crystal skull that is carried awarkly around the whole move yet never is lost after 4 waterfalls? And the skull just happens to be able to ward off any bad guy, including ants?

Greesers? And the stupid hair on Mutt? Give me a break, Jones was a fish out of water almost the whole movie.

The special effects were so over the top and stupid. Again, Jones looked completely out of place.

What does the bebop 50s music and race scene at the beginnign have to do with anything?

Wasnt't he killing of the guards at the beginning pointless and unnecessary violence coming right off the "fun" race scene? The bad guys race some kids and then kill 6 guards?

The acting was ridiculous, no character development or chemistry. It was thrown together and not nearly as witty as Last Crusade...not even close.
Jones gets married a few days after meeting the old flame? He has a kid? WTF.

I could go on and on. And mind you, I lOVE Indiana Jones. My sons middle name is "indiana" after this character. I believe Jones is what a man should be, he has all the characteristics I value. this last episode didn't capture any of what I liked about the first 3.

I have to agree with P05esto on this one. That was just the most disappointing Indy movie they could have made!

First off the whole opening sequence in the warehouse is hokey and forced. Plus the villain is so poorly played that she is never taken seriously.

It just felt as though all the chase scenes were made with a video game to sell in mind and not to move the story along. Nothing was worse than the Shia and the vine-swinging with the monkeys. That's pretty much when I just gave up on the movie all-together and ordered another mudslide from my waiter

I didn't even think the CGI was all that great. It didn't mesh very well with the live action.

So after waiting all this time to buy a box set that would have all 4 movies, I think I'll just pass and buy 1 and 3.

I'm not surprised that Travis gave it such a good review. I rarely agree with his critiques. After slamming Cloverfield he lost my respect.

Ugh. Everything on the internet is not love it or hate it. I didn't "slam" Cloverfield. I just thought it was OK.

Have you ever even see an Indy movie? They're supposed to be hokey. They're based off serials of the 1930s and 40s. The film takes place in 1957. It's not like greasers or aliens conspiracies weren't big back then. Project Blue Book was started in the 1950s. The Roswell crash happened in the late 40s. How are aliens any more preposterous than glowing rocks who do who knows what, or a wooden cup that heals people and magically dissolves bullets, or a glorified box that releases ghosts that kill anyone unless you don't look at them.

The movie was completely believable and acceptable within the Indiana Jones universe. And I think they tied in aliens nicely into the historical side of things. I wonder if people complained this much when Temple of Doom came out. Jumping out of a plane with a raft and sliding down a mountain? I swear these complainers act like they've never seen an Indiana Jones film. How is crap derived from Hindu myth, the Bible, or European legend any more plausible than aliens?

I agree with some of the complaints, but it's still a welcome return of Indiana Jones. I hope they make two more to round out a new trilogy.

The movie begins with a bang...the beautiful opening shot of the race (note the wonderfully floating camera movement) ... the entry of Jones... the entry of Cate Blanchett ... the magnetism... the awesome fight and chase... the curiously haunting sequence at the test site ... the escape inside the fridge..... AMAZING!!!!! I was glued to the seat... all that fulfilled my expectations of the start.

The second act wasn't half brilliant either.... it completely sucked me in... the pacing and plot were gritty and sumptuous... the motorbike chase was oh so brilliant.... Shia Lebeouf was quite good and effortlessly played a young James Deanish guy... luckily he didn't play the same character he played in Transformers.... Karen Allen was disappointing but it didn't affect the plot which was getting more and more interesting ... and the tension heightened with the breathtaking chase through the jungle and the swarm of ants....

And then things went downhill.

Audience like me expects something more to the plot... not just a flying saucer flying away.....halfway through the movie, the audience already knows that there are ETs in the mayan temple .... it's not like the flying saucer bit at the end makes the audience's eyes open and the truth suddenly leaps at you out of the darkness and takes you by shocking surprise... lol.... it was exactly the other way round in Raiders of the lost ark.... the way the soldiers are burned to death was shocking and awe inspiring. What's more ridiculous is that Spielberg and Lucas with the other producers made HUGE efforts to prevent leakage of plot details... much was written about how there was just one single draft of the script and that it was kept in a special chamber........ i can't believe THIS was the story they had...lol...... and the marriage was dumb too.... it reminded me of another dumb closing scene - the marriage at the end of Mission Impossible 3.

So yeah, a different ending (a meatier one at that) would've made the movie truly a masterpiece... anyways i'd give it 8.5/10 for a truly engaging 1st and 2nd act.