Having recently watched all three of the original films for the first time, I came to fully understand the legend and legacy of one Henry Jones Jr. He is, without a doubt, one of the most dynamic and interesting characters I've seen in quite some time. Even his outfit is iconic nowadays. So naturally, after having heard that there was a new film coming out, I scrambled to watch the older ones, as mentioned earlier.
The first three films also prepared me for how absurdly campy the general feel of the series was. I'm comfortable with spoiling the first three, since they've been out for literally more than ten years at minimum. Seriously though, a box that melts people (the Ark), a cult with a high priest who can pull hearts out of people yet said people survive, and the Holy freaking Grail? Yeah, this series is way over the top.
The fourth film in the series is most certainly as over the top as the others. No, wait, scratch that; it's actually more over the top (I hear you: what could top a man on a horse beating a tank?!) and crazy than any of the others. Some (read: probably most) will be upset at how the series is going this time, because it feels less like an Indiana Jones film than the others.
For the most part, that feeling is somewhat merited; there's gratuitous CG that is noticeable and extremely obvious in two parts (curse you, gopher!), but otherwise fairly well done. The plot is the other major detractor. This movie would probably rank below Temple of Doom, despite being a good film.
Now, let me give the film some credits here. Maybe it's just me, but I thought this film was insanely epic and quite possibly the best thing I've seen in quite some time. It was extremely enjoyable and stuck to the Indy formula, so I had no problems whatsoever with it (my comments before notwithstanding). Yes, this film isn't as good as the others, but really, it's been a downhill slope since Raiders of the Lost Ark anyway. To be frank, this movie is still a hell of a lot better than many of the other films coming out. Oh, and on a final note, this film also had Shia LeBouf in a role in which I didn't actually mind him in. Not too shabby.
This one earns my thumbs-up.
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