[mousepod]

Some thoughts:

Spoiler:

1. I don't mind that Harrison Ford is older, or that Indy is portrayed as older. Therefore, setting the movie in 1957 and making the baddies Russian was fine by me. However, Russians murdering a large number of American soldiers on a military base? And no visible repercussions other than the FBI putting pressure on Indy. Please.

2. Indy's hiding in the fridge to escape an atomic blast? Clever. The CGI of said fridge flying hundreds of feet through the air and crashing to the earth without injuring Indy? Stupid.

3. Shia Labeouf as the Wild One made me laugh until I realized that Spielberg wasn't playing him as silly. Everyone should have been laughing at him.

4. The big chase scene and INDY RIDES BITCH? (excuse the horrible sexist slang)

5. The skull was a really obvious telegraph to the Alien climax. Well, that and the fact that the opening sequence involved a recovery of an alien's body. Which makes me wonder...

6. Why did the typical opening MacGuffin have to deviate so far from the original series' concept. Too much real information going on here...

7. How can iSm question the inflatable raft scene in ToD and not have major problems with the 3 waterfalls? Or the baddies car landing on top of the good guys? Or the tarzan scene? Or any of the other ridiculous cartoon-like escapes that are clearly based on CGI and not brilliant stunts?

8. Was there a plot? What was the real goal of the story? For Indy to vindicate himself? That's implied, for sure, but he doesn't seem to be anything more than mildly annoyed that he's been put under scrutiny by the FBI and fired from his job. To save Ox? Unlike saving his dad in Last Crusade, there's not any real reason why Indy would need to go on a rescue mission. For a series that's based on a bunch of setpieces strung together, there's not a lot of stringing going on.

9. The climax was more X-Files than anything else. Indy's typical "It's just a story" line, delivered in the first act is as silly as ever (since he's seen so much supernatural stuff go down in the first 3 flicks he should know better). Is he Mulder or Scully? He's Muldy.

10. I know this is a continuation of the last point - but what did we see happen in the climax? The alien crystal skeletons fused together in some interdimensional thingie and then the flesh and blood interdimensional being gave an angry(?) look at the funny Commie lady and burned her eyes and brain? How come?

OK... I know I have more... but those are some of the biggies.

On the plus side, the action sequences were fun. Harrison Ford was cool as ever. Karen Allen was welcome, not only for her character, but for the fact that once she came into the movie, Shia's lines were dramatically decreased.

I'm looking forward to the next movie, which I hope will be titled: "Indy 5: Old Man With a Hat".