Eye Candy #19 - "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: It's odd to note the level of suspension of disbelief that people are more than willing to extend to Indies 1-3, but not 4. Apparently we can handle peoples' faces melting because of the power of God, people getting their hearts ripped from their chests by the power of Kali, and people healed and made immortal by the Holy Grail...but thrown in Area 51, deviate from the mostly Judeo-Christian source material, and just wait for the hullabaloo about it being "preposterous". I liked the film. I don't think it will ever replace the first 3 in my list of favorites, but it's obvious they weren't trying to make another pulp adventure this time around and that they were having fun. We've got an aging Harrison Ford back as Indy (who speaks very slowly), along with a young man Mutt Williams (Shia Lebeouf), swapping Commies for Nazis, as they search South America for the City of Gold and get much more "extraterrestrial" than in any of the previous films. The action set pieces are good, particularly the jungle car chase (minus the monkeys, mostly because it was completely unnecessary) and the warehouse fight sequence. It's also got the obligatory 'icky' scene. It does get a little highbrow at the end (and it's not a terribly satisfying ending, asking more questions than it answers). Still, as a summer movie, it's worth watching and not complete garbage. Did I want more of the same as the old films? Sure. Am I heartbroken it wasn't? No. Woodchuck sez, "Some folks need to lighten up...you should check it out."