This review marks the return of my super star rating system. ^^

We went to see the new Indi film yesterday. I don’t remember the last time I had looked forward to a film that much, which made it all the more surprising to find that the cinema was empty when we walked through the door. Thankfully a few more groups wandered in before the trailers started to roll. Apart from watching it on a big screen, I reckon going to the cinema is all about the crowd.

Anyway, the film definitely was action packed from start to finish with plenty of special moments scattered throughout. Whenever they played the theme tune, I nearly jumped out of my seat with excitement!

I would compare it with a good red wine but I’m not entirely sure whether the maturing of the franchise reaches far beyond the ageing of Harrison Ford. That is not necessarily a bad thing. As many of you know the film is set in the Cold War period but it very much still felt like an Indiana Jones film. I loved all the silhouette shots of Indi with his fedora.

If you liked the other Indi films, I’d definitely recommend you go see this one!

WARNING: Spoilers below.

So, now for the in-depth review.

Realism
Looking beyond the ageing hero and the inability for the bad guys to shoot straight, there were a few things in the story that were hard to accept.

I think the biggest disappointment was the inclusion of aliens. I feel the story of the crystal skulls could have still been told without the need to introduce inter-dimensional space travelling collective conscious sharing aliens. The film starts off with an army warehouse in Area 51, which although is heavily associated with extra-terrestrial encounters, could equally have been used simply as a location for storing terrestrial based government secrets.

Further, the crystal skull, is portrayed as being magnetised but only when it suits the plot. Gunpowder seems to hold the strongest “magnetism” with elements such as gold and the metals used in rifles only occasionally being affected. Slightly bizarre, but I suppose the aliens could probably explain that one.

Other plot holes included sheltering from a nuclear blast in a lead lined refrigerator and being thrown far enough away to be able to view the mushroom cloud safely, without the fridge door opening.

Indi’s ability to understand the ancient South American languages seems to improve vastly during the course of the film. At one point he has to consult some texts to translate some written text but by the end he is able to act as an interpreter.

The killer ants weren’t too clever in their attacking either.

The Acting
Overall I have complaints with the acting except the Cate Blanchett’s Russian accent did occasionally waver.

Shia LaBeouf seems to be cast as the natural successor but I’m not sure the Indiana Jones franchise will survive without Indiana Jones. I just hope they don’t rename it Mutt Jones.

Positives
Having ripped apart some of the faults of the latest instalment of Indiana Jones, I don’t want people to think that it is an absolutely terrible film as it’s quite the opposite. The essence of Indi still runs very strongly in this film and the excitement and humour is just as good as any of the others.

Moments such as Mutt swinging through the Amazonian jungle alongside a pack of monkeys stick out providing a pleasant pause from the action packed story. It was slightly Tarzan.

An open mind without analysing every detail of the film will lead to an enjoyable experience in front of the big screen.