Oh, that old nostalgia

After waiting nearly two decades for a movie that I thought was probably never going to happen, I finally saw it yesterday.

And..?

It’s pretty good.

It’s not great. It’s not brilliant. It’s got some flaws, but for the most part it’s pretty fun.

I have to admit that I was expecting a better script. I mean, every screenwriter in the business worth his salt took a crack at it. From Lawrence Kasdan who wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark, to M. Night Shylamaladingdong to Frank Darabont and then David Koepp. I mean, even playwright/screenwriter Tom Stoppard took a crack at it. I remember reading a draft that was floating around years ago that had him and his son and Marion in it (granted, that script was not good and I’m glad they didn’t make that one…).

What I love about the Indy movies is the unabashed love of the old fashioned style storytelling, the throwback to the 1940s and 1950s. I mean, the movie takes place in 1957, but there were times it actually felt like it was made in 1957 (except for some of that really expensive CGI stuff). And I dug the first fifteen minutes of it, partly because of his visit to Area 51 and the Nevada Atomic testing site (made even more creepy by the recent research I’ve been doing) but also because it was a great action sequence.

And on a sidenote, can I just say that even though Cate Blanchett flirts with being a cliche as an evil Russian I would watch her do anything. Seriously, I'd watch her read a phone book on film.

At its heart, the movie is about the characters, which is great (and really, even though Indy has become an icon, he has never become a caricature, especially as played by Harrison Ford). And I love the stunts. I love me some good old-fashioned slugfests on films, especially involving moving vehicles, sword fights, bullwhips, c’mon…you don’t see that all that much anymore.

Which is why the movie feels just a tad…well…archaic.

I mean, I love it. It’s great.

But if I want to feel nostalgic and feel like a kid again, I’ll pop Raiders of the Lost Ark into my DVD player and watch that. It’s a much better movie and will do the trick just as well.

But really, will I see Kingdom of the Crystal Skull again?

What, are you kidding?

Of course.