Ok, its finally here. Indiana Jones 4 has arrived at a theatre near you! But is it worth watching? Was the hype correct? Does Harrison Ford still have it? You be the judge.

Ok so lets first start off with the cast.

Does Harrison Ford pull it off? Or has 19 years taken its toll on the actor? In my opinion, he pulls it off. To prepare for the role, Ford (64) spent three hours a day at the gym and relied on a high protein diet of meat and fish to get his body in shape. And it showed. In fact he looks younger and more vibrant than ever! Best part is, he preformed many of his own stunts in the movie because he has a simple philosophy about stunts. He feels its best to have the audience stare at the actors face while doing stunts instead of the back of a capable stuntman’s head. Kudos to you Mr. Ford!

Shia LaBeouf plays Mutt Williams. Indys motor-cycle riding greaser sidekick. And they work pretty well together. Shia’s character never overpowers a scene or takes away from Ford’s acting. In fact it does help boost a few scenes when they argue over little things. The banter between them is only reinforced because of the age difference and lends itself to a few very funny lines/spots. He does get a lot of screen time, but he is not the main focus. Think of him as Short Round. Except taller and not um… of Asian decent.

Cate Blanchett plays the villian in this episode of Indy as Soviet agent Irina Spalko. She pulls off being a russian agent pretty well. Always very stern, never breaking from the cold hard character you would think a soviet agent would have. And best of all, she is really good with a blade. The Rapier she carries with her at all times does come into play later on in the movie. And yes the scene is awesome.

Karen Allen reprises her role as Marion Ravenwood from raiders of the lost ark. Amazingly she had no idea she was even going to be in the movie until Jan 2007 when Spielberg called her up and said “Its official, we are making Indiana Jones 4! And guess what? You’re in it!” Allens role in the film is just like her role in Raiders, a vibrant, self sufficient woman. Only this time she moved on after Indy didnt stick around.

This cast works perfectly together and the chemistry is amazing. When watching the movie, it doesnt feel like its been 19 years since the last Indiana Jones. On a side note, there is no cameo by Sean Connery. This is actually a good thing. 1st Connery is very happy with his retirement, and secondly as Ford was quoted “In this movie I am old enough to play my own father!” Though there is a little homage to him on Indys desk in the form of a framed picture.

Ok so lets move on to the plot, special effects, and overall impression.

Just so you know. There is a bit of spoiler in this article from now on. But its nothing insane. Just the setup for the movie. So its up to you if you want to read on or not. You have been warned.

Ok Plot time. Irina Spalko is leading a group of soviet troops through the desert into Area 51. After killing the gate guards and eliminating the guards around the base, a car trunk opens up and Indy is pulled out along with Mac. They are instructed to find a crate that Indy was studying with the government a few years back. After a little CGI magic, the crate is found. Without giving anything else away, the remainder of the story follows whats in that crate. You may have an idea of what it is, but I am not going to tell you. Personally I thought the contents of the crate were pretty interesting but you could have called it from a mile away.

After the eventual escape of Indy, the Feds start to make his life hell because he helped a “RED” gain access to one of Area 51’s greatest treasures. He loses his job at the university and decides to travel to london in hopes of a new start. But before he can leave on the train, Shai’s characer catches up with him and gives him a letter from his (Mutt’s) mother. Saying that she gave specific instructions that only Indy would be able to help and only he would be able to figure out what the letter meant. They are followed by two Soviet spies who try to get the letter, and this is when a very sweet car/motorcycle chase begins. Needless to say, that letter is what sets the rest of the movie into motion. From that point on, it’s just like the other Indy movies. Puzzles, action, and a few cool fight scenes.

Special Effects. There is a lot of CGI in this movie. And when I say alot. I mean A LOT! The reason for this is that the whole movie was shot in the USA.  Spielberg didnt want to leave behind his family for months if they shot overseas, so everything was shot here. There was a lot that was shot in sound stages, and you can tell the skies are fake in a few of those scenes. When they shot in Hawaii for the Jungle scenes, the trees are real. But most of the brush was edited in later to make it seem more full and lush. This is not a bad thing by any means. If you didnt know that this was shot in the USA, you would have had no idea. They did a great job of making you feel like you were actually in the rain forest. And dont even think of trying to find any wires that were used for the stunts. They were hunted for and painstakingly edited out so the action felt totally realistic. There is only one section where the CGI was a bit much and the whole scene was not needed. Just think Monkies

Overall impression. I give it a 3 out of 5. “Wait James, why speak so fondly of it and then give it a 3/5 rating?” Well thats simple. To me, the hype took its toll and I was expecting this masterpiece of cinematic grandeur. While it was a great movie, it lacked a few things for me. Yes the fight scenes were awesome. But I dont think there was enough danger involved in them. And the intense CGI took a bit away from the movie for me. I was hoping for something more epic like Raiders or Lost Ark. What I got wasn’t as bad as Temple of Doom, but I was left hoping for more. Now this isnt a cry for you not to see the movie. Hell no! Think of it as an amazing time in cinematic history for you who werent alive when the last 3 came out. Or were too young to enjoy them. Just remember this. 1940’s refrigerators are nuke proof.

The moral of todays movie is. The only thing better then melting Nazi’s, are flamming Russians!