Nice write up Travis, I am actually more stoked to see it now than before.

I know everyone has that high expectation, but it sounds really good to me. In support of the Marion Ravenwood character, she is also older in the movie, probably more mature, and perhaps not so young and quick to get drunk and pull a knife on people? I don't know tho, cause I haven't seen it yet. Might go tonight or wait until the weekend rush is over or something. I would of loved to see Marcus Brody, Belloq or someone like that make a return too. Perhaps cause i've never been a huge Cate Blanchette fan, but she is a good actress so i'm sure she made a good villain.

I love that paramount logo morphing into a mountain that ends up being a gopher mound. Nice throwback to Raiders, and a good metaphor for a lot of peoples expectations of the film.

P.S. The youtube trailer stopped working... darn you youtube!

I did not care for it but I don't expect I'll get much support.

Will people at least agree that this is - by far - the weakest of the four movies?

I coulnd't have been more disapointed with this movie. Freaking aliens, are you kidding me? What a POS. I'm almost speechless at the reviews that are even sorta positive...I can hardly recall a single moment that was really good.

The acting was horrible by everyone, totally overdone at times and just stupid at others. The beginnign scene at the warehouse made me squim I was so uncomfortable and embarrassed.

Bad guys busting through 2000 year old concrete walls? Like they were hiding there for years, all sweaty and waiting for Jones to come?

Quick sand that looks like a set and something I could build in my back yard. A digital snake scene that goes on 5 minutes after jones is complaining about the snake when he's seconds from death? he tells the insane guy to go get help whent he bad guys are 50 yards away looking for him?

A HUGE crystal skull that is carried awarkly around the whole move yet never is lost after 4 waterfalls? And the skull just happens to be able to ward off any bad guy, including ants?

Greesers? And the stupid hair on Mutt? Give me a break, Jones was a fish out of water almost the whole movie.

The special effects were so over the top and stupid. Again, Jones looked completely out of place.

What does the bebop 50s music and race scene at the beginnign have to do with anything?

Wasnt't he killing of the guards at the beginning pointless and unnecessary violence coming right off the "fun" race scene? The bad guys race some kids and then kill 6 guards?

The acting was ridiculous, no character development or chemistry. It was thrown together and not nearly as witty as Last Crusade...not even close.
Jones gets married a few days after meeting the old flame? He has a kid? WTF.

I could go on and on. And mind you, I lOVE Indiana Jones. My sons middle name is "indiana" after this character. I believe Jones is what a man should be, he has all the characteristics I value. this last episode didn't capture any of what I liked about the first 3.

Ugh. Everything on the internet is not love it or hate it. I didn't "slam" Cloverfield. I just thought it was OK.

The movie begins with a bang...the beautiful opening shot of the race (note the wonderfully floating camera movement) ... the entry of Jones... the entry of Cate Blanchett ... the magnetism... the awesome fight and chase... the curiously haunting sequence at the test site ... the escape inside the fridge..... AMAZING!!!!! I was glued to the seat... all that fulfilled my expectations of the start.

The second act wasn't half brilliant either.... it completely sucked me in... the pacing and plot were gritty and sumptuous... the motorbike chase was oh so brilliant.... Shia Lebeouf was quite good and effortlessly played a young James Deanish guy... luckily he didn't play the same character he played in Transformers.... Karen Allen was disappointing but it didn't affect the plot which was getting more and more interesting ... and the tension heightened with the breathtaking chase through the jungle and the swarm of ants....

And then things went downhill.

Audience like me expects something more to the plot... not just a flying saucer flying away.....halfway through the movie, the audience already knows that there are ETs in the mayan temple .... it's not like the flying saucer bit at the end makes the audience's eyes open and the truth suddenly leaps at you out of the darkness and takes you by shocking surprise... lol.... it was exactly the other way round in Raiders of the lost ark.... the way the soldiers are burned to death was shocking and awe inspiring. What's more ridiculous is that Spielberg and Lucas with the other producers made HUGE efforts to prevent leakage of plot details... much was written about how there was just one single draft of the script and that it was kept in a special chamber........ i can't believe THIS was the story they had...lol...... and the marriage was dumb too.... it reminded me of another dumb closing scene - the marriage at the end of Mission Impossible 3.

So yeah, a different ending (a meatier one at that) would've made the movie truly a masterpiece... anyways i'd give it 8.5/10 for a truly engaging 1st and 2nd act.