So yeah, I liked Indiana Jones 4.

I had my doubts, but when I finally sat down and watched Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, I was thoroughly entertained. My only two complaints, and they are small, is that one of the actors, John Hurt, was a tad too silly for my taste, and that at times the actual crystal skull they carried around with them looked like a ball of Saran Wrap. Small Potatoes.

Now, beware of spoilers!!! Don't read from this point on if you have not yet seen this movie and don't want any of the surprises spoiled!

I've been hearing a lot of people complaining that the film has too much CGI (computer-generated imagery), or that the action was too over the top and that it was "too hard to suspend my disbelief." Suspend your disbelief??? It's an Indiana Jones Movie for Pete's sake! The first one had demon ghosts flying out of the Ark, melting off people's faces. The second had a guy who ripped still beating hearts out of people's chests, and rocks that would glow when they got near each other. And the third had the ghost of Sir Lancelot or whoever the hell that was at the very end. They are cliff hanger movies. They spawned from the old weekly Saturday matinee movie cliffhangers from the 1930s and 1940s; Flash Gordon, Jungle Jim, Dick Tracy Detective, just to name a few. As far as too much CGI? What can one say? Remember when you used to be able to tell it was a puppet, or a guy in a rubber suit, or you could see the strings? Well, sometimes you notice the CGI. To some it's a deal breaker, but to me, I can accept it if the locomotion is realistic and the effects actually contribute to telling the story. Sometimes the old ways, puppets and strings, might be better if done right, but for Indy 4 it just wasn't a big issue for me. The giant ants I thought were great. I was expecting the usual image of the bugs chewing someone to the bone, leaving behind only a skeleton, but instead the ants carried the guy into a giant ant hill . . . that was more effective in that it left the untold terror of what could be happening up to the imagination. Shia Lebeouf swinging like a monkey in a tree? Okay, a bit silly, but remember Tarzan, another cliffhanger character of which some of the Indiana Jones movies are based on? Some thought it was ridiculous, that it was too much of George Lucas's tomfoolery! Hogwash, I say! Remember the airplane scene from Temple Of Doom where Indy, Short Round and uh . . . Kate Capshaw used a river raft as a parachute? Or the crazy roller coaster mine ride? Cliffhangers, people.

And now what may or may not have been the biggest surprise. You may have heard it somewhere, you may have figured it out for yourself, or you may have not known until you saw it . . . or maybe you are about to find out right now and you shouldn't be reading this . . . Shia Labeouf's character, Mutt, is Indiana Jones son! Indy finds this out when he is reunited with Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), who is the mother. What I liked about the whole father/son story here is that they didn't dwell on the whole "Hey son, had I known I would have been there for you all these years . . . " sentimental bull crap. Instead Indy instantly calls him son and yells at him for quitting school. Classic. The chemistry between Karen Allen and Harrison Ford was great as well as it was in the Raiders Of The Lost Ark. It was nice to see them together again, and she certainly didn't pause when it was time to kiss the bride at the end. And as far as the complaints about Harrison Ford needing to hang up the hat, that he's too old for that part, oh com on! You are taking this movie way too seriously. He was great as an aged Indiana, and they actually played off his being older in some of the wisecracking one liners. A tip of the hat to Spielberg and Lucas. They made a mighty fine Summer blockbuster. Tripods Up!