One of the most eagerly-awaited sequels – but can it live up to the first rate 1981 original “Raiders of the Lost Arc?” Yes and no. After seeing Henry (Harrison Ford) in his famous fedora opening, the plot immediately subjects us to 20 minutes of intense action that involves a Russian Officer, Irina (Cate Blanchett) lovely to look at, but not necessarily needed in the plot. Translation: If you need to use the rest room clock it at about 1 hour into the film, when it dips in the middle act. That said, the uplifting and unusual ending delivers a solid third act complete with scorpions, snakes, killer ants, monkeys and even a space ship and aliens that might have you thinking Spielberg rivals Harrison Ford for old age wise-cracks. Perhaps team Spielberg/Lucas forgot that this isn’t a sequel to “Close Encounters of the Third Kind!” Harrison Ford has no trouble resuming his role as the whip cracking Jones. The movie’s plot is set in 1957 when KGB agents have taken over a top-secret plant in a Midwest desert where Jones (a professor by day, Indie by night) is aware that the military has stored artifacts blah,blah, blah. It’s fun to hear the flirty annoying banter of Karen Allen resuming her role as Ford’s lover with the introduction of a young Mutt William (Shia LeBeouf) who turns out to be more than Indiana Jones bargained for. The technology and the cinematography are pure magical and the script is true to the Indiana Jones history, but the only downside is that Ford spends so much time running around to survive, that he doesn’t stop to take a breath and deliver enough of that golly-shucks charm we loved in the last one. That said, it’s fun to see his posse of friends survive ridiculous death-defying feats that make us belly-laugh out loud. It’s pure entertainment – the old action adventure kind – and isn’t that what summer movie going should be all about? Three tiaras
