Movie Review "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"

As far as I can tell you really only need 3 things to make a good Indiana Jones movie. First you need Harrison Ford. Second you need the John Williams soundtrack. And third you need a good MacGuffin (this basically is the word George Lucas uses to refer to something cool for Indiana to search for and chase after, but apparently it is an actual term). So while in Utah I went with my sister to see this new one and see how well it measured up. Right away you have Harrison Ford. Check. Then John Williams' talents are heard. Check. But of course we knew that those were present before even seeing the movie. So I mean this thing is all ready 2/3rds of the way there and it hasn't even begun yet. I'm liking my chances. Now for the last one. There are some decent sounding MacGuffins here; lost cities, gold, treasure, and crystal skulls. There aren't any nazis bad guys anymore, but we have commies to replace them so thats fine. We run into some problems with the family sidekick theme that was all ready done perfectly in the 3rd one (oh and really clever naming the kid Mutt; another dog name). There's no topping Sean Connery's family sidekick so just leave it alone. The real problem is you get a look at that crystal skull thingy and you know all ready that the MacGuffin is just too science fictiony and isn't going to fit. Usually the MacGuffins are religious and/or supernatural in nature with the more commonly known religious MacGuffins resulting in the more successful Indy movies. This one, while its selection is understandable, just can't measure up and seems out of place, but hey you still have Harrison Ford and John Williams. Thats not bad and results in about 67% of a good Indiana Jones movie. Will this movie, like the Star Wars prequels always stand off in the corner from its original more attractive cousins? You bet, but it was fun for at least nothing other than Harrison Ford and John Williams. Seriously haven't we learned our lesson about trying to make more movies in a series about 20 years too late? Sure they can be fun, but its like eating a 6th slice of good pizza when 5 were clearly satisfying enough. I mean its still good, but you just can't enjoy it as much. So in summary, this is at least 67% as good as other Indy movies and easily worth the $1.50 I spent to see it. Shoot, for a $1.50 I'll give at least a mediocre review to just about anything.