It wasn't my favorite movie of the Indy series. The action was OK but the ending totally made me lose interest. The series won't be the same once Harrison Ford is gone.

I will post what I said about the movie at the Avault.com website (gaming & Entertainment)
The movie was good but not great. The story itself was bland and unimaginative. There was no thought in the puzzles so nothing to work out which leads me to say why was it so hard to find the city? I will also say that Russians make terrible bad guys. I realize it is the time frame but the Nazi's made great bad guys. The Russians not so much. Indy should have been left in the time of Nazi Germany not brought forward to a cold war era. It just didn't fit the mythos.
The camera work also had its issues including during the first 15 minutes of the movie the lights from the camera played off the people and building too much and gave it an unnatural look. Watch it again and you will see what I mean. The scene was supposed to have a natural light but instead you get the white light of cameras. The writing also left something to be desired. There is also an artifact that has certain actions but those actions are inconsistent and only seem to be in play when it is central to the plot or looks interesting on film. No one really thought it through. A bigger issue is an action of event would happen that you think would be part of the plot or lead to other actions that don't. Almost like it was cut to shorten the movie or a train of thought that was lost. One part that really annoyed me was an overhead view of a cemetery at night and it looked so much like a model. That should have never ever gotten through to be put on film. It just looked very unreal. The movie also felt like a look how old I am instead of the adventure we should have gotten.
Despite my complaining above there is also some great moments in the movie. Not much later in the movie after my complaining of the lighting comes a very cool scene of Indy standing which I do not want to spoil it but when you see it you will know. It was a wow moment. There were also a lot of funny moments that had some good lines. The ending also is how I would have imagined it. Not the adventure part but afterwards. It gave a nice symmetry to the series as a whole.
The bottom line is that this movie is an ok movie but it should have been so much more. Indy deserved a better story and it also should not have taken so long to get a sequel.

I agree, especially about older performers. Sometimes it is frustrating to see younger actors cast for roles that an older actor would be more appropriate for. I love a good movie too! Thanks for your blog. The day starts better when there is one to read!

Most of the action and story is unbelieveable. It is not really creative. I.E. Stargate the show/movie. Harrison Ford is not quite what he used to be as Indy. The CGI in the jungle stands out like a sore thumb. However the film does stay in its tradition of being witty and the great facial expressions noted above. The motorcycle chase is classic Indiana Jones. I thought this movie was entertaining. By the way Mike, you might want to mention a SPOILER ALERT if you are going to give away the ending to those who have not seen it.

A great movie? What about the ending with the people from Mars in the spaceship? I thought that was a little strange. I thought searching for the holy grail was a much better plot.