Roger Ebert’s quote on the movie says it best:

I can say that if you liked the other Indiana Jones movies, you will like this one, and that if you did not, there is no talking to you. 

We got the opportunity to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull last night. The theater was pretty full, even on Monday night at 7:40, which helps explain the $311 million that it made worldwide.

It was fantastic.

Ebert is right. If you liked the early movies, you’ll enjoy this one. Spielberg, Lucas and Ford take us on a ride so enjoyable that you remember why you started going to movies in the first place.

And despite its long title, I couldn’t think of another alternative that wouldn’t spoil the story.

Speaking of the story…sure, it wasn’t terrific, but the characters carry the story along so well that it doesn’t matter. What they do is take a story that we’ve heard before (and recently, in another movie, sort of) and gives it a different take in a way that makes sense to the Indiana Jones universe of movies.

Still, Indiana Jones is a character that holds up amazingly well. The nods to earlier movies were lighter than I expected, but Spielberg even dropped in a Star Wars reference as Indiana Jones mentioned, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” which was one of Han Solo’s favorite phrases.

Overall, it was a really fun movie and definitely worth seeing in the theater. It reminds us that action movies don’t necessarily need to be about all the special effects. They can focus on good characters and good dialogue and excellent stunt work and still be a great trip to the theater.