Indy’s Back (And Not Much Worse For Wear)

The next big buzz in this summer’s lineup is the new Indiana Jones film. There seems to be this huge hubbub about it, and understandably so. After all, Raiders of the Lost Ark was one of the best action films of all time, in my (and many others’) opinions. And the other Indy films certainly didn’t disappoint.

As if Harrison Ford’s spectacular role as Han Solo wasn’t enough to forever shape our opinion of him.

Still, I must admit (for the first time), that I haven’t really been all that excited to see this movie. After Iron Man, going to the opening of Indy seems like staying after the headliner to see the opening act (remember, I’m a huge superhero geek). It was so good that I can’t really be excited about another movie for awhile. Other reasons why I was hesitant about this movie:

* George Lucas’ other recent sequels (ahem) failed miserably, albeit not unexpectedly.
* Sean Connery will not be making a return as Indy’s father. Sadly, he is now retired. The world is a much less exciting place.
* There is a rumor going around that Shia LeBouf is going to be the new Indy (Ford is almost 66), which borders on blasphemy. Even if there’s some truth to it, to suggest that Ford will retire as Indy is one of those things you just don’t say, not even in a whisper.

Despite all this, I have recently become excited about this movie. Here are the main reasons why:

* Spielberg is involved. Almost everything this guy touches is gold, especially Indy, which involves a collaboration between Lucas, Spielberg, and Ford. What a team, assuming Lucas doesn’t ruin it with his new ideas, which he almost did in the early stages.
* Karen Allen is back as Marion (Raiders of the Lost Ark), which is just awesome.
* LeBouf, despite what I said earlier, is a great actor. Check out Even Stevens, Holes, I, Robot. Now you might be thinking, “Indy is an action franchise, not a comedy.” Check out Constantine, or more importantly, Transformers. LeBouf has a sort of dry demeanor that seems to supply exactly the right type of humor to make an awesome action movie even more entertaining (so did Downey, Jr. in Iron Man!).

* The stunts. This is the reason to see this movie. Although they’ve kept this film under wraps until it debuts at the Cannes Festival on May 18, some people have seen it.

“It’s the same vibe, the same feel. They didn’t miss a beat,” Flanery (he played young Indy in the show) said of “Crystal Skull.” “People are going to love it. It’s what everybody’s been waiting for.”

“We did it sort of old-school-style,” Ford said. “Certainly, there is a fair amount of CGI that will be used, enhancing a lot of what we did, but generally not in the action area. It will enhance some of the physical sets. In the action area, it was pretty much done for real.”

Did you read that? Ford is closing in on 66 years old (64 when filming) and he’s still doing his own stunts!!!

From Imdb.com:

To reprise his role as the legendary explorer Indiana Jones, the 64-year-old Harrison Ford spent three hours a day at the gym, and subsisted on a high-protein diet of fish and vegetables, thus building his body into a condition where he could perform his own stunts (he always kept himself fit anyway, as he hoped to complete all the five Indiana Jones films that were originally planned in the 1980s). Steven Spielberg later stated he was so impressed with Ford’s form that he could not tell the difference between the shoots for the third and fourth films.

That’s it. I’m all out. I could probably go on, but I got even more excited just typing up this post. And if you aren’t excited by now, there’s no hope for you. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. May 22.

Some cool trivia (no spoilers til at least May 18 )