(Seen on 5/22/08) Originally I was very against the idea of another Indiana Jones film. (I even thought it was a bad idea 10 years ago when the rumors first started popping up.) It was way too long since the last one; Spielberg is a different filmmaker and Harrison Ford is way too old. I saw no way of them pulling it off with the same style and panache that marked the first three films. Raiders of the Lost Ark is my all time favorite action film, it's so perfect in so many ways, those action scenes will live forever as some of the greatest ever made. Temple of Doom is a very fun follow-up, much darker in many ways, but again it has incredible action scenes and furthers Indy's legend. And I thought that The Last Crusade, while the least effective of the three, was a great send off; where we get to learn about where Indy came from and he has a great adventure with his father. I didn't see where another film could fit in. But as time went on, and the great teaser trailer came out for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I'll admit that the kid in me was yearning to see another Indiana Jones adventure. So it was with great excitement that I went to opening night. (The first big premiere I'd been to since the last Lord of the Rings.)

One of the things that worried me when I initially heard about the making of this film, was that I thought they'd try to ignore that Harrison Ford is nearly 20 years older. But they make it part of the film, with a couple of good jokes about Indy's age. I especially liked that they moved the action into the 50's, no longer is Indy fighting the Nazis, now he's got the Russian communists, which proves to be almost as great a set of villains. They were able to incorporate nuclear testing, the red scare, hot rods and make Indy's sidekick a motorcycle-riding greaser.

That was another thing I was skeptical about, Shia LaBeouf. I really like him, I think he's one of the most charismatic young actors around, but I thought he'd seem too anachronistic, that he wouldn't be able to play the era. But he did a great job fitting in, I think Lucas and his American Graffiti knowledge of the era, helped him find his character Mutt. It's fairly obvious who he is, and I'm glad they didn't drag out the surprise for too long.

I dug the other characters as well. It was cool to have Karen Allen back as Marion Ravenwood, always Indy's best girl. Ray Winstone was a lot of fun as Mac, the flip-flopping sidekick, who you're never quite sure which side he's on. John Hurt does the nutty- professor thing to perfection as Ox, who's spent too much time around the crystal skull, and has had his brain fried in the process. Best of all the new characters was Cate Blanchet, as Dr. Irina Spalko, equally evil and sexy, a completely memorable villain. She was so good, I'd consider the best of the series since Raiders' Colonel Dietrich. Having a great villain is paramount to these turn-your-brain off adventures, there has to be someone truly evil to root against.

There were a couple of really great action sequences; I particularly liked the truck chase through the jungle, while nowhere near as classic as the chase is in Raiders, it reminded me of it. Only one thing bothered me while watching it, the use of CGI. It was very apparent in a couple of instances and that took me out of the scene. But I won't completely denounce their use of it in the film, it's simply another tool; one that's pretty unavoidable these days; and the gruesomely-awesome scene with the giant-killer-ants,my favorite moment in the film, couldn't have been done without it.

I walked out of the theater totally satisfied with this new Indy adventure, and only one scene bugged me while watching the film. Which was Mutt swinging through the trees with a bunch of digital monkeys, too ridiculous, even for an Indiana Jones film. It wasn't till later, when I got a chance to reflect on the film, that more things started not to work for me. The entire end of the film, seems way too out there, and didn't seem the right fit for a series ground in earthly matters. Though I must admit, it fits nicely into Spielberg's filmography.

The Sandlot is one of those rare films where every scene builds perfectly on top of the last one, which is extremely rare in moviedom. The movie itself isn't perfect, some of the scenes fall a little flat, but each keeps building the story, and nothing feels wasted. So by the end of the film, you're totally immersed into this world they've built, and you'll buy whatever they're selling.

I first saw the film, my senior year in high school. At that time, I was already beginning to feel nostalgic about my youth, and the film placed me into that quickly fading era, when anything seemed possible. When playing ball with your friends was the greatest thing in the world. When dropping a fly ball, was about the most embarrassing, painful thing you could possibly go through. I felt much like Scott Smalls, the hero of film, slightly out of place, but desperate to be part of the group, not the most athletic kid, but a total love of the game.

The entire team is given big personalities and fun names; "Yeah-Yeah", Kenny, Bertram and Tommy and Timmy Timmons, aren't quite as well rounded, but they're each memorable in their own small way. Smalls mom, played by the great Karen Allen, is one of the best all time movie mom's. She has very little screen time, but I love how she advises her son to go out and get into some trouble, live it up. Those few summers while you're young, before the realities of the world come crashing down upon you, are a very magical time, and she wants him to experience that. Denis Leary, in one of his first straight roles, is very good as the step-dad who's trying to figure out how he fits into his new son's life.

The coming-of-age story about a boy finding himself on the ball-field, with a great group of friends, is nicely told and it all feels natural. The subplot about the giant dog, who steals all the baseballs hit over the fence, is also a lot of fun. They get a couple of great scenes out of telling the story of the dog, then when Smalls hits his first home run, which happens with his step-father's signed Babe Ruth ball, they're attempts to retrieve it.

The film-making is also done impeccably, with a personality of it's own, with a lot of great touches. But it's all done in service of the film. The narration by writer/director David M. Evans is spot-on, I couldn't imagine the film without it. This film is right at the top of my favorite coming-to-age stories. I still prefer Stand By Me, which this film obviously cribs from, but it's almost as well made as that film.