...In which our heroine reviews Iron Man, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Seeing as I was the official movie maven of Odin's Word and that chapter of my life is over with, I'm transferring my reviews here.

First up is Iron Man which I saw for the second time on Tuesday. I had a good feeling about this one from the start--great cast, Jon Favreau as director, a cool hero as base material. I'm glad to say I was anything but disappointed.

Aside from Batman Begins this is the best superhero film I've seen. Robert Downey Jr. is perfect for boozing, slick, womanizing genius Tony Stark and brings humor and heart to the part. The first 10 minutes of the movie gives a perfect idea of Tony Stark the man, and even in that intro, the origin story is far better done than in X-Men or Spiderman. The look of the film is very modern and the effect of which there are many, never feel cartoonish. Oh and the plot, the marvelous plot. Besides the whole "electromagnet in the chest" thing, the setup of Tony Stark's transformation and the circumstances that turn him into the Iron Man is so topical and so believable.

If I had one complaint about the movie, and this is a small one, its that I'll just never buy Jeff "The Dude" Bridges as a villain. Watching him lay the smackdown on Iron Man, all I could think was that he needed a Caucasian and a good game of bowling. This is one of the few movies I haven't hated Gwyenth Paltrow in, and I love that it didn't veer into ridiculous romantic territory.

Iron Man was an awesome way to begin the summer movie season and a solid film all around.

Grade: B+

And then we come to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. For me, the original Indiana Jones films will always mean childhood--watching with Dad and getting both scared and entranced as Indy saved the world once again. Raiders of the Lost Ark is the best film in the series, but my personal favorite is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Temple of Doom has its moments and a Goonie, but Kate Capshaw ruins the whole thing for me.

Needless to say, I had incredibly high hopes for the film. Dad and I, running into many of my friends, went to the midnight show. As soon as the film opens, we know that time has passed and America has entered the atomic age, the Red Scare age, and left Indy along the way as collateral damage. The opening of the film feels forced, as if Spielberg is trying to let us know immediately that its been 19 years since the last film. I couldn't stand Harrison Ford's dialog for the first bit and I was really worried it would carry through. It didn't, but whereas the performances got better, the plot didn't.

Shia LaBoeuf didn't annoy me at all, and actually did a decent job. I was thrilled that Karen Allen was back as Marion Ravenwood, one of the best tough girls in movie history, and the in-jokes to other films were nice. John Hurt and Ray Winstone were wasted in their roles, but it was nice to at least see Winstone get such a big part. (Watch Sexy Beast right now. Go. Go.) The cinematography, especially use of color, was lovely and I've come to find out that Spielberg's cinematographer went to Columbia. (!)

What didn't work was the plot. At all. There was too much humor and too little ass kickery. It all seemed too easy for Indy. And as for the crystal skulls...spoilers ahead in grey:

Aliens! Fucking aliens? Months ago I saw rumors that Frank Darabont had written a rejected screenplay with aliens, but Spielberg hated it so it was changed. Except it wasn't and George Lucas, who has a story by credit, almost ruined another franchise. Almost. In the Raiders of the Lost Ark and Last Crusade, the treasure Indy seeks is plausible to be found, real objects. But a Mayan city built by aliens with giant skulls out of gold? LAME. Matt swears that the filmmakers were just having fun, and that space is indeed the final frontier for Indy, but I still think that if that was to be the premise, it could have been more realistic. I understand that this film was kind of a joy ride, but I just don't get aliens.

The film could have been better, could have been worse. Its the least of the series, but not terrible. Worth the wait? No. But worth reliving a childhood memory as summer begins with Dad? Absolutely.

Grade: C+