“Prairie dogs… Why did it have to be prairie dogs?” 

I’m kidding! You know I wouldn’t spoil it for you! 

This one is better than Temple of Doom, but not as good as the Last Crusade, though that’s largely a function of not having Sean Connery this time around.  I did not find the addition of Shia LeBeouf as annoying as some critics have (except for his introductory scene, which isn’t his fault).  He wasn’t as annoying as the sidekicks from Temple of Doom, anyway. 

For all of the problems Lucas and Spielberg had getting the right script, this one (credited to veteran scribe David Koepp) still has problems.  It has a topical allusion that (unlike those in Iron Man) goes nowhere, rather than serving the plot.  It fails to make the Red Menace as menacing as the Nazis or Mola Ram, though Cate Blanchett does her usual sterling job with what she is given.  And it somehow fails to ever make the viewer feel that Indy or those closest to him are in truly grave danger, though it could have been easily accomplished. 

Nevertheless, it is a consistently entertaining movie, with several fine action sequences of the sort you expect from this franchise (albeit with one or two over-the-top touches).  Indy’s best line is both entirely familiar and totally unexpected.  

This is the Memorial Day weekend’s only wide release and is currently scoring 77 percent at Rotten Tomatoes.  Industry types project it making between $140-175 million dollars in the US, perhaps as much as $400 million worldwide over the long weekend.