Get ready for the adventure of your life. That is what I was thinking as we drove to the local cineplex to view the new Indiana Jones movie. To get warmed up for the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, we watched part of Last Crusade during supper. As I was getting the kids loaded up, Lady Di suggested that she might stay home. Her excuse was, "I haven't seen number two or three yet, so I probably won't be able to follow the fourth movie." So the kids and I embarked on our adventure as Lady Di carried a bag with a new scented candle, bubble bath and James Blunt CD up to the bathroom.
The kids and I got our tickets, bought our large popcorn with large Sprite, (they were out of root beer) and found our seats. I had the forethought to bring two small paper bags to fill with popcorn for the kids. That way we avoid the inevitable fight to hold the bucket. After filling their bags, we all munched through the ads and previews. I returned to the concession stand for our free popcorn refill just minutes before the movie's opening credits.
The movie was a big hit with us. Number One Son was laughing out loud multiple times during the movie. At times he was so excited I had to remind him to stop talking out loud about the movie. Sweet Pea enjoyed it too and only had to hide her eyes a few times. She sometimes doesn't want to see skeletons.
Sequels are always difficult to make as good as the original, but this movie held its own pretty well. The action was good but might have had a little too much computer animation. But, I guess you probably need quite a bit of computer touch ups when your hero is getting mistaken for one of the artifacts in the scene.
After the film we all played the mandatory, What was your favorite part, game. N1S liked the big finale at the end, and all of the small references to previous Indy films. SP liked when Indy wouldn't grab the snake in the sand pit.
SP was so impressed with Indy that, since her middle name is Anna, she wanted us to call her Indy-anna from now on.
Now that the kids are getting older, we are starting to watch more non-animated films. This is good for us parents, because there is a limit to how much Pixar one can take. I also learned that, if you want to see the entire movie, you should not buy a large Sprite for your six year old girl. At about the half way point in the movie, SP started doing the seat shimmy and said she had to go to the bathroom. Inwardly, I groaned and said, "Get your flip flops on.". Luckily, Indy had just finished an action scene, so I figured we had a few minutes before the next chase. I whispered, "Run" to SP, and we both dashed out of the theatre. As we ran to the bathroom I shouted instructions to her. "Run in, go as fast as you can, wash your hands, don't bother drying, they will dry on the way back, here we are, GO!". I felt like the crew chief in a NASCAR pit. I also used the opportunity to go myself. Thirty-two seconds later we both darted out of our respective restrooms and raced back to our seats. We hadn't missed any skeletons or booby traps. Next time, we can try for under 30 seconds.
We enjoyed the rest of the movie, and had a nice ride home talking about it. Although, N1S and SP had a pretend fist fight in the back seat complete with 'pisht!', and 'ugh!', sound effects. It's nice to see an educational movie now and then.
