The 'Star Wars' prequels failed because Lucas could not get past his constant references to the original trilogy and so instead created fan fiction instead of true prequels. George Lucas (who co-wrote the screenplay) has tried to do here what he did to the 'Star Wars' prequels, namely that he thinks that appealing to the fan base with in-jokes, self-parody, and re-hashing the same old stuff can take the place of actually writing a a story that can stand on its own merits. This is what makes the movie entertaining, but is also what prevents it from greatness and what makes me hesitant to call it a true 'Indiana Jones' movie.

Long car chase with fighting and leaping and what-not? Check.

It is an entertaining movie and I had fun and laughed while I was watching it and the reason for this is because we are either enjoying seeing all of the same old gags done once again in a bigger and cooler way, or we are enjoying seeing those gags mocked. A huge chunk of the entertainment value of this film comes from nostalgia, in-jokes, and self-parody. (If you don't believe me now, you will when you see this film and see our hero survive a cataclysmic event in a fairly cartoonish manner a mere 15 minutes into the film.) The other prerequisite is that you've seen the other three movies.religiously. If you do that, you'll have have met one of the two prerequisites for seeing this movie. Just pretend you're in another dimension altogether. When it comes to 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,' forget about suspending disbelief. Still, one might expect some small modicum of plausibility or connection to the real world. These kinds of movies are supposed to be mindless escapist fun. Usually, when you go to see an action/adventure movie, especially an Indiana Jones movie, you're going to suspend your disbelief and just allow yourself to 'get into' the movie.

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