While browsing an outdoor market with his pet dog Snowy in 1950's Brussels, Tintin purchases a model of a ship known as the Unicorn. He is accosted by an Interpol officer named Barnaby and subsequently by a ship collector named Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine, who both unsuccessfully attempt to get the model from him. After Tintin takes the model home to his apartment, it is accidentally broken when Snowy chases a cat around the room, and a tube hidden in the mast of the ship slips out and rolls under a piece of furniture. Concurrently, police detectives Thomson and Thompson are on the trail of a pickpocket named Aristides Silk. After visiting the library to uncover the history of the Unicorn, Tintin returns home to find that his model has been stolen. He suspects Sakharine, and heads to Marlinespike Hall to search for his model. Discovering it in the house, he accuses Sakharine of theft, but soon learns that Sakharine owns a replica, and not Tintin's missing model. Returning home, Tintin discovers that his apartment has been ransacked. Snowy shows him the tube, and he finds a scroll hidden inside it. As he reads it, they are interrupted by Barnaby, who is then assassinated while attempting to acquire the model ship. Tintin places the scroll in his wallet, but loses it when he is pick-pocketed by Silk the next morning. Tintin is later abducted by Sakharine's accomplices on the SS Karaboudjan. He learns that Sakharine formed an alliance with the ship's crew and led a mutiny to take control of the vessel. Escaping his captors, Tintin meets a similarly imprisoned Archibald Haddock, the ship's captain. While making their escape, Tintin learns that Sakharine is heading to meet Omar ben Salaad in Bagghar, who owns a third model of the Unicorn. While Haddock is unaware of most of his past, he recalls that his ancestor, a 17th-century captain, hid the coordinates to a secret treasure on three scrolls hidden in the three models of the Unicorn. Tintin, Snowy, and Haddock are able to escape from the Karaboudjan on a lifeboat. Sakharine soon sends a seaplane to find and capture them. The trio are able to not only down the plane, but seize it and capture its crew. They then fly it towards the (fictitious) Moroccan port of Bagghar, hoping to arrive before Sakharine does. However, their seaplane crash lands in the desert due to a thunderstorm, and they have no choice but to walk out of the desert!

The Adventures of Tintin has everything one would expect in a Tintin film: a solid mystery that takes them on an action-filled globetrotting adventure. It is filled with charming characters straight out of Hergé's comic books. The film is a faithful compilation of the major story points in The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secrets of the Unicorn, and Red Rackham's Treasure. However, because it is an adaptation and not a new interpretation, it doesn't provide any new twists or unexpected events, and falls short of the potential that a film version of Tintin offers.

That said, the film has excellent production values, and it is a joy seeing the film version of such familiar events. The voice cast is also top notch, populated by such stars as Daniel Craig, Nick Frost, and Simon Pegg. However, the crème de la crème is Andy Serkis's turn as Haddock—after his appearance in King Kong as Lumpy, I just new he would be perfect for this role. The highlight of the film is the auteur chase sequence through Bagghar. It is one of those single-shot sequences that is nigh-impossible in live actions movies where the camera stays focused on the target of the chase, and the protagonists and antagonists endlessly weave in and out of frame in the unfolding chaos as the chase winds its way through most of the city! That sequence alone makes the film more than worth seeing, but the film has plenty of other reasons, too.

"Mickey" Walsh, older brother "Brand" Walsh, neighbour "Data" Wang, and friends "Chunk" Cohen and "Mouth" Devereaux live in the "Goon Docks" of Astoria, Oregon. They are facing the eminent foreclosure of their homes and a move to different cities that will see their circle of friends broken up. On their last weekend together, they discover an old treasure map in the Walshes' attic to a legendary treasure purportedly buried nearby. Mickey convinces the others to look for the treasure, and the kids tie up Brand so that they can get out of the house. The kids make their way to, and then into an abandoned restaurant on the coast that coincides with landmarks on the map. Brand soon shows up followed by "Andy" Carmichael and her friend "Stef" Steinbrenner. The group discovers a tunnel in the basement. However, they also discover that the Fratelli crime family are using the restaurant as a hideout. The kids have no choice but to escape by heading into the tunnel, and follow the clues on the map, in the hopes that it'll lead them to safety.

The Goonies is one of the better 80's action-adventure films. While it never strays too far beyond PG-13 territory, it is a thrilling ride with plenty of chills coming from unexpected places. The film is also nostalgic, as the protagonists are all on the cusp of young adulthood, and there is a sense that this is their last great adventure as children, before they discover the opposite sex. This is underscored by the relatively older Brand and Andy, who are much more interested in each other than whatever treasure the map purportedly leads to.

The highlight is Sean Astin as Mickey. While he plays the role of the kid perfectly in the earlier scenes where he struggles to say the right words, it's a joy to see him later delivering some of the finest movie speeches to motivate the others into continuing the adventure to the end of the map. The film is fast paced, ingenious, entertaining, and—most importantly—fun and funny.

In 1969, Alan Parrish lives with his parents, Sam and Carol. He is regularly harassed by the school's bullies. One day, he is attacked by them as he leaves his father's shoe factory. After the bullies steal his bicycle, Alan hears the sound of tribal drumbeats at a nearby construction site. Investigating, he finds a century-old board game called Jumanji buried in the ground and brings it home. After a disagreement with his father about attending a local boarding school, Alan plans to run away. However, his friend Sarah Whittle arrives just as he is leaving and returns his bicycle. Alan shows her Jumanji and invites her to play. With each dice roll, the game pieces move by themselves, and a cryptic message describing the roll's outcome appears in the crystal ball at the center of the game board. After Alan inadvertently rolls a five, he is sucked into the game as a message tells him to wait in the jungle until someone rolls a five or eight! Shortly thereafter, a swarm of bats pursues Sarah out of the mansion. Twenty-six years later, Judy and Peter Shepherd move into the now-vacant Parrish mansion with their aunt Nora. They have lived with her after their parents died in a car accident the previous winter. Judy and Peter begin playing Jumanji after discovering it in the attic. Their rolls summon giant mosquitoes and a swarm of monkeys. The game rules state that everything will be restored when the game ends, so they continue playing. Peter rolls a five, releasing a lion and an adult Alan. Realizing that his parents don't live in the mansion anymore, Alan heads to the shoe factory, which is now abandoned. There, Alan, Judy and Peter discover that Sam abandoned the shoe-making business to search for his son until his death in 1991. The trio return to the mansion but quickly realize that they need Sarah in order to finish the game. Alan leads them to her old house and they find her inside. Sarah, however, is unwilling to continue playing the game, as Alan's disappearance twenty-five years earlier really messed up her life!

Jumanji is a fun romp of a film. It is a classic adventure film, akin to The Goonies or even arguably the original three Indiana Jones films. For better or worse, Jumanji is much simpler than those other greats, in both story and cast. In a way, Jumanji is more 'pure', as it is merely a game with no clear antagonist other than overcoming the African-jungle themed obstacles that the game spews out at each roll of the dice. Unlike those other adventure greats, however, the characters in Jumanji—though adequate and performed wonderfully—are largely forgettable; aside from the great Robin Williams who evokes the right balance of youthful exuberance and pathos as the elder Alan. Williams and the chaos of the jungle flora and fauna unleashed on an unsuspecting US town are the main reasons to see this film.

Unlike The Goonies, for example, it is hard to describe who this film is for. It is ostensibly for children, but it is arguably bound to give nightmares to the ones it seems to be aimed at. The film's thrills and relationships are more enjoyable for adults, but the humour seems to be geared for the young at heart. In a way the film is just as much a parable as it is a comedy adventure, making it somewhat akin to Roald Dahl's stories, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with bad things happening to the morally lacking characters. However, unlike Dahl's stories, bad things tend to happen to anybody in Jumanji—irrespective of their morality or actions. Ultimately, Jumanji is a fun film that gets one thinking, but it often relies on spectacle more than on story.

During the Great Depression in 1933, struggling New York City vaudeville performer Ann Darrow is hired by financially troubled filmmaker Carl Denham to star in a film with actor Bruce Baxter. Ann is hesitant to join the picture until she learns that her favourite playwright, Jack Driscoll, is the screenwriter. Filming takes place on the SS Venture, a small cargo ship commanded by Captain Englehorn. Carl claims the SS Venture will sail to Singapore, but in truth, he intends to travel to and film the mysterious Skull Island. During the voyage, Ann and Jack fall in love. Weeks into the voyage, the SS Venture receives a radio message informing Englehorn that there is a warrant for Carl's arrest—due to his defiance of the studio's orders to cease production—and instructing Englehorn to divert to Rangoon. Shortly after turning the ship around, it becomes lost in fog and soon runs aground on Skull Island. Carl and others, including his film crew consisting of cameraman Herb, assistant Preston and sound recorder Mike, explore the island. They are soon attacked by natives who kill Mike and a crewman. Englehorn rescues Carl's group. When they all prepare to leave, however, natives secretly abduct Ann in order to offer her as a sacrifice to Kong, a 7.6-metre-tall gorilla that lives on the island. Jack notices Ann's disappearance, and the crew returns to the island in time to see Kong running into the jungle with her. Carl catches a glimpse of Kong, and becomes determined to film the giant gorilla. Englehorn organizes a rescue party, led by his first mate Hayes and Jack, and accompanied by Carl, Bruce, Herb, Preseton and some of the ship's crew. The party soon stumbles upon a herd of Brontosaurus, who, unbeknownst to all, are being stalked by a pack of Utahraptor-like predators!

Dir. Jackson's King Kong is not only a remake of the original 1933 film, but also a re-envisioning of it, as well as an embellishment of all of the original film's imaginative possibilities. While we go in looking forward to the titular character battling dinosaurs and later machine-gun equipped airplanes on top of the Empire State Building, it is the humans encountering the creepy crawlies that stick with us long after the film is over. Jackson gets those scenes just right, and are morbid fascination keeps us glued to the screens. This film's visual effects are top notch, especially the ones involving Kong, the insects, and 1930's New York. It's only in the stampede sequence where we see the limits of the visual effects Jackson was working with, as the dinosaurs and people in that sequence don't appear to be occupying the same space. Perhaps why similar shots works in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and don't here is that they were kept short enough for us to marvel at them, but not long enough to notice their flaws.

I really liked this film's depiction of New York City in the 1933, especially in the earlier part of the film. While the film doesn't delve too deeply into that setting, it's full of novelty as it's something that rarely appears in films. I also liked the depiction of the behind-the-scenes part of movie making, such as the conflict between the director and the production company executives, the writers and the actors, and the lengths and extremes that a visionary director will go to in order to achieve their dream. In this film, everyone ends up suffering for the director's vision. Alas, the film never gets around to delivering his comeuppance. I'm not sure if it makes the film stronger or weaker, but it does add an element of realism. Overall, the theatrical cut of the film is a little bit too long. I'm not sure what could have been cut or which parts of certain scenes could have been trimmed, though, as the film needs every part to effectively tell the epic, spectacular, and visually breathtaking tale that Jackson wants to tell.

In 1936, American archaeologist Indiana Jones is leading an expedition deep in the Peruvian Amazon. He outwits his double crossing companions, and recovers a golden idol from a bobby-trapped temple. Just as he leaps out of the temple, he is trapped by rival archaeologist René Belloq, who has enlisted the aid of the local tribesmen. Jones flees moments after handing the idol to Belloq, and escapes by the skin of his teeth on an awaiting seaplane. After returning to his teaching post in a university in the US, Jones and his friend Marcus Brody are briefed by two Army Intelligence agents that Nazi German forces are excavating at Tanis, Egypt, and one of their telegrams mentioned Jones's old mentor Abner Ravenwood. Jones and Brody deduct that the Nazis seek the Ark of the Covenant, believing that it will make their army invincible. The agents recruit Jones to recover the ark first. At a bar in Nepal, Jones reunites with Ravenwood's daughter Marion—with whom he once had an illicit relationship—and learns that Ravenwood is dead. He asks Marion to hand over a golden medallion Ravenwood gave her, and promises to return with a sizable amount of money for it. The bar is set ablaze during a scuffle with Gestapo agent Arnold Toht and his goons, who arrive to take the medallion from Marion. Toht attempts to retrieve it after the medallion accidentally falls into the flames, but only burns its image into his hand. Jones rescues Marion, and they escape with the medallion. Travelling to Cairo, they meet Jones's friend Sallah, who reveals that Belloq is assisting the Nazis, and that they have fashioned an incomplete replica of the medallion from the burns on Toht's hand. Nazi soldiers and assassins attack Jones, and Marion is seemingly killed during an attempted kidnapping; leaving Jones despondent. An imam deciphers the medallion for Jones, revealing that one side bears a warning against disturbing the ark, and the other bears the correct measurements for the "staff of Ra", an item used to locate the ark. Jones and Sallah realize that the Nazis are digging in the wrong location. However, in order to find the correct location, they not only have to infiltrate the dig site, but also use a correctly sized staff in a "map room", and then excavate the proper site; all right under the noses of the Nazis and their legion of local diggers!

Raiders of the Lost Ark is the ultimate action-adventure movie. It is replete with globetrotting locations, and all manner of cobweb, mummy, and booby trap filled tombs—to the extent that it has become the benchmark that all other action-adventure films are measured against. The film is also smartly edited, and barely slows down long enough to catch its breath after the word 'go'. Nothing feels extraneous or out of place, and we learn a surprising amount of historical, religious, and archaeological facts, in addition to excellent characterization.

The film works so well arguably because of the protagonist René Belloq, who is presented as a rival who is just as skilled as Jones. The difference is that Jones figuratively gets his hands dirty doing as much as he can by himself, and Belloq exploits his connections with others to achieve his goals—such as taking the 'prize' after Jones has risked his life to recover it. The highlight of the film is Karen Allen's Marion Ravenwood. While many viewers may recall her repeatedly crying "Indy!" when she is in an inescapable basket and is pleading for help, she is shown to be more than able to handle herself in getting out of one predicament or another. However, it's the sharp dialogue and fiery rapport she shares with Harrison Ford's Jones that truly elevates this film into the sublime. A must see!

In 1935, Indiana Jones is in a Shanghai nightclub completing a deal with Lao Che, a crime boss and businessman who hired Indiana to retrieve the remains of a Chinese Emperor for him. Instead of paying, however, Lao double crosses Indy and attempts to kill him instead! Indy barely escapes with the help of his young orphaned Chinese sidekick, Short Round, and with the nightclub singer Willie Scott in tow. They successfully flee Shanghai on a cargo plane, but are unaware that the plane is owned by Lao. While the three of them are asleep, the pilots dump the fuel and jump out of the plane with the only parachutes, leaving it to crash into the Himalayan Mountains. The three narrowly manage to survive by jumping out of the plane in an inflatable raft. They ride it down the mountain slopes and fall into a raging river, eventually arriving at the village of Mayapore in northern India. The villagers plead for the trio's aid in retrieving the village shrine's sacred Shiva Linga stone, as well as their missing children, which were all stolen by the evil forces in the nearby Pankot Palace. Indy agrees to do so, hypothesizing that the stone is one of the five Sankara stones given by the gods to help humanity fight evil. After an overnight trip by elephant through the jungle, they are abandoned by their guides when they come across warning idols on the route that are not only adorned with necklaces made from human fingers, but recently covered in blood! Despite the ominous signs, the trio receive a warm welcome at Pankot Palace, where everything is seemingly normal, and they are allowed to stay for the night as guests. They attend a lavish banquet hosted by the young Maharajah, where they meet not only the local officials, but the commander of a British rifle troop that is on a routine inspection tour of Pankot and the surrounding area. While the commander keenly listens in, the Pankot officials rebuff Indy's theory that the Thuggee cult is responsible for the villager's troubles. Later that night, however, Indy is attacked by an assassin. After defeating him, Indy discovers the entrance to a series of tunnels hidden behind a statue in Willie's room. He sets out to explore them, but he and Short Round are caught in a lethal booby trap. It's up to Willie to overcome her trepidation, enter the tunnels, and help them out of the trap—all while hearing the faint sounds of children crying out in pain coming from deeper in the tunnels!

Temple of Doom has everything that you want in a sequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark; namely the same energy and excitement, but an entirely new setting and tension-filled challenges. For better or for worse, Temple of Doom is more intense (if that was even possible!) and strikingly much darker. Those darker elements are what makes it so hard to recommend this film to younger viewers. The best thing about the film is Ke Huy Quan as Indy's sidekick Short Round. He makes a powerful first impression, and just keeps getting stronger and stronger. Short Round is truly the heart and soul of this film—putting Indy back on the morally correct path more than once—and is both strong and vulnerable at the same time. In some ways, he is the true hero of the film.

Alas, the movie misses a beat by not having an Indian as one of Indy's allies or sidekicks. The film ends up portraying India very poorly, and takes on the disagreeable aspects of India needing a Great White Hero to restore justice and prosperity—the farthest from the truth! The other negative about the film is that as it stays focused on the action and adventure aspects, it neglects such things as historical accuracy or informing the viewer on the mythological and religious context of the film's supernatural elements. While it is true that the Indy films are fiction, one of their strengths is that the titular hero is an archaeologist who explains those kinds of things to the layman. It's telling that Temple of Doom is the only Indy film that doesn't have any scenes set in a school or library. Nevertheless, the film is a smorgasbord of iconic sequences that truly cannot be missed!

In 1912, a teenage Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr encounters grave robbers while exploring caves in Utah. The robbers uncover a golden crucifix, which Indy takes to ensure its preservation in a museum. He avoids the pursuing robbers, but the local sheriff forces Indy to surrender the cross to them, as they claim that they are its rightful owners. In 1938, Indy confronts their boss on a ship off the Portuguese coast during a storm, and recovers the cross. After returning to his teaching job in the US, Indy learns that his estranged father Henry has disappeared while searching in Italy for his lifelong obsession: the Holy Grail. Alarmingly, Indy also receives a package containing Henry's prized diary, which contains all of his grail research. Indy is summoned by Henry's financial backer, Walter Donovan, and is tasked with finding both Henry and the Grail. Indy then flies to Venice with his friend Marcus Brody to meet Henry's Austrian colleague, Dr. Elsa Schneider. Searching for clues in the ancient library where Henry was last seen, Indy and Elsa discover the tomb of a First Crusade knight under it. Inside, they find an inscribed shield that indicates that the path to the Grail begins in the ancient city of Alexandretta. The Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword—a secret society dedicated to protecting the Grail—attempts to kill Indy and Elsa. Upon learning that Indy is only interested in finding Henry, they reveal that he is being held in Austria. Indy entrusts Marcus with a map from the diary that shows the route to the Grail from Alexandretta, and sends him to İskenderun, the city built atop Alexandretta's ruins. However, Marcus and the map are captured by the Nazis shortly after arriving there. In Austria, Indy and Elsa infiltrate the Nazi-controlled Castle Brunwald. Indy finds Henry, but surrenders after Elsa is captured by SS Col. Ernst Vogel. Subsequently, both Henry and Indy are imprisoned as the diary is taken along with Elsa to Berlin. Just as she is leaving, Vogel is ordered to kill the Joneses!

The Last Crusade is a return to form for the Indy series. It sheds a lot of the darker aspects introduced in Temple of Doom, and has the majority of the action and events stemming from the characters' actions—namely Indy's research, deductions, and choices. Notably, key sequences take place in (and under!) a library. On the other hand, The Last Crusade doesn't have the same sustained intense pace of Temple of Doom or even Raiders of the Lost Ark. In many ways, the pauses are a welcome respite for the audience to catch their collective breath, and gives the film a chance to showcase Indy's more cerebral aspects. The film also attempts to drastically push the limits of visual effects at the time. However, unlike The Abyss (also released in 1989), the visual effects haven't held up very well, and one is a bit disappointed that the film didn't rely more on practical effects or use more visually trickery to hide the limits of the optical printing technology of the time.

Nevertheless, the heart and soul of this film is Indy's relationship with his father Henry. It was an inspired choice to cast Sean Connery in the role, as he has both the presence to stand up to Harrison Ford's Indy, as well as the chutzpah that makes it believable that he was also the lover of one of the film's antagonists! A lot of the film's charm comes from seeing Henry putting Indy in his place, and how Henry's actions as a father not only informed and shaped Indy, but how they continue to motivate him. One of the highlights of the film is its opening sequence with River Phoenix playing a young Indy. On top of the sequence being endlessly creative, it also depicts how Indy picked up some of his defining quirks—most notably the iconic fedora, which takes on a deeply new significance for the character. The film is a must see!

In 1957, Soviet KGB agents working under Irina Spalko kidnap Indiana Jones and his partner George "Mac" MicHale. The Soviets then break into a secret government warehouse and force Jones to locate a mummified corpse that he had been forced by the US government to recover 10 years earlier. Shortly after retrieving the corpse, Mac reveals he has become a double agent on the KGB's payroll. After briefly trying to take control of the corpse, Jones successfully flees to a nearby town. The town, however, turns out to be a replica being used in an imminent atomic bomb test! Jones barely survives by taking shelter in a lead-lined refrigerator. He is later rescued by FBI agents, who after decontamination, interrogate him as they suspect that he is working for the Soviets. Though eventually freed, Jones is put on an indefinite leave of absence from his teaching position at Marshall College due to the FBI's continuing suspicion. As he prepares to leave town, greaser Mutt Williams approaches Jones, and notifies him that his former colleague Professor Harold Oxley found a crystal skull in Peru. Oxley, however, has since been kidnapped, along with Mutt's mother Marion who went after Oxley! Mutt then gives Jones a letter from his mother, which contains a riddle from Oxley in an ancient language. Two Soviet agents attempt to capture them, but Jones and Mutt escape. After decoding the riddle's meaning, they travel to Peru. At the local psychiatric hospital, they discover that the cell Oxley was put into is covered in bizarre carvings. One of the carvings, however, gives them a clue: a map to the grave of a Conquistador who legend has it found the Lost City of Gold; what Jones suspects is the ultimate goal of the Soviets!

Crystal Skull is a bit more akin to Temple of Doom than the other Indy films, in that there is no one single quest or McGuffin, and the objective seems to morph and develop as the story moves along. However, unlike Temple of Doom, this film is just as cerebral as the other two films. One of the joys is seeing Indy not only referencing books to unlock vital clues, we also see him casually answering a student's questions—in the middle of a car chase no less! As a fellow teacher, I readily appreciate that moment, and it adds a lot of realism to the film (though the circumstances bring a chuckle).

The highlight of the film are its early acts. While Indy surviving an atomic bomb in a fridge is a bit far fetched, the film is at its best in the on-location sequences set in Indy's college and its surround town. Whatever one thinks of Shia LaBeouf in real life, he is pitch perfect as Mutt. The choreography of his actions in the cafe are performed so well and seamlessly that the scene requires an immediate rewatch lest the viewer misses either his actions or the vital plot points Harrison Ford's Indy is conveying at the same time. Once the film heads oversees, however, it switches to mostly shots filmed in a studio or in CG, and the film loses a lot of its lustre. These scenes see the film continues to strain credibility, and at a certain point it goes too far. Nevertheless, Crystal Skull has a lot of the same elements as the earlier films—it is both more of the same as well as an evolution in the character and series. That said, if you've never seen an Indy film, while this film is fun and has its moments, it's much better to start with the first (and best) in the series: Raiders of the Lost Ark.

In Egypt, 1290 BC, high priest Imhotep is having an affair with Anck-su-namun, the mistress and future bride of Pharaoh Seti I. When the Pharaoh discovers their relationship, the pair kill him. Imhotep flees, while Anck-su-namun takes credit for the assassination and kills herself. Believing he can resurrect her, Imhotep and his priests steal her mummified corpse and take it to Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead. The resurrection ritual is stopped by the Medjai, the Pharaoh's bodyguards. In punishment, Imhotep's priests are mummified alive, while Imhotep himself is tortured, cursed, and buried alive in Hamunaptra. The Medjai are sworn to prevent Imhotep's return, as he would return as an unstoppable scourge on the world. In 1926 AD Cairo, Jonathan Carnahan presents his sister, Evelyn—a librarian and aspiring Egyptologist—with an intricate box and map that appears to lead to Hamunaptra. Jonathan reveals that he stole the box from Rick O'Connell, an American adventurer who discovered the city three years earlier while in the French Foreign Legion. Evelyn and Jonathan find Rick in a local prison and make a deal with him to lead them to the city, bribing prison warden Gad Hassan to free him. Rick guides Evelyn and her party to Hamunaptra, encountering a band of American treasure hunters led by Rick's cowardly acquaintance Beni Gabor. Despite being warned to leave by the leader of the Medjai after a short gun fight, the two expeditions start their respective excavations into the city. Alarming things begin to occur the more they investigate the ruins, such as several diggers working with the Americans being killed by salt acid that bursts out when they attempt to open a sarcophagus. Soon the team of Americans discover the black Book of the Dead, along with canopic jars carrying Imhotep's preserved organs. At night, Evelyn 'borrows' the Book of the Dead, and reads part of it aloud. Shortly afterwards, they are all inundated by a swarm of locusts. Taking shelter inside the Hamunaptra ruins, they soon realize that they are being hunted by something that has inadvertently been woken up!

A low rent Indiana Jones. Although the CG effects haven't held up, the charisma and chemistry between the actors has, and the comedic timing is spot on. The good guys are all uniquely memorable and fun, and the bad guys are all deliciously bad in their own ways. And this film makes sure that they get their just desserts in the end; some of them even getting it more then once! What I liked most about the film is that it gives everyone a strong motivation. Most are in it merely for treasure or financial reward, but some, like Evelyn and Rick, are after something much more personal: a glass-ceiling breaking chance to become an Egyptologist, and paying back someone for rescuing their life. As everyone is more or less after the treasure, the film comes across as both more realistic and plausible—never mind the mysticism and people coming back from the dead—as well as underscoring Rick's heroics: he is the only one turning back to help those that can't help themselves, even when he has successfully made his own escape! One gets the impression that it's less that he is a hero and more that his moral compass still works properly.

The other enjoyable aspect of the film is the almost childish rivalry between Rick and Beni. They are both constantly going after each other, with Beni slinging more childish taunts, and one gets the sense that Rick is trying to resist sinking to Beni's level, but occasionally can't help himself. Either way, it adds both an interesting dynamic to the film, as well as a constant source of comedy. The Mummy plays fast and loose with history, culture and language. It's probably best to not watch this one with a critical mind, and to unplug and just go with the flow. If so, you may find yourself in for a pleasant surprise!

In 1958, William "Hawk" Hawkins and Frank Corvin, two US Air Force pilots and aspiring astronauts, are testing the Bell X-2 research aircraft when Hawk decides to break the height record. The plane stalls, and they are forced to eject, narrowly missing a Boeing B-50 Superfortress flying with navigator "Tank" Sullivan. On the ground, Frank and Hawk get into a fist fight. Their fight is broken up by flight engineer Jerry O'Neill, who was on the ground monitoring the test flight. Their boss, Bob Gerson, chastises Frank and Hawk before taking them to a press conference, where he announces that the newly created NASA—rather than the USAF—will be conducting the space flight tests. In the present day (2000), NASA is tasked with preventing the Soviet-era communications satellite IKON from falling out of orbit and crashing to Earth. The satellite's archaic electronics are based on those of Skylab that Frank developed. Bob, now the head of NASA, requests Frank's help. Frank still despises Bob, but agrees provided he has the help of "Team Daedalus": Hawk, Tank, and Jerry. Bob plans to have younger astronauts shadow the four "as backups" while they train, with the goal of replacing Team Daedalus just before launch. When the press learns of Frank's team, the American Vice President convinces Bob that Team Daedalus must be part of the mission for the publicity. The old and young teams begin working together, with the older astronauts showing off skills that they learned without the aid of a computer. Soon after launching to space on the Space Shuttle, they rendezvous with IKON. While making their initial investigation, however, they discover that IKON is not a communication satellite, but a relic from the Cold War that secretly houses six nuclear missile. Team Daedalus's original plan of safely deorbiting the satellite is no longer an option, as they also soon learn that the missiles will automatically launch at predetermined targets if the satellite falls out of orbit!

While the plot of Space Cowboys is fairly straightforward—reassemble the team for one last heroic mission—the twist, and what makes this film so engaging, is that the team is composed of older "ex-test pilots". Their main opponent is age itself, as astronauts are generally significantly younger. Further wrinkles stem from the ongoing rivalry between the two main characters, as well their former commander when they were all in the USAF. This adds a delicious level of characterization, as the rivalries and grudges go back decades, and Team Daedalus's desire to go to space has been brewing for just as long.

The highlight of the film is the great chemistry and sheer ease that the veteran actors exude while performing their scenes. One gets the impression that they had just as much fun making the film as we do enjoying it—and that's arguably despite Dir. Eastwood's reputation for running a tight ship! 20 years on, the film is doubly nostalgic: nostalgic for the types of films that the veteran actors made in the '70's and '80's (which is what the film appears to be geared for), as well as the shuttle program and the geopolitical situation of the early '00's. The film's plot may not break new ground, but the traditional pleasures, superb acting and humour more than make up for it!