I can remember seeing commercials on television for “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”. I can recall Harrison Ford wearing Indy’s famous fedora and seeing the title flash across the television screen. Being only four years old, I was not allowed to view the PG-13 film (nor was I allowed to see that other big summer film of 1989, Tim Burton’s “Batman”, for the same reason), but I wanted to go so much because I knew who Indiana Jones was from exposure to the character by my older brother. Eventually, I did get to see “Last Crusade” and it became my favorite of the series (though “Raiders” is a better film).

And so it was that “Indiana Jones”, along with that other great Lucas creation “Star Wars”, became my favorite films growing up and caused me to develop a love for cinema. Those were the films I watched over and over again, wearing out my VHS copies of each series. Growing up, there was always the looming rumor that Lucas was going to do these prequel “Star Wars” films about the origins of Darth Vader. There was also a rumor that there would be a fourth “Indiana Jones”. The thought of my two favorite film trilogies gaining new entries was exciting and developed into a long wait of unnerving anticipation.

Around the late 1990’s, it became clear that Lucas was ready to go back to the “Star Wars” franchise and make the highly anticipated first installment of the prequel trilogy. In 1999, sixteen years after “Return of the Jedi”, Lucas released the first prequel, “The Phantom Menace”. The buildup to the release of “The Phantom Menace” can in retrospect by compared to talk of the Second Coming. Expectations from fans and critics were lofty and excitedly fantastic. There was good reason to be enthusiastic. This was the first “Star Wars” film in two decades. This was the back story of Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the Dark Side. This should the creation of the Galactic Empire. This was going to be awesome! The generation which grew up watching “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” were now in their late teens, twenties, and thirties and placed so much stock and so much faith in “The Phantom Menace” that there was nothing the film could do but be a disappointment to those same fans.

For when one takes a film series, like most of these fans did and continue to do, and uses it to define his or her childhood, he or she places in their mind an expectation of how any new installment of the series should be based on the preconceived notions they have been carrying since childhood of how the film should look, how the story should progress, and how the characters should be portrayed. This occurred not only with “The Phantom Menace”, but also with “Attack of the Clones” and “Revenge of the Sith”. Critics and a significant number of the “Star Wars” fan base despise these movies. The bile and venom which is spewed from some of these fans both in real life conversations and in blogs and talkback forums online at fan sites is at times unbelievably vicious and just plain hateful. They hate the stories, they hate the acting, the hate the dialogue, and they have grown to hate George Lucas because he has effectively ruined their childhood. Which brings us to “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”, a film which has been in the making for nearly twenty years. In fact, the time between “Last Crusade” and “Crystal Skull” is longer than the time between “Jedi” and “Phantom Menace”.

The trailers, production stills, casting, and television spots have caused fans to gleefully await the new film. The first trailer for “Crystal Skull” has been seen millions of times online and the film consistently tops lists of most anticipated movies of 2008. And this is why it is prone to fail with fans. Like the “Star Wars” prequels, “Crystal Skull” has huge expectations from legions of Indy fans from around the world. Fans that grew up watching the series are dying to see a new Indy adventure. But are these fans setting themselves up to see a movie which will not be like the one they have imagined in their heads? After all, they have been waiting almost two decades to see this thing. That being said, how can “Crystal Skull” meet such expectations? How will fans react to it? Will they like the incorporation of Russians in the story? Will they like Cate Blanchett as the villain? Will Shia LaBeouf become a whipping post for disdained fans? Will they think the idea of Indy chasing after a crystal skull with alien origins to be outlandish and too far-fetched? Will they have qualms about the dialogue or about Indy’s age? These questions came to me after I read two reviews of the film on Ain’t It Cool.com which basically trashed the film, calling it just a rehash of the older films, bringing nothing new.

From these early reviews by Indy fans, it appears that the unmet expectations of the “Star Wars” prequels and the hatred of all things Lucas has begun to manifest itself online with fans. Fellow readers, this is a warning not that “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” will be terrible, but that there are going to be some pretty negative things said about it among film fans and the press once it is released. And they have every right to criticize it if they feel so. My point is that I feel that most of this criticism will be over the film Lucas and Spielberg should have made instead of the movie they did make. Fans are going to be looking for every flaw, every missed moment, and every failed thing that does not work in the film. And that is an awful way to watch this movie. True, “Indiana Jones” has been a part of my childhood forever, but I have no right to say what film Lucas and Spielberg should make, nor how they should present it to fans. This is why Lucas made the statement that he did that the film will not meet the expectations of fans. He knows what happened to him with “Phantom Menace”. He gave the world a new “Star Wars” adventure and his fans crucified him for it.

Every fan should be thankful that there is at least going to be a fourth Indy adventure to be seen. Some thought that the day would never come. I still have an issue of “Cinescape” magazine from 1997 with a cover story about how “Indiana Jones 4” was going into production. Yes, it has been a long wait, but do not let that put some idealized notion of how this film should be. My attitude is this: do not go looking for the negative. Don’t say, “Well, this could have been better or why did they make all those cheesy jokes or why did they write in this scene?” Just enjoy the movie folks, because it is probably going to be the last one ever! And for the record, I don’t think it is going to suck, nor be terrible. I think it is going to be a kickass time at the movies. Follow this advice: sit back, relax, and go on another adventure with Dr. Jones. What could be more cinematic fun?

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18. It will be released wide on May 22.