Indiana Jones and the theatre of expectation

I'm guessing by now a lot of you will have seen the new Indiana Jones movie, well what did you think, was it worth the wait, did it live up to the media frenzy that has surrounded the release?
I have spent a couple of days thinking about the difference between hype and expectation, I tend not to do hype but expectation is another matter, its not about a series of leaked press stories and some carefully choreographed publicity stunts, it shouldn't be about what some clever marketing executive dreams up to make up for the failings of the product they are trying to sell.

I remember standing outside the ABC cinema on Bristol road waiting for the doors to open so I could see what I still regard as one of the best films I have seen, Raiders of the Lost Ark, I waited hours and was by far the youngest person in the queue there by themselves, but I had read about this film, I had dreamed about this film, I had the poster on my wall, for me it was vital that I see this film the first day that I could.
I am now much older, and I do mean much older but I'm not sure if that accounts for the changes in the way I think about films and how desperate I am to see them at the first opportunity, but there was something about this film that I wanted to see, if not the first night, then pretty soon afterward, maybe it was memories of how I felt about the first film, that sense of childhood wonder, the expectation and ultimately the sense of fulfilment coming out of the cinema and seeing huge queues about to see a film that blew my mind, a queue that I so wanted to join.

Now I don't intend to write a review of the film but after seeing it the first thing I did when I got home was to put on the dvd of the first film and see how it should be done. Now don't get me wrong its not a bad film, I just expected more, I wanted more, I wanted that sense of awe, I wanted to be on the edge of my seat, I wanted to hold my breath and not realise I was doing so.
The new film feels safe, it feels like a product rather than an experience, it has all the action set pieces, just not the excitement, there is danger but no real sense of tension or peril and that's what I missed.

This is one of the most highly anticipated films of the year, we have been reading about this film on an almost weekly basis for the last 12 months, speculation has been rife about the plot, the cast, the hair colour of the leading actor, who is in it and who is not in it. Indiana Jones and the curse of the crystal skull has been dominating the websites and the movie gossip columns, and it is set to dominate on a global scale, but will it dominate the hearts and minds of the audiences with the same level of passion that started the franchise almost three decades ago. I suspect that a new audience will love it, but if you know, I mean really know the first film and everything that made it what it is, I don't think 'love it' will be the phrase that you will be using, but that is up to the unstoppable Dr Jones to prove me wrong.