This movie was pure fun! As with all of the Indiana Jones movies, you have to suspend belief and just roll with it (e.g., I still don't know how he managed to stay alive on the submarine in #1). I just re-watched the original; I found this one to have more action - there were fewer lulls required to develop the character (you know who he is by now). And even when you had a "plot development" scene, it quickly transformed into an action scene. As for whether it is better than any of the prior three, nothing can be better than the original, but who cares. It is still a well-done movie and a great 2 hour escape. So go see it and have some fun with it!