ShareThisThe title may not roll off one's tongue as easily as those of its predecessors, but "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" revives the sense of heroic adventure of the long-dormant series. It just does so accompanied by a bunch of old-age jokes.And a question: Since "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981), "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984) and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989) were inspired by nostalgia for old-time Saturday serials, what does that make "Crystal Skull," which was inspired by nostalgia for the previous Indy movies? Comfort food for aging Indy fans? A play for bucks from easy marks?How about closure. A chance at happily ever after for a beloved hero. And -- box-office willing -- a torch passing.Those are good enough reasons for director Steven Spielberg and executive producer George Lucas to reunite with Harrison Ford in this ode to Indy past.This story gets going in 1957 Nevada, where life is tough for prairie dogs and atomic-test-site mannequins. Dirty commies have kidnapped Indy (Ford) and brought him and pal Mac (Ray Winstone) to a huge U.S. Army warehouse where they expect him to locate a crate with a special secret treasure (no, not that one, but don't blink) inside.This is the 1950s, age of UFOs and Better Dead Than Red. Stalin's fair-haired girl, mind-control expert Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), is after an alien prize. She can't control Indy, of course, and he gets away. Cue the mannequins and prairie dogs.After being pestered by the Army and trustees back at the college where he teaches archaeology, Indy has had it. He's about to leave town when a motorcycle-riding kid who calls himself Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) derails him with a story about Indy's old friend Oxley (John Hurt), who's in Peru and supposedly has found a crystal skull that will open the treasures of El Dorado. Mutt's mom, also an old friend of Oxley's, went to look for him and now is being held to force Ox to share his discovery.Indy and Mutt head to Peru and encounter unfriendly natives and the Russkies again. And it turns out Mutt's mom is Indy's old flame, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen).In his professorial attire, Ford looks every bit of his 65 years. But put him in the fedora and leather jacket and hand him his bullwhip, and he's as wily and tough as ever. So much for the insults Lucas and David Koepp's screenplay forces Mutt to utter. Other jokes work better and seem truer to the flavor of the movie.The film overflows with action sequences, each cooler than the one before. The explication could use some editing; it doesn't matter what the skull is or does, just let Indy lose it and win it back a few times.For once, formula is a good thing. Blanchett is fun, and LaBeouf offers a fresh face, but "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" comes alive with the derring-do of Indy, the sizzle of his bond with Marion and the promise that as long as Indiana Jones is around, everything will be OK in the end.Rated PG-13 for adventure violence and scary images.Four stars (out of five).(Contact Knoxville News Sentinel film critic Betsy Pickle at pickle(at)knews.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
'Crystal Skull' revives the franchise's sense of heroic adventure
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