Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

So almost 20 years after carrying out his last crusade, Harrison Ford is back for the fourth installment of the whip-cracking Indiana Jones adventures.

George Lucas is back producing and has set the film during the cold war this time round, with Soviets replacing the Nazis as Indy’s villains of choice.  They’re led by a sword-wielding Cate Blanchett and are in pursuit of a mystical crystal skull. After escaping from the Soviets in a spectacular opening action sequence, Indy is coerced to head to Peru by Mutt, Shia LaBeouf in full Rebel Without A Cause get up, to find Indy’s college Professor Oxley (John Hurt) who has been captured for his knowledge of the skull’s whereabouts.

So is it any good?  Well, in a nutshell its not as good as the other three but a nice bit of nostalgia for any fans.

There’s plenty of comedy, some exciting stunts (although one questionable one where Mutt does an impression of tarzan) and the return of Raiders love interest Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood, once shrill but now softened, giving her ex-love bemused glances and eye-rolls as he huffs his way to save the day. 

The other burning question is does Ford still have it?  Well with bullwhip still in hand, he’s a little creakier, a lot grayer, but still twice the action hero of anyone in film today.  I guess we should remember the advice he gave us all those years ago “Its not the years honey, its the mileage”.