When 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' opens the year is 1957 and we find our hero has been taken prisoner by a group of Soviets who have infiltrated the US Army's notorious 'Area 51' looking for something the army has secretly stored there.
After Indy helps them locate what they're looking for he expedites a 'high speed' escape before falling into the clutches of the US Army, after almost getting caught in the middle of a major nuclear weapons test.
After all this excitement Indiana returns to teaching only to be told, by his college principal (Jim Broadbent), that because of the FBI's 'interest' in him he is going to be suspended.
As Indy is about to head off on a trip to England he meets a young man (Shia LaBeouf) who asks for his help to find his mother, and his old professor (a former colleague of Dr. Jones), who have gone missing in South America.
Before the professor (an over-the-top John Hurt) went missing he was searching for the mythical Crystal Skull of Akatar and this, along with the arrival of a number of KGB agents, prompts Indy to agree to help young Mutt and the pair head off in search of this elusive archaeological treasure.
Shortly after arriving in Peru Indy picks up the trail left by his old friend and he soon finds himself in an old graveyard where he discovered a hidden chamber where he locates the Crystal Skull.
However, the pair have been followed and, once again, Indy finds himself captured by the Russians, led by Cate Blanchett.
Here Indy discovers that the young man's mother is Marian, an old flame of his ('Raiders of the Lost Ark) and that he is the boy's father - which unsettles the veteran archaeologist.
If anyone was worried Harrison Ford wouldn't be up to the task then rest easy - Ford puts in an excellent performance as the wise-cracking professor/explorer and proves, beyond doubt, there is plenty of life in the old dog yet ('we named the dog Indiana' as Henry Jones once remarked).
Aside from a few more wrinkles, and a tendency to wear his khakis a bit high at the waist, Harrison Ford rolls back the years to reprise one of the roles which made him a Hollywood megastar.
The film is directed by Steven Spielberg and rolls along at a pretty hectic pace. The opening half hour is non-stop and highly watchable although I felt a chase sequence through the jungle looked like it was all done in front of a blue screen, or on a computer.
If 'Crystal Skull' has an Achilles heel - and it does - it's the story. The plot starts off fairly interesting but turns into complete hokum as it develops, and would be more at home in an episode of 'X-Files' than in a Indiana Jones movie.
Of all the artefacts in the world you really wonder is this the best thing they could come up with for the world's most bankable archaeologist to go in search of?
In the two strongest movies to date ('Raiders' and 'Last Crusade') Indy travelled the globe looking for biblical relics. Surely there are a few more of these he hasn't found yet.
What you do get with 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' is some excellent chase sequences, lots of high speed action, some exotic locations and the re-introduction of one of the big screen's favourite characters to the movie going public.
And while the movie is very enjoyable, and well put together, the plot is very weak and unfortunately lets down what is otherwise a very enjoyable adventure romp.
