Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull by Paul Bullock

Turn off your computer, put down those placards and cancel the march on Skywalker Ranch. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have not ‘raped your childhood’. In fact, they’ve barely even made sleazy advances toward it. Indiana Jones, in his first cinematic outing since riding off into the sunset at the end of his Last Crusade some nineteen years ago, emerges from the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull with his trusty whip and dusty fedora well and truly in tact. A rip-roaring adventure which takes in sojourns through three-tiered waterfalls, South American jungles and even university libraries, Indy 4 is a flawed but more than worthy entry into the classic franchise which is nothing like the Jar Jar-shaped disaster some had gleefully predicted

Taking into account the advancing years of its star, the film finds Dr Henry Jones Jnr (Harrison Ford) in the rock n’roll world of 1957. Our hero’s older, not particularly wiser and now fighting Commies instead of Nazis. Led by Ukrainian archaeologist Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), the Reds are in the hunt for an artefact of world-destroying power and have forced their way into a shady, crate-stuffed government warehouse (sound familiar?) in a bid to find it. But this isn’t your average artefact. It seems the two-decade jump has also brought down the saucer men from Mars and the Russkies are trying to find a distinctly non-human crystal skull which, when returned to a secret temple in the heart of a South American jungle, will grant its owner absolute power.

Lucas chose to reject a Spielberg and Ford-endorsed script by Shawshank Redemption writer Frank Darabont to pursue the Crystal Skull as this film’s MacGuffin (the desired artefact which advances the plot but does little else, for those not initiated in geek speak), and the finished flick justifies him. In part. Simply put, the crystal skull is damn cool; come on - it‘s a glowing skull made of crystal, how could it not be?! But it’s also over-complicated. The beauty of the Ark of the Covenant and Holy Grail is that they’re so simple and well-known that they barely needed setting up. Quickly explain the item’s origins and power and the adventure can begin. Largely of fictional origins, the crystal skull’s mythology needs to be thoroughly explained from scratch and then couched in believability before Indy 4 can really take off.

Sadly that means an overload of the one thing that the original films didn’t have - clunky exposition - and it proves a significant drag on the first half of the film. Screenwriter David Koepp does a fine job in holding our attention through some of the lengthy explanations, throwing in three new characters - Shia LeBouf’s greaser sidekick Mutt, Ray Winstone’s duplicitous mercenary Mac and Indy’s long lost archaeology friend Harold ‘Ox’ Oxley (John Hurt) - and hurling our hero through university chases, diner punch-ups and hidden cemeteries. But he struggles to find a consistent pace, stopping and starting several times over. More significantly, with Spalko and henchman Dovchenko absent, Koepp also lets the urgency slacken, making for a lethargic and frustrating middle.

The film find itself on much firmer ground once the exposition has been done and Spalko and her comrades meet up with Indy in deepest, darkest Peru. Not only does the action get amped up at this stage (courtesy of an exquisite jungle chase - one of the series’ finest set-pieces), but also the film’s heart thanks to the return of an old favourite. Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen - still swoon-worthy) was always the best Indy girl, delivering the emotional connection that Kate Capshaw and Alison Doody lacked, and nearly three decades on, she’s lost none of her spark. Whether shrugging off the clutching hands of the Russians or enthusiastically tearing an aquatic vehicle through three (THREE!) waterfalls, Allen injects much-needed life into the film and the instantaneous resurrection of her chemistry with Ford is one of the franchise’s highlights.

Elsewhere, Cate Blanchett rivals Paul Freeman (Raiders’ Belloq) for villain of the series with a great turn as Spalko, Hurt and Winstone add depth and humour to under-written, plot-convenience roles while LeBouf once again shows why he’s one of the best young actors working with a charismatic turn as Mutt. Naturally Ford is pitch perfect - there’s just something about Indy that brings out the best in him - so, and it pains us to say this, the only one who disappoints slightly is Spielberg. While he certainly isn’t on autopilot, he‘s not firing on all cylinders either. Usually so good at picking up the small grace notes that really make a film sing, Spielberg lets a handful of beats go un-hit, and while the film as a whole doesn‘t suffer too much, long-term fans of the beardy one will be left wondering whether the film arrived a little too late for him, considering the darker efforts he‘s put out in recent years.

So where now for our intrepid archaeologist? Lucas has mooted a fifth film and possible new franchise with LeBouf taking the lead role and Ford becoming his sidekick, but I for one don‘t really want either. All involved have too much talent and skill to keep looking back on former glory, and the wealth of unexplored territory in the character’s life is so great that he‘s probably best served by the kind of high quality television series, comic books and novels that Lucas has blessed the Star Wars universe with anyway. But if Lucas does deem Indy, Marion, Mutt and friends worthy of another adventure, I’d still be the first in line on this evidence. Indy is back ladies and gentles. And George, you’re forgiven for Jar Jar.

Well, kinda…