That movie about that guy with that hat
wwww

Spoiler warning!

I've never seen an Indiana Jones movie at the cinema- when Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade came out I was one year old. I've seen them all on DVD, of course, but this was a new experience for me, all those old ingredients so far exclusive to the small screen finally back where they belonged on the big screen. I'd have loved to see Raiders of the Lost Ark at the cinema. But, you know, this will do.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has the same spirit as the old films: it's a big, loud, funny, silly adventure movie and it doesn't pretend to be anything else. There are, of course, a few extra things in the mix this time around- young Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) for a start, and there seems little point in concealing the fact that he's Indy's son: the reveal scene is played for laughs and not shock anyway. LaBeouf is excellent as usual. (I first saw him as the lead character in Holes- one of the best children's films of all time- and I knew he'd make it to stardom before too long.) There's also a gang of treasure-seeking Russians, led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett, giving a potentially one-dimensional character depth), there's the return of Marion (Karen Allen) from Raiders, and of course, there's a crystal skull.

I shan't reveal what the crystal skull is, only that its secret seems to have divided the critics- there's nothing to worry about, however. It works, it really does. Besides, this is a series where faces can be melted by the wrath of God and where ancient treasures are guarded by immortal knights; if you're going to complain about a lack of realism you should have done it decades ago.

Just like the other three movies, there's some wonderful set pieces in this movie, one of my favourites being the one in which our heroes and their pursuers are attacked by an army of fire ants, with the heroes escaping and the villains meeting, in classic Indy tradition, incredibly unpleasant deaths. Silly, yes, but wonderfully entertaining. My other favourite is a scene where Indy stumbles into a mysteriously quiet town, discovers it's populated only by models, and then realises he's standing in a testing ground for an atomic bomb. He escapes, of course, but the shot of Indy dwarfed by a mushroom cloud seems omnious, and a little sad.

Then, of course, there's Harrison Ford himself. Once you get used to Indiana Jones looking Harrison Ford's age, you realise how much fun he's having donning the hat again, and you go along with it. He's great. This is probably his best performance for a while, actually. His scenes with Mutt and Marion are some of the funniest in the film; the interplay between them is great. In fact, the whole cast in this is excellent, even if a few people are underused (Jim Broadbent, for example, only has two scenes). I also cannot continue without mentioning that Neil Flynn, also known as Scrubs' Janitor, has a small role as an FBI agent, and set half the theatre into giggles when he showed up.

This movie has its flaws, of course, as all movies do- there's a very silly CGI scene that you'll recognize when you see it, some iffy characterization, and an ending that's a tad disappointing considering what came before. Those are very minor things, though- this is still almost certainly going to be the blockbuster of the year. Even if it lacks the emotional resonance of Last Crusade, it has all the spark and soul of Raiders. Believe the hype and ignore all the pretenders; the real thing is back. Long live Doctor Jones.

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