Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is an old-fashioned, two-fisted romp through archaeology, the Cold War, pseudo-science and film history.

Fortunately, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull pauses long enough to create characters and to build on those we’ve known for a long time.

A smart script and great set pieces make this tale of Soviet spies, weird artifacts and a lost city a worthy capstone to the series.

It's downright refreshing to witness a movie so fully alive to its own antic sense of humor, without any self-conscious, wise-guy irony to get in the way of the fun.

I can say that if you liked the other Indiana Jones movies, you will like this one, and that if you did not, there is no talking to you.

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has many more special effects than any previous Indy adventure (and not just because Harrison Ford, at 65, obviously needs more assistance than in the past).

Steven Spielberg’s long-awaited fourth film in the series doesn’t disappoint. It’s a rousing, exciting, even nostalgic adventure that makes for a great time at the movies.

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.

Crystal Skull acknowledges that the main character is older, but we all are. And the best parts of this Indy adventure will make most fans feel a little bit younger.

Oddly, the script -- which was endlessly worked on, and reworked -- still sometimes feels like it could have used another rewrite.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull may be a mighty mouthful, but it’s also gourmet popcorn filmmaking by the acknowledged master of the form.

The old hands return for the series' first sequel in 19 years, and no one seems to have lost their touch.

Almost every frame is enjoyable on some level.

LaBeouf and Ford have ideal chemistry: Ford snarls with the experience of age, LaBeouf glitters with the fool's immortality of youth.

Just temper your expectations, turn off your analytical brain, sit back, and enjoy the ride.

Harrison Ford's exhilarating performance renders all of those jokes about Indy being an old codger null and void forever... The actor hasn't been this much fun to watch in years.

Kingdom is a superior summer movie, packed full with as much action, adventure and romance as a 60-something leading man can muster.

Director Steven Spielberg rediscovers his long-dormant inner child, creating elaborate, seemingly never-ending action sequences like he's binging on Halloween candy.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is entertaining, inventive and old-fashioned in the best way.

Aged but active Indiana Jones is back in a cliffhanger-laden romp that stubs its toe only when it settles for a special effects-heavy climax.

Despite some understandable creakiness, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is everything the intrepid archaeologist's fans could hope for, plus some they could do without.

No, it's not as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark. Don't be silly. Lightning can't be bottled twice, no matter how skilled the vintners.

Even occasional shortcomings of film can't keep Ford from captivating audience.

While it may not hit the dizzying heights of 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, which is by far the best of this film series, it definitely betters the worst of them, 1984's The Temple of Doom.

Its success rides almost entirely on Ford, who brightens the action -- always improbable, occasionally ludicrous -- with physical humor and rascally charm.

I'm just glad that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull doesn't disgrace the memory of Raiders of The Lost Ark. That it manages to do a bit more than that is probably an accomplishment.

Here's the good news, Indiana Jones fans: The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is everything you're expecting it to be. That's also the bad news.

Crystal Skull is not the best Indy film, but it's a welcome addition to the franchise.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull basically finds all the entertainment centers in your brain and beats on them like a Led Zeppelin drum solo.

Nothing about the new Indiana Jones movie feels creaky. Everything old is rejuvenated, including Harrison Ford, who looks younger and less cranky than he has in years.

It has been 19 years since Harrison Ford brought Indiana Jones to larger-than life. How good is Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? It almost matches its hype.

Moviegoers who count their blessings rather than quibble over details will find their expectations met and possibly exceeded. Indy IV is great fun without necessarily being great cinema.

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas set out to make one for the fans and delivered.

How does the new Indiana Jones movie stack up with the other ones? I'd place it somewhere in the middle, but since, as I say, I'm not a die-hard enthusiast, that's faint praise.

Spielberg and company consistently project an assured, comfortable vibe that's highly endearing. They're happy to be back, and you'll probably be happy, too.

The problem in Crystal Skull is that too many of the set pieces lack heart or visual integrity.

Satisfying if not fully electrifying, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull offers fans all the familiar elements: bullwhip, fedora, ancient texts, hidden clues, obscure maps and cliffhanging moment atop cliffhanging moment.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull feels like an old romance re-kindled. The pleasure is still there, informed by nostalgia, but that pleasure is also complicated. Messier.

There are so many levels of nostalgia piled onto Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull that it’s hard to unearth a nugget of new inspiration; but the golden oldies that are doled out should dazzle those who cheer for the familiar.

My only real complaints lie with Spielberg's tendency to overburnish his film with a CGI wash.

It's one more -- and hopefully the last -- narrow escape for creaky-but-spry Indiana Jones

I guess the best recommendation I can ultimately offer is this: As I write this review two days after the screening, I'm still humming the theme song.

As soon as that iconic string of chords plays out and Dr. Henry Jones Jr. dons his battered, brown fedora, you'll feel like you're coming home.

Nobody can orchestrate this robust silliness better than Steven Spielberg, who brings effortless visual panache to the proceedings, even when he can't entirely hide its mercenary nature.

The movie's legacy may simply be the melee that ensues when Spielberg cracks the whip and moviegoers scurry for tickets.

It's one of those monumental special effects extravaganzas that seem to thrill only the CGI artists who make them and the filmmakers who pay so much money for them.

Go for the big action moments. Go to see Harrison Ford once again don the sweat-stained fedora. Just don’t go expecting anything original.

Crystal Skull may be the slightest, least memorable entry in the franchise, but it's a franchise with a rather high bar, and the film's plentiful flaws do not overwhelm its pleasures.

This exhausting hodgepodge of expository dialogue, chase scenes and series-based mythology feels less predictable than inevitable.

Like Indy's trademark chapeau, there's something a little old about all this digging around in ancient vaults, cracking open hoary tombs, dodging big boulders and hundreds of bad guys. Old hat, that is.

The good news is that Harrison Ford can still rock a fedora and a bullwhip like nobody's business as the globe-trotting archaeologist.

As director Steven Spielberg’s action scenes started piling up like cars in rush-hour traffic, I started thinking to myself, “This is a lot of work for not that much fun.”

While fun at times, the wisecracking, whip-cracking archaeology professor's path to glory is a well-trampled one.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is like a visit from an old uncle you hadn't seen in 19 years. He shows up suddenly with nothing but the same old stories.

The most ridiculously cartoonish of the four flicks -- but Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is still a lot of fun anyway.

We all love Indiana Jones, and after 19 years it’s good to see our hero return, like an old friend we’ve missed terribly.

It has been nearly two decades, and Indiana Jones is a bit more grizzled. But his witty banter is still decidedly intact.

There is no getting around it: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is shackled with the burden of unreasonable expectations.

Though the filmmakers can't resist some 21st-century indulgences that don't really belong in the series' universe, this fourth installment often lives up to the thrills moviegoers have come to expect.

As Crystal Skull forsakes stunt-driven set pieces for CGI-addled inanity in its home stretch, the only real threat Indy faces is the barrage of grandpa jokes.

For a franchise that prided itself on stunt work, the use of CGI here, in a word, sucks.

Indy 4 is full of action, but forgets to discover a good time or when to call it quits.

It's not Ford who seems dusty or musty here. He's in arch form. It's the enterprise.

It's not bad, exactly. It's not a desecration of the franchise. It's just... tired.

All the nostalgic elements are in place, but Lucas and Spielberg cannot resist tweaking the franchise with computer-generated effects.

It's perfectly adequate. Except the parts that tend toward utter lameness.

There's more zip found in Temple of Doom's Shanghai nightclub opening than in this film's entirety.

Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas go through the motions in the newest Indiana Jones film, but fail to recapture the magic that made Raiders of the Lost Ark an escapist masterpiece.

The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is noisy, overstuffed, mechanical and, above all, soulless.