Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: An aging actor, with a famliar craggy face and booming voice, placed in an action film. He has not played the part for nineteen long years, a well tried and trusted brand of a film has been taken off the mantle piece and dusted off. Of course this means adjustments have to be made, some self effacing humour and wise cracks and a young actor to share the work load.

*picture credit: indianajones.com

The director is well known for producing films involving aliens and this element finds itself into this film, not for me a totally comfortable fit, but we should not read to much into this film, as to depth, it is a pastiche and a movie devised for fun. This aged actor as Indiana Jones, is punched and kicked and his body put through a gruelling fight against enemies thrown his way. The film is set in the fifties and his new sidekick with the unusual name Mutt (Shia LaBeouf ) is concerned with preserving his quiff. Indiana Jones films rely on death defying stunts, non stop action and finding Jones in impossible situations, which he has to fight his way out of, as well as a smattering of humour. I was sometimes drawing parallels with early James Bond films.

There is a successful formula working here, but with Harrison Ford, grandfather age at 64 reaching his sell by date, it was a brave move to try to eek yet another film, after such a long break. Harrison had many dates with the gym and strict regime to knock himself into shape. There is much imagination and the locations are spectacular.There are some well known British actors, notably John Hurt, who plays a deranged colleague of Indiana Jones and hard man Ray Winstone, (George "Mac" McHale) who is rakish and greedy in this film and persists in shouting “Jonsey” frequently. Karen Allen takes up the role of mouthy Marion Ravenwood once again. Cate Blanchett plays the villainous Soviet agent Irina Spalko, with a nice hair style and a pronounced and no doubt perfected Eastern European accent. Some might walk away disappointed, some will delight in nostalgia.

Francis H. Powell is originally from England and moved to Paris in 1999. In addition to being a writer (articles, songs and poems), he is a painter, DJ and English trainer. For more information, please click here to read his complete bio.

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