Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 76

3 Korey Coleman fok amemcanstaiesman Harrison Ford puts on the famous fedora and teams up again with director Steven Spielberg for 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal which opens in theaters today. MOVIES What time is your movie? Find out with our film guide austin360.commovies i I i II i i "I 'INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKUU' Jones' journey brings along bits of past Lucas film, "American Graffiti" though it should be said that the earlier movie was much more convincing in its evocation of the sock-hop-and-greaser era. Here, it ByJohnDeFore SPECIAL TO THE AMh3UCAVSTATESMAN For Lucasfilm, going back to the well is a dicey proposition. Though they made truckloads of cash, the synthetic and soulless "Star Wars" prequels drained the saga of much of its magic in the eyes of veteran fans. How wise is it for Spielberg, Lucas and company to revive Indiana Jones? In "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," the idea proves not 'i a fcr-- Kgzi.i""i..

David James photos lucasfilm ltu Indiana Jones is in the driver's seat, but he's joined for the fourth movie in the series by old flame Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) and a new sidekick. Mutt Williams (Shia LeBeouf). 4 i the scene-setting feels superficial, as if it only exists to let a Harley-riding Shia LaBeouif (playing thunder into the film dressed like Brando in "The Wild One." No matter. Stateside exposition, after all, is never the point in these films, which only take flight once we see that little red line trace Indy's path from the so bad. 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 Oxley (John Hurt) and a crew of Nazis oops, it's the '50s, so we'd better make that Commies led by Cate Blanchett.

(Blanchett, sporting a saber and a severe black hairdo, is less charismatic here than expected. It's as if her nuanced work in serious dramas has left her ill-equipped for the scenery-chewing required of an adventure-serial villain.) Once in the jungle, we are shocked shocked! to discover that the kidnapped mom Mutt is hunting turns out to be none other than Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), whom we haven't seen since "Raiders of the Lost Ark," the first film in the 'Indiana Jones' series (Another unsurprising surprise involving Mutt, Marion and Indy is revealed in a very funny scene set in a quicksand-like pit.) It would be tacky to complain that the spitfire Marion has grown a bit matronly in 20-odd years. The real disappointment is that her character has less to do now than she did then. Beyond piloting a "duck" jeep over multiple waterfalls (the most unbelievable in a series of credibility-straining stunts), she's basically just along for the ride. About those stunts: Observers have wondered whether Harrison Ford was too old to play Jones again, but his age is a non-issue here.

After all it isn't as if the thirtysomething Indy could really have done the things he did back in "Raiders." (The real issue with Ford is the way the actor's sly charm has evapo- expect, Pavlov-style, when they hear John Williams's virile theme: "Dun-da-dum-DUH Dun-da-DUM!" This time out it's 1957, as if the world of Indiana Jones has collided with that of another U.S. to someplace exotic: In this case, the Amazon, where a vanished El Dorado is said li io nouse a crystal skull being sought, simultaneously, by Indy's old friend Cate Blanchett steps in as the film's Commie villainess. 24 MAY 22, 2008 XLENT AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN.