It’s by no means a bad movie. In fact, it’s really quite good. Director Steven Spielberg, Producer George Lucas, and Harrison Ford all fit back into their old clothes quite nicely, especially the latter as he puts on the famous hat and title role once again. To put it plainly, he’s still got it. Harrison Ford is Indiana Jones. He owns the role like a seasoned Rolex, and there’s no sign that he ever let it go.

Set in 1957, nearly twenty years after the events of the Last Crusade, Crystal Skull picks up in an eerily-familiar warehouse that supposedly houses a particular artifact that Soviet KGB officials seem to require. The Soviets are led by Irina Spalko(Cate Blanchett), one of the least-developed villains in the entire series. Blanchett has done well with her Russian accent, but aside from that, there’s really not a whole lot going for her.

David Koepp, a long-time screenwriting ally of Spielberg, has delivered a capable script, presenting great dialogue between the lead characters. One of the downfalls of this sequel is the same with most sequels: an assumed knowledge of previous films. Koepp reunites Jones with Raiders flame Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), which could have been a great moment in the film, but turns into little more than a rehash of the last time they were together.

Allen retains much of the spark and passion that gave her character such a boost in Raiders, but her involvement seems to be more contrived than a real necessity to the film. In fact, this only illustrates one of the film’s greatest weakness: it tries too much to be another Raiders.

Shia LaBeouf appears as greaser slacker “Mutt” Williams, who enters Indy’s life just while everyone else is looking for him. Of course, this is yet another setup for an action scene for the old teacher and young man who has a knack for getting out of tight spaces.

Rounding out the cast is the quirky and entirely too underdeveloped Professor Oxley (John Hurt) who was widely rumored to be cast as Dr. Abner Ravenwood. Well, the rumor wasn’t true, but Hurt’s contribution is sadly a little too trite for my taste, and is a bit of a waste of his talents. Both Marion and Oxley could have been great characters, but they are mere shadows of what they could have been.

The film culminates in an ancient tomb and temple, and its ultimate payoff will leave many audiences satisfied with its grandeur. But then, it’s no Raiders. It’s better than Temple of Doom, and it’s still a great bit of fun. Hey, it’s Indiana Jones! It’s a story that is filled with action, sword fights (yes, sword fights), betrayal, big explosions – REALLY big explosions, and plenty of McCarthyism-era atmosphere to give chills down the spine of anyone familiar with that era in American history.

What makes these films work is that they are a kind of nostalgia in and of themselves. The first three films were a throwback to the old movie serials, and gave 1980s summer audiences a hero to root for no matter how bad things got. This new film carries on that legacy quite well, and adds 1950’s science fiction schtick into the mix. Not only that, the nostalgia for its own predecessors.

Spielberg, Lucas, Ford, and Allen appear to all be looking to relive a time when summer adventure movies were still thought of as a risk, and and everything had to be big and bold in order for it to work. LeBeouf adds a new element to the mix, and his smarmy smile is a perfect fit for a tale set in a rather dark time in America’s history.

Their latest collaboration is indeed a success, giving us another chapter in both ancient legends and modern heroes, with a glimpse of a new generation of yet another Jones to take the reins in future films. Early in the film, Indy is goaded by his Russian captors about how great communism is. His response is distinctly American: “I like Ike.”

For me, despite all of its very real flaws, “I like Indy.”

Welcome to world of Luke Skywalker, Director George Lucas’s ground-breaking fantasy that would rev up the imaginations of millions of moviegoers. That was 30 years ago (May 25, 1977). Where were you when Star Wars changed the face of movies?

Thirty years isn’t a long time in the grand scheme of things, but it was nearly half my life ago. I was in the toddler stage of my 27-year stint as a film critic, and saw in Star Wars a kind of Cowboys and Indians adventure that roused imagination and was just plain fun. Good guys and bad guys. Not unlike John Wayne westerns relocated in time and space. Not unlike the newest fantasy realm inhabited by Harry Potter, Ron, Hermoine, Dumbledore and Voldemort (this generation’s Darth Vader).

I remember sitting near the back of theater during a non-peak-hour showing, my soda untouched, popcorn uneaten, as I sank into the fable, succumbed to the whimsy of the fastidious C3PO and the brave little R2D2, rooting for the man in white (Skywalker), shuddering at the heavy predatory breathing of the villainous Vader in his swirling black cape and gleaming enameled mask. As for Han Solo, he had all the roguish qualities of an Errol Flynn pirate, cocky smile and all.

While the first space altering film was Stanley Kubrick’s amazing but much more solemn and slow-moving 2001: A Space Odyssey,that film still adhered to old ways of creating illusion.

The unconventional, outside-the-box creativity of Lucas, and a team that included John Dykstra and the computer savvy geniuses that formed industrial Light and Magic and a host of ancillary firms that deal in special effects and computer wizardry — the magic that made films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, ET, the Potter films, and a host of terrific movies in between, come alive.

From the first epic Star Wars trilogy (which now seems tame in comparison to its successors) to the second and far more technically sophisticated second trilogy (which ansers all the questios left hanging from the first), movie fans have come, bought tickets, and gotten their money’s worth. Not always through the stories, but most definitely through the technology.

I loved Star Wars, and the Empire Strikes Back, wasn’t crazy about Return of the Jedi or the first two “prequels” — especially Phantom Menace. That and Attack of the Clones seemed to sacrifice the story, adventure and characters on the altar of special effects. That changed in Revenge of the Sith, which worked for me, wrapping up the untold stories, answering the lingering questions. Revenge of the Sith brought back the humanity that made us cheer and root for our space heroes. For years my home was littered landspeeder models, character dolls, light sabers and other paraphenalia as my daughter and her friends were equally captivated by the heroes and villans.

Star Wars changed the face of movies, sometimes for the better, but not always. certainly not always. But first and foremost, Star Wars was and remains the one thing movies are supposed to be: terrific entertainment.

Author’s Note: for an in-depth look at George Lucas and the creation of Star Wars, you can reference my hometown alternative paper, at valleyadvocate.com (5/23/07).