Fridae

It's been 27 years since Steven Spielberg (Jurassic Park) and George Lucas (Star Wars) teamed up to make Raiders of the Lost Ark, the superb action-adventure movie that introduced archeologist-hero Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) to the world.

And judging by the fourth movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, not much has changed since then. The jokes, the acting, the action choreography, the camerawork, the sets � practically everything in this new film reminds moviegoers of the earlier Indy films. Even the ending.

Never mind that the action genre has advanced and gotten a much slicker treatment these days (see the Bourne and the Kill Bill movies). As far as Indy is concerned, why change a perfectly good formula? After all, plenty of Indy's copycats like The Mummy and National Treasure franchises continue to reap heaps at the box-office by following the same formula of intrepid, wisecracking hero searching for buried treasures.

And so it follows that Indiana Jones � still sporting that Fedora hat and bomber jacket, still cracking that ole' whip � is off on a globe-trotting mission to locate lost civilizations, solve ancient riddles, and save lives. This time, he is saving the lives of his friend Oxley (John Hurt) and ex-lover Marion (Karen Allen) from eeeeevil Soviet agents (led by Cate Blanchett) who want to uncover the secrets of controlling human thoughts. His new sidekick is the teenage rebel Mutt (Shia LaBeouf from Transformers), who turns out to be more than what Indy expected...

With corny jokes, car chases and collapsing ruins, it's all very old-fashioned and very familiar. But it also makes for major retro fun. If you're a diehard Indy fan, the lack of novelty won't bother you one bit. But if you belong to the younger generation of moviegoers who's never seen an Indy movie, you might be wondering what the fuss is all about.

What we can tell you is this: In the 80s, this action-adventure franchise was simply one of the best damn things we ever saw. And, if only for the nostalgia factor, it's good to have him back.