By Mike Collett-White
CANNES, France (Reuters) - Indiana Jones returns 19 years
after his last adventure, and early reaction suggests the
majority of Cannes film festival's notoriously picky critics
are happy the whip-wielding archaeologist is back.
Harrison Ford reprises his most famous role in "Indiana
Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," a high-octane
fantasy set in the 1950s when Jones no longer faces Nazis but a
KGB agent after the ultimate Cold War weapon -- mind control.
There are plenty of jokes about 65-year-old Ford's age, and
he reunites with Karen Allen, co-star in the first Indiana
Jones movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark" released in 1981.
"Not as easy as it used to be," Jones mutters early on.
His young sidekick Mutt Williams, played by Shia LaBeouf,
at one point bluntly asks: "What are you, like 80?," and there
are strong hints he will take over the mantle from Ford.
Australian actress Cate Blanchett, with severe fringe, dark
hair and over-the-top Russian accent, plays evil Soviet agent
Irina Spalko who races Jones to the secret of the crystal
skull.
"I apologize to the entire Russian populace for my Russian,
but hopefully it will be dubbed," Blanchett, her hair back to
blonde, joked at a press conference.
Warm, though not loud applause broke out as the credits
rolled at the first press screening ahead of a glitzy evening
red carpet event, and early online reviews were mostly
positive.
