Almost two decades is ample time for memories of old to grow stronger and for expectations to get bigger. No wonder that this is exactly what has happened to, arguably, world cinema's most beloved series. Indiana Jones is the most charming and irresistible adventurer in the movies and so it's highly unlikely that anything would measure up to Dr Jones's momentous exploits of old. Steven Spielberg's, George Lucas' and Harrison Ford's well-documented decade-long quest to find a worthy story to tell has now borne fruit in the form of something peculiar. Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull is indeed another chapter in the series, but is decidedly the fourth-best of as many films. Maybe the audiences have grown too cynical to enjoy these breakneck adventures with the same enthusiastic innocence they had in the 1980s, but Crystal Skull does not force you to the edge of your seat the way all the previous films did.

The movie kicks off in style with Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) entering off the trunk of a car with his new sidekick Mac (Ray Winstone). On the seats of the car there are Russians - it is 1957. They are raiding a secret US warehouse where various wondrous artifacts are kept, including the Ark from the first film making a fleeting cameo. The Russians are led by the rapier-wielding Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett) who needs the help of Dr Jones to locate a particular crate. One daring escape and one atomic explosion later, Dr Jones is again teaching archaeology to his students when he is informed that he is blacklisted and given a mandatory leave of absence. As he plans to fly off to London and away from the Commies' paranoia, he is accosted by a young James Dean-wannabe named Mutt (Shia LeBeouf). The young man begs help in finding Indy's old friend Professor Oxley (John Hurt) who has disappeared during a treasure hunt involving dead conquistadors, riddles in Mayan and an ultra-magnetised crystal skull. The newly formed tandem is soon enough in South America where their paths cross with the Russians and with Marian Ravenwood (Karen Allen), Indy's flame from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The movie has no problem looting its own mythology, but it's more obvious than ever that it follows a tried and tested formula. There is again a centerpiece chase, with no less than army vehicles chasing each other on parallel roads in the jungle, but for all the swashbuckling and plunging from waterfalls, we don't feel for a second that the protagonists are in real danger. The good old stunt work from the 1980s is replaced by digital flourishes, but the special effects seldom feel special. The irony is that most of the latter have been pioneered by Lucas and Spielberg, but when employed here they detract from the movie's charm and identity. The effects-heavy final sequence transports us to The Mummy or Tomb Raider territory and away from what made Indiana Jones so loved.

The one undeniable piece of good news is that, at 65, Ford looks every bit as good and charming with the leather jacket, the 1930s fedora and the whip as he did two decades ago and can still take and lend a punch with the best of them. Of the iconic triumvirate of Spielberg, Lucas and Ford, the latter is the only one who exits the movie with any real credit. The supporting cast does not fare very well either. Winstone is asked to change his allegiance at the screenwriter's whim; Blanchett is stuck on a single villainous note. LeBeouf makes a good sidekick here, but not a good star. When you see the film, as no doubt you will, you won't think about its shortcomings for its duration, but later on when nostalgia hits you again you're more likely to realise that you're better off revisiting any of the older adventures rather than this one.