As the fourth film in its series, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a decent tribute to the character and the franchise, paying homage in nearly every way. By itself, however, the film marks Dr. Jones’ return with a choppy structure, convoluted plot and seemingly half-hearted characters.

Instead of trying to find a way to have 65-year-old Harrison Ford portray the 30-something swashbuckling adventurer of the 1980s trilogy, director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas opted to have the character age in real time, placing the film’s action in 1957.

The film opens with Indy, along with new character George “Mac” McHale (Ray Winstone, in a role combining Sallah and Rene Belloq from the previous films), being held captive in Area 51. This time the college professor finds himself pitted against a cadre of Soviet agents, led by the villainous Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), who are attempting to find the possibly extraterrestrial-related skull for the Soviets’ research into psychic weapons.

Jones escapes in a spectacular action sequence but is quickly drawn into the McCarthy-era Cold War hysteria, interrogated (by Neil Flynn, the janitor from Scrubs, in an enjoyable appearance) and blacklisted for his involvement with the Soviets.

The professor soon finds himself out of work and about to put the skull incident behind him when he meets young “Mutt” Williams (Shia LaBeouf). Jones is asked by Williams for help finding their mutual friend Professor Oxley (John Hurt). Oxley was kidnapped by the same group of Soviets along with the boy’s mother, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen reprising her Raiders of the Lost Ark role), while searching for the artifact.

After rescuing the two, Indy and Williams are soon off on a race with Spalko and her gang across South America in pursuit of the ancient titled kingdom. Along the way, the two groups are faced with voracious ant colonies, perilous traps and a host of impressive Lucas-inspired sci-fi scenes.

The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ends on an unexpected and abrupt note, as if Lucas and Spielberg were trying to wrap up as many loose ends of the franchise as possible (though not without hammering in both the importance of staying in school and the series’ theme song, played in nearly every other scene).

While the film was entertaining, it came off more as a tribute to everything Spielberg and Lucas, in the lines pulled from Star Wars (“I’ve got a bad feeling about this”) to elements echoing Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Though LaBeouf preformed effectively, the character appeared oddly out of place, appearing only for nostalgia (scenes between LaBeouf and Ford are reminiscent of those between Ford and Connery in Last Crusade) and for the actor’s popularity among younger viewers.

It would appear that by using LaBeouf, Spielberg and Lucas were attempting to differentiate the film from the previous three. Instead, it only highlights a recurring blunder: the audience is left with two half-constructed films, one trying desperately to cling to the old franchise and the other embracing the new directions that the series could take.