First Hit: It definitely has the look and feel of the first three, but it starts out real good, falls a bit flat in the middle and has a reasonably good ending.
In brief, Indy has been captured by Russians who want the autopsied body of the alien stored by the US Government at area "51". Why? Because the head Russian scientist Irina (played by Cate Blanchett) believes that “knowledge” is the true power and not the power created by the atom bomb (effectively portrayed in this film by Spielberg).
Irina believes that by having this alien body will lead to finding the Crystal Skull which embodies powers from outer space and provides the power to control everyone’s mind.
Indy (played by Harrison Ford) gets caught up in this because his old friend has been captured as well and has been chasing the Crystal Skull for years. So Indy, Irina, Mutt (played by Shia LaBeouf), and Marion (played by Karen Allen in a reprised role) end up in South America trying to find, capture or return the Crystal Skull to its rightful owner (skeletal body).
Director Steven Spielberg shows his deft hand it keeping the campy and stylized congruency between this film and the first three. It is a wonderful thing that there was reliance on real stunts and stunt people and less on computer generated stunts. The opening and first hour are filled with typical Indy action and pitfalls. My only criticism of the first hour is that it was way too hard to believe that Indy, at his age, could do any of the whip swinging fighting actions he was portrayed as doing. However, all this action does make you want to watch the remaining 1 hour. But this is where the film falls and loses its luster as well. As we enter South America the story appears to be lost and tries to make up for this by creating more complicated scenes than needed. There are just too many cave openings, dark passageways, and explanations. When a film relies on telling versus showing it is a mistake. My sense is that all the action and complications are here to make up for a weak middle story, script and attempts to make the story line more interesting than it is. The ending although unexpected is sweet and works.
Overall: This isn’t a great film; but it is very good for a sequel and has a high entertainment factor. It is worth the price of admission.