CANNES: Indiana Jones returns 19 years after his last adventure, and early reaction suggests the 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, while his young sidekick Mutt Williams, played by Shia LaBeouf, refers to him variously as “gramps” and “old man”.

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 apologise 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.—Reuters