Here's my feeling. It's impossible to believe that after 20 years and a light-jump ahead in visual effects, we would be given a new Indiana Jones film that felt like it was made right after
The Last Crusade. That's probably what we all wanted.
And yes, there are moments of extreme stupidity in the film. Moments. But what I have to give the film credit for, despite the lingering taint of George Lucas' love affair with grandstand filmmaking, is that there were just as many - if not more - signature Indy moments, too. Harrison Ford, aged though he might be, is
still Indiana Jones. The fight in the military warehouse, the motorcycle chase: all classic Indy. I could even account for the weird Soviet, alien, nuclear development plot because it was just as much a cartoonish reflection of the 1950s as the previous films were of the 1930s.
I think you have to look at
Crystal Skull as a film that couldn't be, after so many years, the perfect Indy capstone. So it decided to be the next best thing: a celebration (albeit imperfect) of everything that we love about Indiana Jones, and one more reunion before the franchise sets sail for good. Personally, I welcome another Indy film. As long as Indy is throwing punches, raiding tombs, and copping smirks, I'm there.