Not long after Indiana Jones hits an attacker with a shovel and sends a poisonous dart back into another baddie's mouth, his youthful sidekick double checks, "You're a teacher?"

To which Indy replies: "Part time."

Well, no wonder then that Indiana Jones, archaeologist, tenured professor and decorated war hero, knows his way around a whip, an ancient burial ground and enough Soviets to paint the period Red.

Yes, Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones is back, and the perpetual boys of summer -- Steven Spielberg and George Lucas -- seem as if they had a grand old time plowing new ground and winking at moviegoers familiar with the first three adventures.

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" features a glimpse of the hidden treasure from "Raiders of the Lost Ark," a new army of creepy-crawlies, a comic nod to Indy's famous aversion to snakes, a tweaking of the family tree and even a line borrowed from the "Star Wars" series.

'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'

Starring: Harrison Ford, Shia LaBeouf, Karen Allen.

Rating: PG-13 for adventure violence and scary images.

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'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'

3 stars = Good
Ratings explained

• Starring: Harrison Ford, Shia LaBeouf, Karen Allen.
• Rating: PG-13 for adventure violence and scary images.
• Web site: indianajones.com/site/index.html

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The resurrected franchise has come a long way from its modest B-picture origins, and Spielberg, Lucas and screenwriter David Koepp fall victim to that dreaded disease of CGI-itis near the end. "Indiana Jones" has never been about the special effects, and when they commandeer the screen the actors shrink in every way.

But most of the two-hour adventure is pure fun, and hearing the iconic John Williams theme triggers muscle memory. "Indiana Jones" may not deliver the thrill of a new franchise, as "Iron Man" does, but it's like catching up with an old friend. Besides, it ends with an old-fashioned corker that needs no computer-generated wizardry.

The movie opens in 1957 Nevada, two decades after Indy, his professorial father (Sean Connery) and a couple of pals literally rode off into the sunset and, we thought, the trilogy. Turns out that "Last Crusade" wasn't really the last.

However, Indy's dad and friend Marcus Brody (the late Denholm Elliott) have since died, and the archaeologist is drawn into a Soviet search for UFO remains from Roswell, N.M., led by Stalin's favorite scientist, Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett). That lands Indy at the super-secret military facility called Area 51 and a nuclear test site that is a true blast from the past.

The Nazis of the first and third movies have been replaced by the Cold War-era Soviets as villains. Students wave banners and signs proclaiming, "Better Dead Than Red," and Indy's unwanted brush with the Russkies nearly costs him his job.

His life takes an unexpected turn when a youthful stranger named Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) shows up and tells Indy that an old friend has been kidnapped. He was on the trail of the Crystal Skull of Akator, which, like the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail before it, is the treasured object that launches the globe-trotting adventures, this time to Peru and beyond.

"The Crystal Skull" ups the action ante considerably, with Ford and LaBeouf in a motorcycle chase that's like a moving three-card monte with car, bike and occasional bus zipping through the streets and onto campus. Everything is bigger and louder, from an extended jungle pursuit to a plunge over the waterfalls that makes Niagara Falls in a barrel look like child's play.

Ford acknowledges Indy's advancing years but pulls no punches, and his silhouette is as unchanged and recognizable as ever. His age is mocked by LaBeouf's character, whose Mutt owes some of his inspiration (or aspiration) to Marlon Brando and "The Wild One." LaBeouf can pull off the smart-alecky lines along with the scenes requiring his eyes to well up.

The best romantic interest Indy ever had, Karen Allen's feisty Marion Ravenwood, returns, and it's good to have an actress of Blanchett's caliber as the cartoonish Soviet agent. She almost makes up for the shrieking ninny Kate Capshaw was required to play in "Temple of Doom." Rounding out the supporting cast are Ray Winstone, John Hurt and Jim Broadbent.

"Crystal Skull" is not the best Indy film, but it's a welcome addition to the franchise. Spielberg and Lucas know their 1950s fads, facts, fiction and films, and they've created another roller coaster with a weathered but familiar face in the front car wearing his trademark fedora, leather jacket, whip and air of adventure.