This time, we've got a few new characters with Sean Connery noticeably absent. I think that's a good thing; recall how Lethal Weapon became a bloated sit-com as it added second-bananas with every outing. Now, we add a new kid on the block, Shia LaBeouf, and resurrect Karen Allen as the long-suffering girlfriend. LeBeouf's fine - it's not like a Jones movie is strong on introspection anyway - but Allen doesn't do much more than smile at Indy or the camera the whole time. Thankfully, the one main scene where the two talk-it-out hits the mark.
The whole picture is more measured in its pacing than the early pics, an indication of everyone's age, perhaps. As we pick up the pieces of this episodes puzzles, we never quite reach manic levels of adventure, and the mix of Soviet spies, Incan (or whoever's) ruins, and aliens, never really makes any sense. And who cares? You'd think that after finding the Holy Grail, Indy would become a confirmed Roman Catholic - so it's easy to take the gang's gee-whiz response to aliens in stride.
At the end, it may be diminished expectations (one friend actually despises the movie), but the rest of my gang liked it just fine.