At an age when most people are pursuing Social Security benefits, Harrison Ford is searching for a lost city in a South American jungle in Steven Spielberg's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."

It has been 19 years since the last Indy Jones movie, but the 65-year-old actor still knows how to crack the whip.

One of the smartest moves in this zesty summer entertainment is that the filmmakers immediately acknowledge that it isn't easy dodging human villains and supernatural forces when you're a senior citizen. Time has passed for the adventurous archaeologist, and the early scenes make it humorously clear that the old guy is trying to keep up in a new world.

More specifically, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989) left off in 1938 and this movie starts in 1957. Never a slouch when it comes to pop culture, Spielberg has fun immersing his pre-World War II hero in Eisenhower-era America. Besides facing snakes, killer ants and other natural threats, Indy Jones is up against such Cold War forces as Soviet agents and even a nuclear blast.

Nothing is taken too seriously in this series, of course, and so the political intrigue is just an excuse for more punches and punch lines. There's fortunately also some personal intrigue, and it gives the movie a dash of sentimental appeal to ensure it won't just be a glorified chase.

By way of bad guy, make that bad gal, Cate Blanchett plays a Soviet agent so gorgeous she might as well be called Miss Iron Curtain. In fact, her name is Irina Spalko, and she's so ruthlessly evil that she makes Indy's earlier Nazi antagonists seem like child's play.

Irina and her henchmen have infiltrated American society to such an extent that maybe Senator Joseph McCarthy was right about that red menace.

Indy and Irina are both seeking to possess an ancient crystal skull that supposedly has supernatural powers. Indy's whip will be kept very busy.

As for the magic object that's being fought over, you're best left to discover the details for yourself. Suffice it to say that the story hops from North America to South America and involves ample opportunities for mythic tales and marathon special effects sequences.

Those helping Indy include the saintly dean of his college, Charles Stanforth (Jim Broadbent); another academic colleague, Professor Oxley (John Hurt), whose role is woefully underdeveloped in David Koepp's script; a rebellious young man, Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf), who wears a black leather jacket that looks like it came off the back of Marlon Brando or James Dean; and Indy's old, er, former amorous sparring partner, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), with whom he's happy to resume arguing.

There's also a slippery character, George "Mac" McHale (Ray Winstone), who eventually must declare whether he likes Indy or gold more. Although the movie is closer to a live-action cartoon than to a morality play, it does occasionally pause to allow its characters to contemplate matters of good and evil.

Relentlessly pushed forward by the script's frantic quest for the crystal skull, Spielberg's technical prowess, and John Williams' admirably loud score, this latest Indy Jones installment is not geriatric.

If anything, it's a cinematic theme park ride that suffers a bit from Spielberg's habit of not knowing when to quit. The two-hour running time is not excessive as special effects-driven spectacles go these days, but sometimes the director lets a sequence go on longer than it really needs to. More car chases! More Commies! More ants! More skulls! More popcorn, too, as you spend your summer with Indy Jones. Grade: B+

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" (PG-13) opens Thursday, May 22.

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