You'd think that having the merchandising rights to Star Wars and having metaphorically just excreted 3 new films, that George Lucas would have had enough money to be going on with... but apparently he needs another golden Jarjar or some such, which is the only reason they'd revive Harrison Ford from his slumber to make a new Indiana Jones film.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about this film is the fact it doesn't suck. Yes - pretty much everyone was expecting it to suck harder than a legion of berserker fellatio kamikaze hooker but clearly someone made enough threats on the lives of Lucas and Spielberg to make sure it wasn't holocaustically bad. Let's not be hasty - it's not Raiders of the Lost Ark or The Last Crusade... not by a long shot... but it somewhat surpasses Temple of Doom - by far the weakest of the original three films.

The film doesn't really waste any time... it's not long before some commies are get Indy to try and find some relic, atomic bombs are blowing up and so on. The problem the film has is rather intangible... oh, there are some obvious ones - that there's a dramatic disconnect as soon as they transition to the jungle... and that there's an abundance of silliness toward the end... but it simply doesn't have the "magic". Oh, there's Indy cracking his whip... having fisticuffs... all the regulation stuff but somehow it's just never quite able to recapture the feel of the old films... maybe it all got lost when they stuck in an obscene amount of CGI in there... or the ridiculous interdimensional aliens... or perhaps it's the vaguely irritating Indy junior or the fact the jungle chase scene goes on and on and on and the... on and on some more.

Perhaps it just feels slightly less substantial than its counterparts... it's an enjoyable film but it's easier to think of it as a decent summer blockbuster than it is to brand it a successor to the original trilogy... fun but ultimately, feeling too... sanitised to be true to the legacy. Worth watching? Certainly but somehow falling short of being entirely worthy of the title Indiana Jones...

Since sometime around the release of Star Wars: Episode 2: Attack Of Further Merchandising, there have been rumours and murmurs of a Star Wars live action TV show... apparently slated for 2009 but clearly not content to wait that long before mugging Star Wars fans - or as some of them like to think of themselves George's piggy bank - there is to be an animated (CGI, naturally) film covering the Clone Wars.

If you're reading that and thinking "that sounds familiar...", it's because it is. The Clone Wars was covered in some depth by the eponymous cartoon - from the chaps that brought us Samurai Jack - and was in fact almost as good as the prequels were bad. Of course, surely this begs the question... why rehash this already trodden ground. As with anything Hollywood - the reason for repetition is always the same - tried and tested = cash in the bank.

In fact, this couldn't be any more of a perfect storm of bankable cash cow if you injected pound coins into a bovine fetus.

Firstly, it's Star Wars... and if you stick that name on something, it'll pull in a few million punters straight off the bat - after all, people were still turning up to Revenge Of The Sith, despite the fact all evidence was... it would suck.

Secondly - it's CGI... Every kid's film for years has been CGI... so, hitting the family demographic again. Not to mention that action, explosions and so on that would be budget busting in a live action film are - while still time consuming - far more cost effective... Which means you get more of 'em.

Thirdly - it's pretty obviously going to be a rehash of - or at least, take several elements from - the immensely popular and critically acclaimed Clone Wars cartoon.

On the bright side, the fact it's derivative of an excellent piece of work where General Grievous doesn't sound like an asthmatic French kiddie fiddler means that there's no particular need to worry about excessive ham fisted dialogue... best to just hope for lots of action and Jedi japery. Perhaps it can instil some confidence in the somewhat resentful and cynical Star Wars fanbase...