Sadly, this chose to go down the route of child stardom - which you either love or hate. Though "Short Round" (Ke Huy Quan) wasn't as irritating as many; he was still pretty persistently annoying and for my money helps make this quite a bit weaker. Aside from the elephant, this also lacks the depth of casting that the first of the films had - Kate Capshaw is almost slapstick as "Wille Scott" and the story isn't so hot, either, as our intrepid explorer has to try and track down some ancient stones that - along with their stolen children - are crucial to the agrarian lives of many peaceful citizens. The roller-coaster finish is still the stuff of Hollywood legend, though - and the films is a classy, well put together tale of clashes of culture with a healthy dose of mysticism, colonialism and Ford certainly has charisma to spare. Good fun, just not quite "Raiders".
