Indiana Jones has been in tight spots before, but he faces one of the biggest challenges of his life today when hostile hordes of critics at the Cannes film festival dissect his latest big-screen adventure.

A thumbs-up or thumbs-down from Cannes will not undermine the blockbuster's prospects when Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opens in cinemas worldwide on Thursday.

But the film, reuniting director Steven Spielberg, executive producer George Lucas and lead star Harrison Ford, could go down as another critical casualty of Cannes, whose fierce press corps stand ready to pan Dr Jones if the film fails to live up to the colossal hype preceding its release.

Two years ago, the Cannes crowd savaged the opening-night entry The Da Vinci Code, whose overblown melodrama drew sniggers and catcalls at the first press screening. The film's director, Ron Howard, and its leading star, Tom Hanks, had the last laugh though, as the film went on to gross $758m worldwide.

That same year, festival audiences and critics also gave Sofia Coppola and Kirsten Dunst's Marie Antoinette a frosty reception, and positively annihilated Southland Tales, starring The Rock and Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Coming 19 years after Indiana Jones's last adventure, Crystal Skull has been by far the festival's most-anticipated film. A press screening is scheduled just hours before Ford, Spielberg and Lucas are due to appear on the festival's red carpet accompanied by Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Shia LaBeouf and other co-stars. Press screenings are also planned in the US today.

Set in 1957, the new film lands the intrepid archaeologist in a race with Soviet agents to find an ancient crystal skull that can bestow immeasurable power on those returning it to the mythical Amazon city from where it was stolen.