Indiana star Ford won't read reviews

CANNES, France (Reuters) - Good or bad, U.S. actor Harrison Ford will not be reading reviews of the new Indiana Jones movie, which divided the Cannes film festival's notoriously picky critics.

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" had its world premiere at the annual festival on Sunday, and initial reaction was positive.

But with a little more time to reflect on a blockbuster that cost an estimated $185 million (95 million pounds) to make, reviews have become decidedly more mixed.

"I suppose it would be interesting, but I don't read reviews," Ford told Reuters in an interview to promote the film.

"I don't want to believe the bad stuff and I don't want to believe the good stuff. It doesn't really matter," added Ford, who reprises probably his most famous on-screen role as the whip-wielding archaeologist at the age of 65.

In Crystal Skull, he teams up again with Karen Allen, his co-star from the first Indiana Jones film in 1981.

They are up against an evil KGB agent, played by Australia's Cate Blanchett, who is seeking to harness the power of a skull which leads them on a high-octane adventure ending with a dramatic encounter with extra terrestrials.

Reviews appearing on the Internet within minutes of the end of the press screening in Cannes were largely positive.

Several, though, have since questioned the wisdom of resurrecting a successful franchise which last hit the screens 19 years ago.