Daredevil archaeologist Indiana Jones races against time to retrieve a legendary dial that can change the course of history.
Accompanied by his goddaughter, and a wannabe Short-Round, he soon finds himself squaring off against Jürgen Voller, a former Nazi who works for NASA, and his henchmen, one who looks like Pat Roach, and one who Mangold must like because he was the bad guy in Logan.....
Did this film really need to be made? There are two camps in regards to this. For people who really disliked KOTCS, yes, because they wanted him to go out with a bang. And no, they should have left it with Last Crusade, and didn't really want to see Ford don the fedora one more time.
Did I enjoy it?
Through gritted teeth I say yes. But am I saying I enjoyed it because I love the franchise, and I can't bring myself to say it was a tad boring in places and I should have deserved it more because I grew up with Indiana Jones?
Time will tell, which is ironic considering the maguffin.
Ford as expected is brilliant, and we see a disillusioned, very different Indy in him. He's slightly bitter at the world because of something that happened a few years before, and he's weary, tired of everything around him, almost becoming an artefact himself, as he appears reluctant to accept the changing world around him.
The first twenty minutes is truly astonishing, and up there with the best set pieces of the franchise, but still the poorest of all of the films openings. And unfortunately the de-aging effects are pretty poor, and the fact that his voice sounds older is jarring at times, and really puts you off at times. But once we are on the train, it goes full pelt.
After that, it does go slightly downhill, and never reaches the heights of the opening. Waller-Bridge is a welcome addition to the franchise, and she holds her own against Ford, even though she can be slightly annoying at times. And she has her own Short-Round following her about. And guess what? They met the same way as Indy met Shorty.
Mikkelsen is truly wonderful as the big evil, and he oozes menace and charm in equal measures. This is one great villain, and Mikkelsen knows that his character is brilliant.
There is a really good chase sequence in the middle of the film, it's funny, pretty breathtaking, and harks back to the first three movies. Another highlight of the movie.
But there are a few negatives.
Banderas is wasted, and I feel that a lot of his scenes were left on the cutting room floor. He barely has any lines, and the scenes we see him almost depict him as a very stupid person. Seeing that he is on the main posters for this just made me slightly annoyed, as he must only have about two minutes of screen time. It's a real problem for me, how ever trivial it may seem.
Apart from one very touching scene, they reference the other films too bluntly, especially TOD, which is mentioned twice for some reason, and it's just a little cringey, especially when TOD is my favourite of the franchise (cinema trips with my dad we're golden days, that's why I love it).
And then there is the final act. Depending on how you feel, this could be genius, or just plain stupid. But seeing as he has found the Holy Grail, The Ark of The Covenant, and dealt with aliens, I'll let it pass. But it's so random it will make you think 'really?' for a hot second.
And one last thing, the film reminded me a little of Hudson Hawk. Both films have our heroes looking for different parts of an object across the world, and the object in question will change the world. But that's not a critique at all, just something I noticed.
So all in all, it's a fun movie. A little slow at times, but I could not see a reason to cut anything from the film to make it a little shorter. It's not great, but die hard fans will get something out of this.
A grower for sure.
Accompanied by his goddaughter, and a wannabe Short-Round, he soon finds himself squaring off against Jürgen Voller, a former Nazi who works for NASA, and his henchmen, one who looks like Pat Roach, and one who Mangold must like because he was the bad guy in Logan.....
Did this film really need to be made? There are two camps in regards to this. For people who really disliked KOTCS, yes, because they wanted him to go out with a bang. And no, they should have left it with Last Crusade, and didn't really want to see Ford don the fedora one more time.
Did I enjoy it?
Through gritted teeth I say yes. But am I saying I enjoyed it because I love the franchise, and I can't bring myself to say it was a tad boring in places and I should have deserved it more because I grew up with Indiana Jones?
Time will tell, which is ironic considering the maguffin.
Ford as expected is brilliant, and we see a disillusioned, very different Indy in him. He's slightly bitter at the world because of something that happened a few years before, and he's weary, tired of everything around him, almost becoming an artefact himself, as he appears reluctant to accept the changing world around him.
The first twenty minutes is truly astonishing, and up there with the best set pieces of the franchise, but still the poorest of all of the films openings. And unfortunately the de-aging effects are pretty poor, and the fact that his voice sounds older is jarring at times, and really puts you off at times. But once we are on the train, it goes full pelt.
After that, it does go slightly downhill, and never reaches the heights of the opening. Waller-Bridge is a welcome addition to the franchise, and she holds her own against Ford, even though she can be slightly annoying at times. And she has her own Short-Round following her about. And guess what? They met the same way as Indy met Shorty.
Mikkelsen is truly wonderful as the big evil, and he oozes menace and charm in equal measures. This is one great villain, and Mikkelsen knows that his character is brilliant.
There is a really good chase sequence in the middle of the film, it's funny, pretty breathtaking, and harks back to the first three movies. Another highlight of the movie.
But there are a few negatives.
Banderas is wasted, and I feel that a lot of his scenes were left on the cutting room floor. He barely has any lines, and the scenes we see him almost depict him as a very stupid person. Seeing that he is on the main posters for this just made me slightly annoyed, as he must only have about two minutes of screen time. It's a real problem for me, how ever trivial it may seem.
Apart from one very touching scene, they reference the other films too bluntly, especially TOD, which is mentioned twice for some reason, and it's just a little cringey, especially when TOD is my favourite of the franchise (cinema trips with my dad we're golden days, that's why I love it).
And then there is the final act. Depending on how you feel, this could be genius, or just plain stupid. But seeing as he has found the Holy Grail, The Ark of The Covenant, and dealt with aliens, I'll let it pass. But it's so random it will make you think 'really?' for a hot second.
And one last thing, the film reminded me a little of Hudson Hawk. Both films have our heroes looking for different parts of an object across the world, and the object in question will change the world. But that's not a critique at all, just something I noticed.
So all in all, it's a fun movie. A little slow at times, but I could not see a reason to cut anything from the film to make it a little shorter. It's not great, but die hard fans will get something out of this.
A grower for sure.