As if it weren't bad enough that Disney stubbornly refuses to release any of the MCU TV shows on DVD/Blu-ray anywhere in the world, now they've made it personal by announcing they're discontinuing DVDs/Blu-rays of *anything* being released in my country (and ONLY my country), with their final release being GotG Vol. 3 (seriously, they couldn't have made it something I'd actually want to watch?). So, if I wanted to see this movie, my options were wait several years for it to be on TV (I could've been DEAD by then!) or go see it at the theatre. Normally I'd have gone on opening day, but wasn't able to. After that, I wasn't feeling overly motivated to and was just going to wait for it on DVD/Blu-ray...but thanks to Disney, I no longer had that option. There's been much debate over CGI de-aging of actors, but it was fine here with Harrison Ford's Indy in a longer-than-expected flashback. Obviously they felt the de-aging would hold up to scrutiny, and for the most part it does (there were only a couple of times it felt slightly off). Toby Jones plays Basil Shaw, another in an apparently long line of Indy offsiders (and kind of useless...until he finally isn't). What surprised me was how not-terribly-exciting I found the whole opening sequence. While there's thankfully no 'nuke the fridge' moment, it stretches credulity how Indy miraculously survives being thrown about and an explosion directly beneath him whilst his neck's in a noose.
Sadly, things don't get interesting until a good way through the movie. Before that, we catch up with old man Indy, who yells at his noisy neighbours, baseball bat in hand (I can relate), and is unaware that the only person attending his classes who actually KNOWS ANYTHING is his goddaughter, Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), wishing to pick up where her father left off in search of this film's MacGuffin, the Antikythera (designed by Archimedes). After she reintroduces herself to Indy, it's not long before she's leaving him behind at the mercy of bad guys. While there is some action involving a parade and Indy riding a horse, I personally felt things didn't really get going until the scene that begins at a Tangier hotel, where Helena's attempting to auction off the half of the Dial she nicked. Regarding their two characters, I did feel they had a decent dynamic going on between them and Helena/Waller-Bridge isn't nearly as annoying as Willie was in Temple of Doom. People like to exaggerate the 'feminism' stuff, but she's just as 'feisty' as Marion was and has her moments where she acknowledges she's said/done something wrong. One of very few 'emotional' moments in the movie is during a scene where she asks what Indy would do if he could go back in time (which turns out to be the Antikythera's power) and he talks about the death of his son, Mutt (as if you needed more reason to watch this film, Shia LaBeoufhead's irritating character from the last movie unceremoniously being killed offscreen should be motivation enough. No more crappy CGI vine-swinging alongside monkeys for him!).
While the character of Teddy (this film's version of Short Round, who some people are making out Teddy can't hold a candle to...but I think they're forgetting just how thoroughly annoying that kid was and are only forgiving of him now because the actor who played him grew up to kick butt in Everything Everywhere All At Once and won an Oscar) isn't really necessary, at least he proves himself *useful* (just don't bother questioning how this thief can fly a plane with no prior experience) and doesn't YELL ALL HIS LINES like Short Round did. It's too bad Sallah wasn't the third member of the team instead (while it's good to see John Rhys-Davies return in the role, he's out of the movie pretty quick and only returns at the very end). Still, at least he doesn't feel as wasted as Antonio Banderas does playing yet another old friend of Indy's. What was the point of him exactly? Same can be said for Mason, the most unlikely FBI Agent to be working with German scientist/astrophysicist and "former" Nazi, Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen, who can basically play a villain in his sleep by this point). Rather than so many side characters, I think the movie would've been better to just focus on Indy and Helena's relationship, as it seems like we're only just getting a feel for them as a pair by the time the film reaches its conclusion.
Speaking of...yes, there *is* time-travel involved (and yet it's still somehow easier to swallow than aliens). There have been eyeroll-worthy objections to Helena 'robbing Indy of his agency' in the scene where he just wishes to be left to die in the past (after actually meeting Archimedes himself), but Indy was being a stubborn fool who was risking screwing up reality, so her punching his lights out to get him back to his time was warranted. Likewise, people may be disappointed that the baddie doesn't suffer a horrific fate like main villains of the past films, but it's more about him realising how screwed his grand plan is (and, hey, if that isn't enough...we see his crispified corpse later). In the end, things are made 'right' again when Indy gets back together with Marion (complete with callback), after their marriage fell apart following Mutt's death. Anyone worrying about Helena taking over from Indy needn't get their panties in a bunch if the final shot of him snatching his iconic fedora off a clothesline is any indication. While this movie certainly doesn't reach the 'classic' status of Raiders or Last Crusade, the best praise I can give it is that at least it's not as ridiculous as Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (which, much like the Star Wars prequels, it seems people are now pretending is some misunderstood masterpiece) or as gross as Temple of Doom. It's not 'bad'...just kinda boring.
Sadly, things don't get interesting until a good way through the movie. Before that, we catch up with old man Indy, who yells at his noisy neighbours, baseball bat in hand (I can relate), and is unaware that the only person attending his classes who actually KNOWS ANYTHING is his goddaughter, Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), wishing to pick up where her father left off in search of this film's MacGuffin, the Antikythera (designed by Archimedes). After she reintroduces herself to Indy, it's not long before she's leaving him behind at the mercy of bad guys. While there is some action involving a parade and Indy riding a horse, I personally felt things didn't really get going until the scene that begins at a Tangier hotel, where Helena's attempting to auction off the half of the Dial she nicked. Regarding their two characters, I did feel they had a decent dynamic going on between them and Helena/Waller-Bridge isn't nearly as annoying as Willie was in Temple of Doom. People like to exaggerate the 'feminism' stuff, but she's just as 'feisty' as Marion was and has her moments where she acknowledges she's said/done something wrong. One of very few 'emotional' moments in the movie is during a scene where she asks what Indy would do if he could go back in time (which turns out to be the Antikythera's power) and he talks about the death of his son, Mutt (as if you needed more reason to watch this film, Shia LaBeoufhead's irritating character from the last movie unceremoniously being killed offscreen should be motivation enough. No more crappy CGI vine-swinging alongside monkeys for him!).
While the character of Teddy (this film's version of Short Round, who some people are making out Teddy can't hold a candle to...but I think they're forgetting just how thoroughly annoying that kid was and are only forgiving of him now because the actor who played him grew up to kick butt in Everything Everywhere All At Once and won an Oscar) isn't really necessary, at least he proves himself *useful* (just don't bother questioning how this thief can fly a plane with no prior experience) and doesn't YELL ALL HIS LINES like Short Round did. It's too bad Sallah wasn't the third member of the team instead (while it's good to see John Rhys-Davies return in the role, he's out of the movie pretty quick and only returns at the very end). Still, at least he doesn't feel as wasted as Antonio Banderas does playing yet another old friend of Indy's. What was the point of him exactly? Same can be said for Mason, the most unlikely FBI Agent to be working with German scientist/astrophysicist and "former" Nazi, Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen, who can basically play a villain in his sleep by this point). Rather than so many side characters, I think the movie would've been better to just focus on Indy and Helena's relationship, as it seems like we're only just getting a feel for them as a pair by the time the film reaches its conclusion.
Speaking of...yes, there *is* time-travel involved (and yet it's still somehow easier to swallow than aliens). There have been eyeroll-worthy objections to Helena 'robbing Indy of his agency' in the scene where he just wishes to be left to die in the past (after actually meeting Archimedes himself), but Indy was being a stubborn fool who was risking screwing up reality, so her punching his lights out to get him back to his time was warranted. Likewise, people may be disappointed that the baddie doesn't suffer a horrific fate like main villains of the past films, but it's more about him realising how screwed his grand plan is (and, hey, if that isn't enough...we see his crispified corpse later). In the end, things are made 'right' again when Indy gets back together with Marion (complete with callback), after their marriage fell apart following Mutt's death. Anyone worrying about Helena taking over from Indy needn't get their panties in a bunch if the final shot of him snatching his iconic fedora off a clothesline is any indication. While this movie certainly doesn't reach the 'classic' status of Raiders or Last Crusade, the best praise I can give it is that at least it's not as ridiculous as Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (which, much like the Star Wars prequels, it seems people are now pretending is some misunderstood masterpiece) or as gross as Temple of Doom. It's not 'bad'...just kinda boring.