Warning: this text tells some key parts of the movie Indiana Jones and the Call of Fate.
indiana jones is back. It’s been 34 years since the movie that was supposed to be his farewell-she even had the word “last” in the title-and 15 years since she returned in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skullbut Harrison Ford he donned his brown hat and leather jacket for the fifth and probably last time.
On this occasion, however, he is 80 years old (es 20 older than Sean Connery when he played Indy’s father in the last crusadeand the film is not directed by the co-creator of the series, Steven Spielbergbut by James Mangold, so Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (translated as Indiana Jones and the call of fate o Indiana Jones and the dial of fate) has the potential to be a disaster.
The six-episode Turkish miniseries that was a success on Telefe and can be seen on Netflix
The good news is that it’s not a disaster. It is a respectable and competent new chapter of the series. The bad news is that a mess could have been more worth it. Indiana Jones and the call of fate takes a sudden, bold, and sure to be contentious turn into crazy unfamiliar territory in its final half hour, but otherwise It’s like a fanfiction, video game, or theme park ride from the franchise.in the sense that it is content to include references to everything you already saw in other Indiana Jones movies, but with little Spielberg spark.
The feeling that not as exciting as you expected seizes one during a prologue set in the last days of the Second World War. Indy and his friend Basil (Toby Jones) are trying to prevent the beleaguered Nazis from retreating to Berlin with a trainload of looted antiquities, among which a contraption built by Archimedes catches their eye.
Bearing a clear resemblance to the alethiometer of The Golden Compass (Philip Pullman’s film, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig), this sci-fi instrument not only uses mathematics to predict storms and earthquakes, but also “rifts in time,” which is why it also un físico nazi, Voller (Mads Mikkelsenplaying the Eurovillain role that suits him so well), be eager to get your hands on it.
Speaking of “rifts in time”, Ford has been digitally rejuvenated to have the softer face and thick brown hair that she had in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Arkbut this digital trick ends up conveying the feeling of someone who it’s not quite real.
In fact, this overly long prologue not only goes back to the train scene at the beginning of Indiana Jones and the last crusadebut Remember what happened with Spielberg’s Tintin animationin the fact that although last-minute escapes are theoretically exciting, in these cases obviously they are too fake as to quicken the pulse.
What is worse is that when the film jumps to 1969, the unreality loaded with the computer generated images. Indy is now about to retire from a daunting teaching job in New York. No sign of the wife and child he had at the end of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and overall, he seems to be a similar relic to the ones he usually digs up.
But then her goddaughter, Basil’s cordial archaeologist daughter, Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), shows up to ask him about Archimedean contraptionwhich has been missing for decades and has been split into two pieces, increasing the search possibilities.
Of course, Helena isn’t the only person on her trail. Voller is alive and well and has been working for the government of USAso soon the good and the bad chase each other through the usual caves, temples and dusty markets of the Mediterranean basin.
Using the whip sadly
Like another of Ford’s so-called “legacy sequels,” Star Wars: The Force Awakensthis brings back old characters (John Rhys-Davies’ Sallah has a nonsensical cameo), introduces new ones that are eerily similar to old characters (Ethann Isidore performs a poor rendition of “Plug” by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom), and it has the air of a movie passing the torch (or scourge) to the next generation. But it does all of this in an even darker way than The awakening of the Force.
I’m not sure how many fans want to see Indiana Jones like a broken and defenseless old man who hides in a corner while her condescending goddaughter assumes leadership, but that’s what we get. And it’s as bleak as it sounds.
Also, everything is smaller and cheaper than in the original trilogy. Indy against the military might of the Third Reich in 1936? We could all support that. But Indy against a scientist and his silent, interchangeable henchmen in 1969? It’s just not a big deal.
Mangold and his team diligently execute the action sequences, but it’s often hard to tell what’s going on or why. Besides, there is a dearth of surprising and exciting moments in which one wants to stand up and applauddespite the best efforts of the soulful soundtrack by John Williams.
Let’s look at an early manhunt in New York, for example. It’s set during a parade honoring the three astronauts who were on the Apollo 11 lunar mission, so you can imagine the pranks Spielberg might have come up with: some Buzz Aldrin slapstick, perhaps, or a giant papier-mâché moon rolling. down Fifth Avenue like the rock on in search of the lost ark. But Mangold and his crew do so little with the parade that you wonder why they bothered to organize it.
The same goes for the scenes where Indy comes face to face with snake-like eels or when he finds his way to Archimedes’ tomb. The banter, the fun, and the exuberance just aren’t there.so instead of a joyous farewell to our beloved hero, we get a depressing reminder of how much livelier his past adventures were.
Given that the script is credited to four writers: Mangold, David Koepp, and brothers Jez and John-Henry Butterworth,They couldn’t have at least thought of something cool for Indy to do with his whip.?
By Nicholas Barber, for BBC Culture
2023-05-21 23:20:22
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