Goodbyes don91裸聊视频檛 tend to mean much in the Hollywood franchise system. Death isn91裸聊视频檛 a reliable end for characters or, lately, even actors.
Technology, nostalgia and the often-inflated value of brands and IP have created a nightmarish cycle of resurrection and regurgitation, curdling what we love most.
And yet when someone like , for better or worse, you believe him. 91裸聊视频淚ndiana Jones91裸聊视频� producer Frank Marshall has also said that they won91裸聊视频檛 recast the character, which seems more dubious and, though well-intentioned, something he won91裸聊视频檛 be able to guarantee. All it takes is a new executive demanding a reboot.
Not that it would ever really work, though. Any self-respecting movie fan knows the truth: The magic of Indiana Jones belongs wholly to Harrison Ford.
Apparently, he doesn91裸聊视频檛 even necessarily need Steven Spielberg behind the camera, though, to be fair, the foundation was well-laid for a veteran like . But there is no Indy 91裸聊视频� none that we care about anyway 91裸聊视频攚ithout Ford.
In this way, it91裸聊视频檚 hard not to go into 91裸聊视频淚ndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,91裸聊视频� in theaters Friday, without a sense of melancholy 91裸聊视频� not exactly the ideal state of mind for what should be, and mostly is, a fun summer blockbuster. But it certainly adds a poignancy to the whole endeavor whether the film merits it or not.
If only it didn91裸聊视频檛 start with that pesky de-aging technology (the best it91裸聊视频檚 ever looked but it remains unsettling), giving us a 45-year-old Indiana Jones doing some of the wildest stunts we91裸聊视频檝e ever seen our beloved archeology professor attempt 91裸聊视频� atop a speeding train to boot. This sequence is ostensibly there to introduce the film91裸聊视频檚 MacGuffin, Archimedes Antikythera, a real celestial calculation machine with extraordinary predictive capabilities that in the film is bestowed with some otherworldly powers.
But we know the real reason: It91裸聊视频檚 there to let us gaze at that familiar face and to go on one last adventure with the Indy we grew up with, before being thrust back reality with a nearly 80-year-old Ford (he91裸聊视频檚 81 in July) playing a 70-something Indy.
This isn91裸聊视频檛 inherently sad, but Dr. Jones is certainly reintroduced in the most unglamorous way possible: Sleeping on a reclining chair in a sad New York apartment, a glass of something alcoholic in his hand and threadbare boxer shorts on his person. He91裸聊视频檚 depression personified, retiring from the university where the kids barely pay attention to him anyway (long gone are the 91裸聊视频淚 love you91裸聊视频� eyelids), estranged from Karen Allen91裸聊视频檚 Marion and watching the world go space crazy around him.
We91裸聊视频檒l have to see him work back up to his adventuresome self. No training montages required, thankfully, just a plane ticket, his classic uniform (still fits!) and his old improvisational spirit.
The cumbersome plot (script is credited to Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, David Koepp and Mangold) strains to justify and give meaning to the search for the Antikythera: The FBI is on the hunt for it, as is Nazi scientist J眉rgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) for whom the war hasn91裸聊视频檛 ended, and the daughter (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) of Indy91裸聊视频檚 late partner Basil (Toby Jones) who was driven mad by the gadget.
It91裸聊视频檚 a bit much, as are many of the overly elaborate and strangely murky-looking action sequences from the train in 1944 to a deep-sea diving sequence with killer eels. The movie hits its action high notes when it sticks to the tactile classics, like a brilliantly executed rickshaw chase in Tangier.
Waller-Bridge91裸聊视频檚 Helena is an enormously enjoyable character, too 91裸聊视频� a brilliant archeologist herself who91裸聊视频檚 chosen a more glamorous, dangerous and decidedly black market kind of existence, selling stolen antiquities to the world91裸聊视频檚 wealthiest and working her way out of debt. She91裸聊视频檚 introduced as a wild card and a lot of the tension is derived from whether Indy should trust her.
It91裸聊视频檚 a very good non-romantic pairing of sharp-witted old souls, a generation apart. But you91裸聊视频檇 think in an almost two-and-a-half-hour film there might have been more time for one of our returning favorites, like John Rhys-Davies Sallah (he does get a few good moments).
I91裸聊视频檓 not sure anyone had an especially burning need to know what Indiana Jones was up to lately, but at least it gives everyone a chance to end on a higher note than 91裸聊视频淜ingdom of the Crystal Skull.91裸聊视频� Or maybe Ford just needed some closure on one of his iconic characters so that everyone will stop asking him about them.
91裸聊视频淚ndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny91裸聊视频� might not be 91裸聊视频淩aiders91裸聊视频� or 91裸聊视频淭he Last Crusade91裸聊视频� but it91裸聊视频檚 solid, swashbuckling summer fare and a dignified sendoff to one of cinema91裸聊视频檚 most flawless castings.
91裸聊视频淚ndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,91裸聊视频� a Walt Disney Co. release in theaters Friday, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for, 91裸聊视频渓anguage, action, sequences of violence, smoking.91裸聊视频� Running time: 144 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
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