TLDR: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
It's called capitalism!
Plot: Finding himself in a new era, approaching retirement, Indy wrestles with fitting into a world that seems to have outgrown him. But as the tentacles of an all-too-familiar evil return in the form of an old rival, Indy must don his hat and pick up his whip once more to make sure an ancient and powerful artifact doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.
Direction: James Mangold was a great choice for this first and probably (hopefully) only entry not helmed by Steven Spielberg. He makes movies that exist because he loves other movies. Not only does he clearly love Indy, giving us what we want without relying on hack-nostalgia bait, but his filmmaking DNA is riddled with influences that stretch far and wide. Isn't that why we love Spielberg?
Screenplay: Normally, four credited screenwriters is a bad sign, but not only is there nothing to really complain about (except the length!), there's good pedigree here: Tony winner Jez Butterworth and his brother and frequent writing partner John-Henry Butterworth, David Koepp (Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds), and Mangold. The best line is about invading Poland, because it wouldn't be Indy without Nazis...even if it is 1969.
Performances: Ranked: de-aged Harrison Ford, Mads Mikkelson, Harrison Ford, Olivier Richters, Boyd Holbrook, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Toby Jones, Ethann Isidore, the picture of Shia LeBeouf on the mantle, the climactic cameo that I won't spoil, (but you wouldn't believe me if I told you.)
Cinematography: Phedon Papamichael (Poison Ivy, The Trial of the Chicago 7) does fantastic work. I'm glad I just got glasses, I can really appreciate it!
Best Moment: It's a tie for the early action set pieces: flashback Indy fighting Nazis on a train or present-day Indy running from Nazis on a horse...in the subway.
Imaginary Accolade: The Life Achievement Award for Every Piece of Memorable Movie Music Ever goes to...John Williams!
Everything is too long! Is it too long? Yes! At 154 minutes, it's the longest Indy and that should tell you all you need. If the other entries didn't need the extra half hour, neither does this one. It would be easy to blame the prologue, but it's probably the best part of the movie. Last Crusade has a prologue!
See it in cinemas or wait to stream: Action/adventure movies are big-screen movies.
Rating: Better than Crystal Skull, not as good as Temple of Doom.
Credit: Plot synopsis from Letterboxd via TMDb.
I really enjoyed the categories here. Easy to follow and quick trivia that I can reference. I'm making my kids which all the preceding Indy films prior to watching so ya know, it'll be a while before we get here. Good stuff. Will link over to this from my post on "The Bear" as I called out this movie as one I was looking forward to seeing!
Random trivia: I'm a huge Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) fan and I read over the weekend that George Lucas nixed the idea of having one consistent female partner for Jones. Instead, he said each movie should introduce a new female protagonist and love interest. Spielberg protested and initially had wanted his ex wife, Amy Irving to play Marion in the original. Well, ironically his future wife Kate Capshaw played the female lead in the 2nd film, "Temple of Doom" - Anyways, should we be really peeved at Lucas for such an obvious oversight and mistake?