Quarantine Reviews 14: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Harrison Ford in his signature role as Indiana (photo credit: Lucasfilm)

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (released June 30, 2023)
Ryan's Rating: ✯✯1/2 (out of four)

"If Adventure has a Name it's Indiana Jones"

I was going back and forth between 2.5 and 3 stars. I initially chose 2.5 but went to 3 and now am back to 2.5. Overall the movie a fun though overlong ride not as good as the previous Indy films but better than many of the recent re-boot/sequels to come along.

The majority of the story takes place in 1969,  shortly after the Apollo 11 moon landing, with our favorite Dr. Jones retiring from teaching at Hunter College in New York City (a seeming step down from the vast Marshall College he and Marcus Brody worked at in the 1940s). He lives alone in a small apartment and is basically a man out of his time which has made him a curmudgeon. Then his estranged goddaughter Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) shows up asking for Indy's help in locating Archimedes' Dial which is said to have magic powers. If you know anything about Indiana Jones you can probably guess this leads to a globe trotting adventure.  

First off Ford is (still) wonderful as Jones, and it is exciting to see him put on the hat and whip one last time. He gives a great performance adding real pathos to some scenes and acknowledging that time is passing Indy by and he's seen so many things both great and terrible yet he still has one more run in him. It also has the meta quality of Ford himself as he has seen the movie industry change through the years and we as his fans have seen him change. Waller-Bridge's performance is great and engaging though her character occasionally is given odd changes in the beginning of the film in what seems an attempt by the screenwriters to give her unneeded depth, this is a heroes and villains story people. I would watch a stand alone period piece adventure movie starring Waller-Bridge, she is a great addition to the film.

The villains led by Mads Mikkelsen (always a fine villain remember Casino Royale) and his group of "former" Nazis are never as memorable as the ones in Raiders or even Cate Blanchett's Soviet in Crystal Skull. They serve their purpose but I feel Jones is better when he is taking on an army of endless soldiers with tanks as opposed to a set group of bad guys.

As we see in the movie trailer there is a sequence where Ford is made to look like he did forty years ago through CGI effects. And this opening sequence on a Nazi train is one of the most imaginative and engaging in the whole film. Though the CGI seemed a little off almost as if Ford is wearing a mask but I suspended my critique to thoroughly enjoy the sequence. Some of the later chases in the movie are often so clearly CGI creations it may take some viewers out of the moment.

The film is overlong at 2 hours and 45 minutes. The makers forget Indy is based on the old time Saturday Matinee Serials which are little short films from the 1940s which ran on TV in the 1950s and 1960s. All the previous Indy adventures were right around two hours yet here when we start heading for the three hour mark the story gets overwhelming where exposition drags and the chase scenes feel repetitive. I will say the dialogue is far better than the JJ Abrams TV banter of the recent Star Wars trilogy.

Director James Mangold is a good filmmaker and I've enjoyed a number of his previous films (I think Knight and Day from 2010 is one of the most enjoyable and underrated action comedies). He knows how to film big widescreen action chases and get good performances yet he has the unfortunate task of following Steven Spielberg and Mangold is not Spielberg (not many are). Spielberg is one of the most imaginative and greatest filmmakers of the last fifty years and probably in the history of all cinema. He is able to imbue a film with a true sense of awe and wonder and joy that few others can (Remember the crew of the cargo ship cheering as Indy is riding the top of the Nazi sub from Raiders, the wind blowing his hat back to him after surviving the tank going over the cliff from Last Crusade, etc).

All this being said the movie is fun and I had a good time. The film is a nice finale to the series (a better closing than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was fifteen years ago).It also reminded me how great John Williams' theme song is, the few times it is used brought me great joy. I saw it in a historic old movie theater which is how it is meant to be seen, a place where the seats aren't silly recliners, where you don't have to pick your seat in advance on a diagram that never resembles the actual auditorium, and the popcorn is not more expensive than the ticket. Maybe I have a little bit of Indiana Jones in me as well. "Give 'em Hell Indiana Jones". 

Quarantine Reviews 13: The Batman

Hello Readers, 2022 marked the return of the "only in theaters" movie releases. Here is a review of one of the movies I saw in 2022.

The Batman (released March 2022) Ryan's rating ✯✯✯ (out of four)

In Gotham City (here perpetually gloomy and often raining) a new to the cape Batman (Robert Pattinson) is working to clean up the crime in the city when a psycho calling himself The Riddler (Paul Dano) begins killing high level politicians and public servants (the mayor, the DA, Police Chief) in increasingly elaborate ways. Each death is accompanied by a riddle addressed to Batman and also gruesome videos shared on the internet with a greater conspiracy pointing to the late Thomas Wayne and family. This leads Batman to team up with Lt. Jim Gordon (the always reliable Jeffery Wright) and cat-burglar/club hostess Selina Kyle (Zoe Kravitz) to figure out the bigger picture and stop the madman. 

This is just part of the plot of this three hour film, there is also the Penguin (an unrecognizable Colin Farrell), Carmine Falcone (John Turturo), bigger societal issues of the wealthy vs. the working class, corruption in institutions, the internet creating extremism, etc. There is a lot going on in the film but it is very well made and well put together. The story by Matt Reeves and Peter Craig focuses more (compared to other Batman films) on Batman's detective origins with a lot of time spent investigating the Riddler's riddles, though savvy viewers will be able to figure out some of the clues far quicker than the people in the story. 

Reeves also serves as director and he and his team have fashioned a visually stunning film. Reeves knows how to stage scenes both big and small. The sequence where the Batmobile first appears is excellent, or when Batman first fights his way into the Iceberg Club with its bright red lights cutting through the darkness. The film often has one more trick or surprising gadget to showcase. In the final climax when Batman makes his entrance, it is truly exciting. The use of Nirvana's music in some key scenes is debatable, I personally was not a fan of its use here but I may be in the minority. Also note the movie is visually dark so if you're watching in a daytime room you may have a hard time seeing parts of the film. In the theater it was occasionally hard to see.

Pattinson is very good as Batman and to a degree Bruce Wayne. I say this because in the course of the long film he only appears as Bruce Wayne in a handful of scenes. Dano is very creepy as the Riddler (miles removed from Jim Carrey in the 1990s) though he has the unfortunate place of being behind Heath Ledger's Joker from The Dark Knight and some of his sequences are fairly similar (videos of his crimes, his long monologues, his crazed posse).

If you have no interest in a Batman movie then this is probably not for you. If you have the slightest interest there are rewards in watching the movie. I will say some of the content is pushing the limit of PG-13, the Riddler is intense and his murders are pretty graphic even if the most graphic moments are kept just out of frame there is enough shown. For example one victim's face is eaten by rats.

I am a fan of detective and investigative noir style movies so this was in my wheelhouse. It was a good film to get back into the theater to see.

Quarantine Reviews 12: AIR see this movie in the theater

 Air (released 2023). Ryan's Rating: ✯✯✯1/2 (out of four)

It's only a movie until someone goes to see it. 

This is the type of movie I truly wish there were more of in the theaters. Air directed by Ben Affleck and written by Alex Convery (in his first produced script) tells the story of Sonny Vaccaro (played by Matt Damon), the down on his luck Nike, Inc. recruiter who in 1984 bet his career and Nike's fledgling basketball shoe division on the wild idea to sign a rookie named Michael Jordan. We have all bought a pair of Air Jordan shoes and we know Michael Jordan would become one of, if not, the greatest basketball players but even with these foregone conclusions the film is still able to hold the tension, suspense and drama. While some may think this is a basketball movie or a story of Michael Jordan it really is not. It is the classic underdog story about the behind the scenes players when Nike was just a jogging shoe.

Damon, who gained a bit of weight for the role, is in a part similar to that of 2019's Ford v Ferrari (a movie I was also a big fan of and recommend). He brings an honesty, everyman quality, and screen presence and turns in a fine performance. It is also a joy for a fan like me who has seen him from his reckless young roles like Will Hunting and the gambler in Rounders through Jason Bourne actions, into these mature roles where he still carries the same determination and we stand for something attitude of those early films. To me he is the Jack Lemmon of today. The way Lemmon was to the 1970s and 1980s, a sturdy leading almost character actor who we can identify with and believe in.

The cast is filled with familiar faces and they fit their roles perfectly: Affleck plays Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight with his Buddhist aphorisms and his purple running suits. Chris Tucker as Howard White a Nike executive who eventually became the VP of the Air Jordan line, Tucker is very good as a supporting character actor at this point in his career while still employing the energy from his youth. I hope he does more of these dramatic supporting roles (similar to his work in Silver Linings Playbook). Jason Bateman plays the marketing executive and his deadpan expressions and delivery was made for this type of dialogue. Chris Messina, in a patented Messina role, as foul mouth sports agent David Falk. Matthew Maher steals his scenes as the odd designer who created the Air Jordan shoes. And the always wonderful Viola Davis (apparently requested by Michael Jordan to play this role) brings a gravitas and power to her handful of scenes as Mrs. Jordan, Michael's mom. The close-ups of her talking on the phone are a master class in performance. 

Convery's screenplay is well done with eloquent yet believable dialogue that is delivered in a fast back and forth manner it reminded me of Aaron Sorkin's work as well as those Howard Hawks 1940s films. Affleck's direction is also strong, he gets good performances and knows how to stage scenes while there aren't any big actions sequences he knows how to move the camera and he knows how to pace a film (neither of which are no longer givens in the movie industry sadly). The film also comes in just under two hours it knows how to tell its story. The omnipresent songs from the 1980s (Cyndi Lauper, Night Ranger, Big Country, etc) on the soundtrack was distracting and at times seemed overkill but I did appreciate the use of Tangerine Dream songs from other 1980s films, a nice nod to film buffs.

Produced by Amazon Studios they have decided to release it only in theaters and while it is not a special effects extravaganza it reminded me of how satisfying seeing a solid well made film on the big screen can be. Almost as satisfying as my Air Jordan shoes from when I was a kid.