SANDY SAW IT: Throwback’s Sandy Maxx gives her take on the last – WE THINK – “Indiana Jones” movie.
Written by Sandy Maxx of the Throwback Team
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” takes you through a four-star, fun, action-packed ride around the world and through time in trains, planes, cars, motorcycles, horses, and tuk tuks. The adventures are on the scale of James Bond unbelievability in the nearly constant pursuit scenes, but it doesn’t take away from the story. From crashing the 1969 Apollo 11 homecoming parade in the streets of New York City to zipping through the streets of Morocco, the film is an adventure.
The cast of characters deliver the goods with an entertaining, thoughtful script that nods to moments in the previous films in the Indiana Jones series without being cheesy or self-conscious. The story has our hero and his goddaughter competing with yet another Nazi villain in the Indiana Jones series for yet another archaic treasure, this time one created by ancient Greek mathematician, Archimedes. Harkening back to the time when Short Round accompanied on the “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” quest, this story has the young thief, Teddy, who adds a layer of youthful perspective.
My main curiosity was how the film effectively was going to use special effects to reverse age Harrison Ford, which got a lot of pre-release publicity.
I’ve had a crush on Harrison Ford since I saw him in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Blade Runner. Yeah, he was cool as Han Solo in early Star Wars films, but I was a child when those movies came out. So, I’ve had my eye on his rugged handsomeness for decades now and if anyone could be a good judge of just how accurate artificial intelligence could capture Ford’s appealing essence, I feel I’m qualified.
The reverse aging effect is used in the very first scenes of the film and it is incredible. Seamless. Not distracting at all and a real treat. Both Harrison Ford and actor Mads Mikkelsen – whom you may recognize as the villain, Le Chiffre in the 007 movie “Casino Royale” – get the A.I. treatment and look naturally like younger versions of themselves. It is a real treat and also a fascinating new reality for the future of filmmaking. It is possible that current actors with a lot of film to draw data from could live on forever in future projects.
“Fleabag” fans, Phoebe Waller-Bridge is perfect and goes toe-to-toe with Harrison Ford. I want to be her BFF in this film and in real life. It was a treat to see Toby James, a small-in-size stellar English character actor known for his work in The Hunger Games movies but my favorite role of his is as a terrible person in the BBC “Sherlock” series.
Back to the film, it is a perfect summer escape. I sat through the credit as I always do for every film, even when I’m watching at home, and there are not Easter Eggs or teasers for a sixth film.
Enjoy this one. It truly seems to be the last in this series.
