4 stars out of 5
I was 12 when Raiders of the Lost Ark came out, and the lost ark of the Covenant was mentioned in the Haftorah portion at my bar mitzvah. Needless to say, I have an awful of lot of emotional energy invested in the character of Indiana Jones. And though hard to say how tween me would’ve reacted to a septuagenarian Indy running around the globe with his fedora and whip, the 54-year-old me pretty much loved it.
Sure, I’m increasingly a sucker for “let’s get the old gang back together” projects, and I recall being genuinely bummed when it was announced that Steven Spielberg decided not to direct this one. Still, replacement James Mangold wrote and directed one of my favorite movies, Cop Land. And his fellow screenwriters here were Jurassic Park and Crystal Skull vet David Koepp, and Jez and John-Henry Butterworth who wrote the very good Flag Day. So I felt the project was in capable hands.
An extended flashback with a de-aged Harrison Ford (ooh computers) and the trusty Toby Jones (as archaeological colleague Basil Shaw) opens the film. The action here felt like it could’ve used a little Spielbergizing, but the sequence does set the table: Nazis and this installment’s desired MacGuffin — the real-life Antikythera, fictionalized as Archimedes’ dial. As we settle in modern-day 1969, Dr. Jones is retiring from Hunter College (my mom’s alma mater!), his marriage with maid Marion (Karen Allen) is kaput after the death of their son (whoever’s idea it was to kill off Shia LaBeouf deserves a pat on the back and a gold-plated replica Lance of Longinus), Shaw’s daughter Helena — Indy’s goddaughter a.k.a. Phoebe Waller-Bridge — shows up, as does aging Nazi Dr. Voller from the flashback (a makeup-aged Mads Mikkelsen who I’d seen in a couple of movies but hadn’t made an impression before), both in search of that pesky dial.
So, there’s an awful lot of exposition and character introductions for the first 45 minutes or so, and it all hamstrings the movie a tad. But just about the time Indy reunites with his dear old pal Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) and, alone, heads to Tangiers, the film begins to soar and never looks back.
I credit Waller-Bridge for adding some real smarts and spunk — and a modern touch — to the proceedings. The character is a great foil for Indiana Jones and Waller-Bridge even believably holds her own in action scenes. Points also to teen actor Ethan Isidore as the requisite younger person, who pulls it off with nonchalance and charm. Among the grown-ups, it was easy to imagine Antonio Banderas as an old buddy of Jones, and Mikkelsen makes for a top-notch Nazi; I was really hoping to see his face melt.
And of course there is Mr. Harrison Ford. His somewhat grumpy true-life persona colors the character’s “just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in” reluctant last adventure. And the older Ford truly knows how to play this person who it’s not all effortless for anymore, who has slowly learned from experience what’s important in life, and who mourns what he’s lost. Though the back half of the film is packed with fun and thrilling chases and fights, all that early story development prepares us for some gravitas too. By the end — no spoilers here — I was in tears that continued into the credits. Music by John Williams! Executive producers George Lucas and Steven Spielberg! The gang’s all here.
Jack Silbert, curator