Indy 4
By the numbers, pretty much. Clumsy insertions like the McCarthyesque FBI and the hotrodding teenagers just so that the audience can be beaten over the head with the 50s-America setting, or the You Betcha Da Comrade Ebil Commies from Central Casting. The assorted action sequences which looked like they'd been marinating in the leftovers barrel since the eighties. It really went downhill after the ludicrously over-the-top early scene where Indy survives an atomic explosion without a scratch. Add a bunch of unnecessary characters just so that the slapped-on family-friendly end scene doesn't come out of nowhere, more CGI than you can poke a stick at, and horribly overdesigned ancient deathtrap architecture, and ignore 99% of the opportunities to throw in callbacks and gentle fun-poking at the franchise and character.
It could have been handled with a lot more fun and reverence, but settled for being a somewhat humdrum way of crudely retiring the old Indy and clearing the way for his successor. Fans may well be disappointed in a film which could well be Harrison Ford's swan song as the iconic Doctor Jones. I, for one, would have liked to see a lot more of "experienced Indy effortlessly showing up the young punk, to his astonishment" scenes.
On the plus side, it gently tagged a whole lot of 50s biker rebel references for Shia LaBeouf, from James Dean to Marlon Brando, even if his bike vanished early in the film. This gave his character a dimension over and above "the kid". Just please, don't ask about the Tarzan sequence.
In summary: disappointingly missable, although I don't regret buying the ticket.
It could have been handled with a lot more fun and reverence, but settled for being a somewhat humdrum way of crudely retiring the old Indy and clearing the way for his successor. Fans may well be disappointed in a film which could well be Harrison Ford's swan song as the iconic Doctor Jones. I, for one, would have liked to see a lot more of "experienced Indy effortlessly showing up the young punk, to his astonishment" scenes.
On the plus side, it gently tagged a whole lot of 50s biker rebel references for Shia LaBeouf, from James Dean to Marlon Brando, even if his bike vanished early in the film. This gave his character a dimension over and above "the kid". Just please, don't ask about the Tarzan sequence.
In summary: disappointingly missable, although I don't regret buying the ticket.