Movie Reviews
Movie review: Nostalgic, yes, but ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ lacks adventure
It’s been 15 years since we last encountered Indiana Jones, the whip-cracking archaeologist made iconic by star Harrison Ford, director Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas, who conceived of the story while seeking to update the classic adventure serial. Audiences fell for the brainy, blunt and brave Indy in his globe-trotting adventures explored in the original trilogy, which started with “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark” in 1981. Even the fourth installment, arriving in 2008, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” was profitable, and warmly received despite its goofy story.
It’s no surprise that in a filmmaking landscape where legacy sequels, or “legasequels,” roam the box office, the powers that be would take ol’ Indy out for another spin. Ford had returned to both “Star Wars” and “Blade Runner” to positive notices, so it made sense to get the band back together for one more gig, to see if there’s any juice left to squeeze. Enter “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” in which James Mangold takes the reins from Spielberg.
Mangold also co-wrote the script with Jez and John-Henry Butterworth and David Koepp, and, true to the spirit of the legasequel, it’s about time travel — the story reflecting the nostalgic desire of both filmmakers and audiences to utilize movies as vehicles to revisit the emotions we felt when we were young. Lucas and Spielberg used “Indiana Jones” to recreate the feeling of their favorite childhood serials, and Mangold is tasked with delivering a film that brings us back to that feeling of falling in love with “Raiders of the Lost Ark” back in the ‘80s. He approaches the task so literally that he seems to have overlooked the goal of simply making a great adventure movie.
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” hits the nostalgia button from minute one, with an almost creepy, fetishistic reanimation of Indy’s appeal. These reminders of what was are like constant jabs in the ribs, as if the filmmakers are saying, “Remember this? You like this.” It’s cameos from beloved characters, reminders of Indy’s well-known idiosyncrasies (he hates snakes and enjoys punching Nazis), and do-overs of famous bits from the previous films. They try so hard to recapture the original charm but haven’t actually thought about what made it charming in the first place, and the result is a sloggy, dull sequel that’s more “Bogus Journey” than “Excellent Adventure.”
It opens with a sequence that takes place toward the end of World War II, as Jones and fellow archaeologist Basil Shaw (Toby Jones) sneak around piles of treasure looted by Nazis, trying to liberate a few historically significant — and potentially powerful — baubles. Fast forward to the late ‘60s, where Indy is a grumpy professor in New York City. He has no groupies, no wife and no child when a strange woman, Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), ambushes him at a dive bar. She’s Indy’s goddaughter, the daughter of dear departed Bas, and she wants a mysterious dial crafted by Greek mathematician Archimedes that her pop pilfered from the Nazi loot train. Can Indy help her?
He doesn’t have much of a choice when they’re suddenly pursued through the city by two bloodthirsty blondes with buzz cuts (Boyd Holbrook and Olivier Richters). These menaces are in the employ of Dr. Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), a shadowy figure from Indy’s past and a rocket scientist/former Nazi who needs the dial to “fix Hitler’s mistakes.” Yes, the plot itself is a rather hackneyed pop culture meme.
Mangold is a slick filmmaker, and in “Dial of Destiny,” he alternates the nostalgia bumps and surprise cameos with extremely fast set pieces; the entire film feels like one long car (horse, boat, tuk-tuk) chase. All of the action sequences are capably crafted, and a total snooze. As Indy and Helena — and a precocious poppet (Ethann Isidore) they pick up in Morocco — dart around the globe retrieving various items, the bad guys chase them and relieve them of said items. Helena quips annoyingly, Indy grumbles predictably, and Mangold stuns us into a stupor with his perfectly competent filmmaking. It is a crushingly dull film until it becomes jaw-droppingly cartoonish.
Perhaps a swig of something familiar in an air-conditioned theater will be just the ticket for a summer weekend. However, this dose of “Indiana Jones” is a disappointingly diluted version of this favorite hero that has the power to put a fan off the franchise forever.
‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’
1 1/2 stars (out of 4)
Running time: 2:34
MPA rating: PG-13 (for sequences of violence and action, language and smoking)
How to watch: In theaters Friday
Movie Reviews
Mind Body Spirit – Review | Yoga Found Footage Horror Movie | Heaven of Horror
Want to be a yoga influencer?
If ever you wanted to be a yoga influencer, then Mind Body Spirit will cure you of that. Just kidding, as it isn’t the practice of yoga that makes this a horror movie, but rather an old book full of ancient rituals. I always find myself thinking “Has nobody watched Evil Dead?” whenever they embark on reading out loud from weird books.
However, for this particular horror story, the book was left behind by the lead character’s grandmother. Anya has just inherited her grandmother’s old house and before she finds the book, she also discovers a huge part of the house. Including a strange room and a huge attic.
Both would have made me leave the house immediately. And if not then, the things that happen next most certainly would have. You see, I have actually watched a whole lot of horror movies, so I already know that this cannot end well for Anya.
From self-help to despair
Anya has never met her grandmother, but the book (along with the house) was left for her. While Anya’s mom begs her to leave the place and recognizes that her grandmother was not a good person, Anya looks at it all like some sort of fate.
What starts as a spiritual self-help guide that Anya follows to kick off her aspiring career as a yoga influencer turns into something very sinister. The only other person in Anya’s house is an already established lifestyle influencer who tries to help Anya get started – because Anya’s mother asks her to.
While Anya is portrayed wonderfully (and also creepily, at times) by Sarah J. Bartholomew, the influencer Kenzi is portrayed by Madi Bready. I loved how we also got to watch commercials for various products that sponsor these influencers.
Not least seeing Kenzi from KenziFit in her element. A great detail that made it all come alive and feel very real.
Movie Reviews
‘For Sale’ review: Fun horror comedy can’t quite close the deal
For Sale is an interesting little comedy horror. Mason McGinness (Andrew Roth, The Wire) is a smarmy salesman who is not above cutting some corners to close the deal. When he pushes things too far, he finds himself out of a job and a home. He has a chance to right his life if he can sell a house with a sordid past and lots of unwanted guests.
The debate between practical effects and CGI is an ongoing one that will only end when there are no longer audiences old enough to have nostalgia for old school effects. Even though special effects are a relatively big part of For Sale, it does not offer much to that particular argument. Instead, it is an example of the effectiveness of simplicity.
For Sale is a haunted house movie, so there has to be ghosts, mysterious happenings, and strange sightings. While nothing is Savini-esque and the budget does not allow for massive computer generated spectacle, the film is great at using small moments to create maximum terror. There are some excellent jump scares and the use of shadows add to the biggest moments. When the specters who inhabit the house make their appearances, they have a cheesy look that works with the story being told.
Charm may be the strongest thing about the film. Quirky music and characters are the biggest takeaway from For Sale. Roth is particularly good as the shady agent who will do anything to get his sale. He is in just about every scene and his personality ensures that anyone watching will not be bored of him. The plot is more about the development of his character than the actual scares.
For some, this may end up being an issue. For Sale skirts around the horror elements for the vast majority of the time. It is not until about an hour in that the story truly kicks in. Everything before is set up. This would be fine – and it is very well paced – except a tone is never established. It is not tense enough for horror fans, but also does not provide constant laughs. And when the terror finally does take center stage, things come to a screeching halt.
The ending is also a little erratic. At first, it appears as if viewers will be getting a more family friendly ending complete with Mason learning a life lesson. This is before a dark turn that leads to a confusing finale that is sorta cute and sorta funny but incomplete more than anything else.
For Sale opens on digital platforms May 7
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Movie Reviews
‘Prom Dates’ Movie Review: A Somewhat Fun Coming-of-Age Comedy
Released on Hulu (and Disney+) with little to no fanfare, Kim O. Nguyen’s Prom Dates has an immediate aura of familiarity to it. Notably plucking its core character arcs from Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart (and raunchy humor from Emma Seligman’s Bottoms, among others), it retreads a conventional story of two best friends, Jess (Antonia Gentry) and Hannah (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’ Julia Lester), who have made a pact that their senior prom will be the greatest night of their lives.
The two have dates for prom until Jess’ boyfriend, Luca (Jordan Buhat, with an incredible turn as the biggest douche of our time), cheats on her and gets caught. Meanwhile, Hannah desperately wants to come out as gay, but her friend Greg (Kenny Ridwan) promposes to her in front of the entire school, putting her in a precarious situation. Hannah has the hots for Angie (Terry Hu) but can’t muster up a casual conversation with her without choking on her gum and farting (one of the film’s least funny sequences), while Greg has rewired his entire life on being devoted to her.
This makes for some relatively funny banter, with Ridwan stealing the show during a key scene where he attempts to look for Hannah but meets her brother, Jacob (JT Neal), so dehydrated from crying that he chugs a large water bottle in one go. This type of physical comedy is classic but is always effective, especially when the actors know when to be ultra-expressive (and when to ultimately dial it down) when the scene warrants it. In that regard, Ridwan is the best part of the movie, always appearing in the most uncomfortable situations and stealing the spotlight away from Gentry and Lester, who are equally as good.
Truth be told,the movie wouldn’t have worked if the chemistry between the two leads wasn’t solid. Thankfully, it’s far more than that, with Gentry and Lester portraying their friendship in an achingly sincere, relatable light that makes each uncomfortable situation far more entertaining than they should (I mean, sneezing blood on a stripteaser isn’t funny, but the way in which it’s executed is so surprising that it may bring chuckles out of you).
Gentry’s performance is far more grounded than Lester’s, but their different traits work quite well when paired together. Even if their personalities couldn’t be more different, they still find a way to connect with each other, leading to often absurd situations, which always end with the two finding ways to reconnect as they attempt (but miserably fail) to find new prom dates.
It’s a shame that the bulk of the film re-treads character arcs and a storyline we’ve all seen before, ultimately making the viewing experience a tad uneven. That’s not saying there aren’t any strong moments; there are plenty of hilarious situations that deftly use physical humor in a way that feels fresh and original (the frat boy concussion scene is a perfect example of subverting initial expectations the scene immediately sets up), but there are also plenty of situations that fall flat on their face.
One of them sees Hannah throw up a grand total of four times on a fountain as a couple celebrates their two-year wedding anniversary (with She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’s Patty Guggenheim appearing in a small role). The confrontation between the couple is funny, but what comes before isn’t, and it continues for a long time before the scene morphs into something quasi-interesting.
The movie then jumps to its ending, which, in all honesty, has highs and lows. The biggest high involves Lester singing a rendition of Frank Sinatra’s L.O.V.E. while the lows occur as Nguyen and writer D.J. Mausner go for some of the biggest and most uneventful prom movie clichés in the book, attempting to nicely tie everything together in a bow instead of going beyond what the initial character arcs introduced. Still, Prom Dates is a relatively inoffensive movie that cements both Gentry and Lester as terrific up-and-coming talents, and acts as a reminder that, if you haven’t seen both Ginny & Georgia and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, you should definitely get on that train right now.
Prom Dates is now available to stream on Hulu in the United States and on Disney+ internationally.
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