That was not the vibe I was looking for in an Indiana Jones movie. The new Indiana Jones 5 trailer showed that a lot of the classic Indy tropes are just being reused to tell the new story, which was something I really did not want to see.
I don’t want to give up on this movie just yet, but I don’t like where it’s heading.
The newest Indiana Jones 5 trailer, which came out as this week is Star Wars (and Lucasfilm) celebration week, hit on a lot of the classic Indy tropes, such as the heroic chase scenes in the Middle East, exploring and solving the puzzles from the ancient world, jumping out of a crashing plane, fighting the Nazis, and finding ancient archeological finds…which may be what the vast majority of people wanted to see.
Indiana Jones is obviously one of the most successful film franchises in Hollywood history, so it would make sense that the overwhelming majority of people would want to see a return to the classic story beats the original trilogy (Raiders of the Lost Arc, The Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade). Yet, I just don’t think that’s in the best interest of the franchise.
I know I’m probably in a super minority, and I’m most likely overreacting as the movie is not even out yet, but this trailer just felt wrong to me.
The return to the Middle East (well, I’m assuming its either Egypt, Jordan, or some other place like that due to the architecture of the buildings) and featuring the Nazis as the main villains yet again feels like pure nostalgia-baiting for the sole purpose of bringing people back into the franchise for Indy and Harrison Ford’s final hooray, miking the legendary characters, and creating cookie-cutter spinoff shows.
Or, in other words, what Disney has done to Star Wars, Marvel (post Phase 3), Willow, etc.
I really hope I’m wrong as I really respect James Mangold as a director (he made Logan, The Wolverine, 3: 10 to Yuma, The Greatest Showman, Ford vs. Ferrari), but the whole premise of this movie feels like something a hack Disney executive would crap out.
Essentially, Indiana Jones and his goddaughter, the daughter of his best friend we never actually saw prior to this movie, will be searching for a magical artifact that will allow Jones to go back in time to fix some mistake we also never saw on film as a group of 1960s/70s (I don’t know what the exact timeframe is of this film) Nazis is racing to find the artifact first as they’re trying to fix Hitler’s mistakes in WWII.
(Disney/Lucasfilm-Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny-Official Trailer)
Was this really the best idea they could come up with?
Sure, the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a flawed film as it felt extremely rushed and “un-Indiana Jones” in some plot points, but the switch to the Soviets and alien technology as the focal villain and archeological finds, respectively, was really compelling.
Yes, Cate Blanchett’s Irina Spalko was rather forgettable, but the Soviets as a whole were a much-needed switch up from the Nazis as they possessed their own unique challenges, complexes, and nuances for Indy to outduel. Moreover, the switch to alien technology, which was a big debate in 1960’s America if it actually existed (and it still persists America today), was a nice change from the classic biblical/ancient treasures the OG trilogy made famous.
Going back to the Nazis and some ancient treasure pretty much kills off the technological, societal, and political development of the Indy world.
Speaking of politics, I picked up on a few modern-day political ideologies that really have no place within the Lucasfilm world, let alone an Indiana Jones movie.
Personally, I don’t care what someone thinks, says, or believes in a political ideology, regardless of where said belief stands (as long as it’s not an extremist belief, obviously), as it is their right to believe whatever they want, but shoving (key word here) said beliefs into an Indiana Jones movie is fundamentally wrong.
Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and all of these Lucasfilm movies serve as hopeful, exciting, enjoyable, charismatic, emotional, and escapism entertainment that fills and audience with joy and the belief one can achieve their lifelong dreams, not be a “propaganda piece” (for the lack of a better term) for a political ideology.
Now, I understand Star Wars has subtle references to how Geroge Lucas felt about certain things, but that was perfectly acceptable as it was not overbearing nor lecturing. Removing one’s personal politics from their writings is extremely difficult, but it’s not hard to convey said beliefs in a subtle, digestible way.
Just look at all the famous authors and see how they deftly interwove their personal beliefs into their classic stories if you don’t believe me.
(Disney/Lucasfilm-Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny-Official Trailer)
Like I said, I don’t care what someone believes in, but you can’t tell me minute 1:04 to 1:08 of the trailer isn’t overbearing to the writer/director/whoever wrote that line’s political belief. That shouldn’t be in Indiana Jones, and I pray the whole movie isn’t filled with similar, in-your-face messaging.
Nevertheless, we’ll see if this movie overcomes all of my doubts and is an instant classic as that would be a great send off for Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones), Steven Spielberg (co-creator/executive producer/the original director of the series), George Lucas (co-creator/executive producer), and John Williams (composer of all five movies).
I just don’t know if it will pan out that way…
Images Source: Featured Image: (Disney/Lucasfilm) (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | Official Trailer – YouTube)
In Text Image 1: (Disney/Lucasfilm) (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | Official Trailer – YouTube)
In Text Image 2: (Disney/Lucasfilm) (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | Official Trailer – YouTube)
