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Wednesday, July 5, 2023

Destiny's Name is Adventure

 Mrs. Spew and I saw Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny last night, so tis time to re-rank the Indy movies.  My old post set the terms, so I am just going to consider where the new movie stands in the various categories.  To be clear, Raiders was and remains my very favorite movie of all time. So, its ranking ain't changing.  But I do have a question: when did they Star Wars: a New Hope Raiders so that it is now called Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark?

First: Love interests remains unchanged essentially: Karen Allen/Marion Ravenwood (Raiders, Skull, Dial)> Allison Doody/Elsa Schneider (Crusade) > Kate Capshaw/Willie Scott.  Marion made a late but very moving appearance, and that scene by itself elevates the movie, bringing a heap of heart and freckles.  Indeed, I probably should announce my bias in all of this--I married a spunky brunette with blue eyes and freckles.  Coincidence?  Not nearly enough Marion here, but I will take what I can get.

The Object: Original ranking was Ark of the Convenant > Holy Grail > Shankara Stones > Crystal Skull.  Where does the Dial of Destiny fit?  Alas, it was not one McGuffin but three--the original half, the second half, plus the document explaining where one could find the second half.  That it was a trick--set to always bring the person to Archimedes is pretty terrific.  It also makes the device more misunderstood than the others, which is a plus.  But it ain't the grail and it ain't the ark.  So, it goes in between the Grail and the Stones.

Bad Guy: Previous ranking--Rene Belloq (Paul Freeman-Raiders) > Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett-Skull) > Mola Ram (Amrish Puri-Doom) > Walter Donovan (Julian Glover-Crusade).  Where does Voller/Schmidt rank? He was very clever and had the most ambitious plan to be the uber-Nazi.  I didn't find the character that compelling, but maybe on a second watch of the movie.  Right now, he would be somewhere either at or just behind Irina.  

Second Stooges: Voller had a sidekick that might be more interesting on re-watch--an American Nazi called Klaber.  Not that bright but vicious.  Does stand out compared to most of the other movies but inferior to Raiders.

Least Unintentional Comedy: Old ranking had Raiders > Crusade > Doom > Skull.  I don't remember much unintentional comedy in this one.  The movie mostly worked (although it was long and a bit slow in the middle).  I didn't find, for instance, the Archimedes appearance to be inadvertently, funny unlike the old knight in Crusade.  So, not sure where to rank Dial here.  A re-watch will be most helpful.

Best Action: Raiders > Crusade > Doom > Skull.  Can't compete with Raiders or Crusade, but there were some pretty terrific sequences--the train sequence with the anti-aircraft gun was memorable, as was the horse through the subway.  The diving scene was not that thrilling, and driving a small vehicle through narrow roads was not that special although it was evocative of chasing Marion in the basket in Raiders.  Plus too soon after my driving through Toledo.  The plane sequence was fun, which was a nice bit of basic Indy as Indy in the skies was important in Raiders, Doom, and Crusade.  

Best Icky: Ye olde ranking was Snakes (Raiders) > Bugs (Doom) > Ants (Skull) > Rats (Crusade).  This movie's icky stuff were very much homages to the past--a cave of bugs that looked a lot like Doom and eels--which are snakes?  That was fun.  So, I might put this movie's icky right after Raiders.

Best Prof Moment: The old ranking was Crusade > Raiders > Skull > Doom.  This movie had the most heartbreaking prof moment--Indy as a less engaged prof with unengaged students.  Mostly falling asleep, none doing the reading, and none all that interested.  But students finding a geriatric prof to be out of touch was perhaps the most realistic prof moment of the series.  So, Dials goes after Raiders.

Hardest To Turn Away From: Raiders > Crusade  > Doom... note that Skulls isn't listed as I never felt compelled to rewatch it. I have turned it off when I have seen it on tv.  It is the only Indiana Jones movie I have only seen once or twice.  I will be watching Dial again, but it is long and has a stretch in the middle that could have been faster.  But the first part in WWII is quite good and the fight/chase in NYC is fun as are various scenes throughout. So, it is rewatchable, probably on a par with or slightly more so than Doom.

I didn't have a category last time for sidekicks/pals:  Helena/Wombat and Teddy compete well with Sallah (who shows up here and so movingly so) and Short Round and Henry Jones Sr and definitely Mutt.  If I had to rank sidekicks/pals now, which blogging law requires, I guess I would have Henry Sr (Crusade) > Short Round (Doom) > Helena/Teddy (Dials) > Sallah (Raiders) > Mutt (Skulls).  Indeed, the smart move in Dials was killing off Mutt--it solved the problem of what to do with that character and gave the movie some emotional heft--would would Indy do if he could go back in time.

I do have some quibbles about how the movie worked--did Schmidt/Voller have his WWII plane and staff hanging out in Sicily or did he call them to get there in case they found the McGuffin pieces/time rift navigator in Sicily?  I did love that Achimedes had them all fooled. 

So, where do we stand?  The real contest is for third place as it is very hard to supplant Crusade for second best Indiana Jones movie.  I think Doom was a faster movie with very memorable sequences, but lower emotional stakes.  More humor but some of it was inadvertent.  A little bit of Marion goes a long way, better Object, better bad guy, the action was comparable to Doom, sad prof better than no prof, but Doom is probably more rewatchable.  Raiders >Crusade >> Dials/Doom >>>>>>> Skulls.

I will have to rewatch to be more confident, but right now I think Dial might be as good as or better than Doom.  Which is a huge relief, to go out on a good note, to get the sour taste of Skulls out of heads, to see old Indy one more time.  It definitely had a lot of closure, completing the series nicely.  I wish it was a bit shorter and faster, but it had a lot to carry.  Again, that last scene with Marion went a long, long way. 







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