The Beanie Bubble

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

The Beanie Bubble is a business biopic about the Beanie Baby crazy, the man behind the plushie empire and the three women who had a major hand in his company's success. I actually felt this film really succeeded in being quite character driven, I never much cared about the nature of the business itself by comparison. The roles here were so dynamic and how they each related differently to Ty Warner I particularly found fascinating. Whether it be Robbie's cunning and combative energy, Sheila's fierce loyalty to her family or Maya's passion and ingenuity; all of these women really made this film a fascinating watch. Yet it is how Ty goes from being this good-natured individual around all of them to manipulating, guilting or downright betraying them all that makes their experiences so similar and satisfying. In fact, once this film is done padding out the build up it really does get quite exciting to watch Ty's true nature come to light steadily.

 

The soundtrack for The Beanie Bubble has some very laidback rock, pop and techno pieces that ground us in the spanning decades but also inject a bit of lighthearted fun into the feature.

 

Zach Galifianakis, who played Ty Warner, really shows off his dramatic chops in this one in a very impressive way; the moments in which Galifianakis gets to show Ty having a complete emotional breakdown in contrast to his usual sweet exterior is brilliant. Sarah Snook, who played Sheila, is a very strong figure with firm boundaries established to protect her onscreen children; watching Snook lower those barriers only to have her hopes dashed is an example of why she is one of the best actresses out right now. Geraldine Viswanathan, who played Maya, is one of the more nergetic and passionate cast members which was a nice point of difference; Viswanathan gets to really embrace being the more youthful lead and the consequences that brings to her character.

 

However, the best performance came from Elizabeth Banks, who played Robbie. As a character Robbie feels very stuck when first we meet her, she's at her wits end and faces a lot of frustrations in her personal life. But the joy Banks shows when her character comes to befriend Galifianakis' Ty is revitalising, we get to see this character come to life. She starts to believe in herself again and she actually seeks out the life she wants to have. I also found her chemistry with Galifianakis to be some of the best in the film; you believe this pair when they are absolutely losing themselves to hilarity, or strategising together or even hurling abuse at one another. I loved how nicely Banks developed and progressed this role, you watch her steadily get a little annoyed at the imbalance of things or Ty's mannerisms. Yet the massive moment in the feature comes twofold: when Banks gets to express her character's rage at being betrayed and then the smug satisfaction when she finally gets her revenge. This character arc is absolutely my favourite to watch across the film.

 

There have been a strange rise in business biopic features over the past couple of years, inconsequential pieces around the invention of Tetris or the Blackberry phone. This one interested me for no other reason than I liked the more novel idea of how this plush toy craze sweeped the world. Yet when all was said and done this really does nothing new, in fact it really steps in a way that doesn't much surprise you as it goes along. There's a real from rags to riches to the ultimate fall feeling from the start and the film is quite comfortable dishing this to you. But worse than that is the way it delivers the narrative, through a non-linear style that just jumps all over the show chronologically. A non-linear biopic can work quite well, but this film often moves in a way that feels random and really yanks your attention around. I also felt there is a lot of menial fictitious stuff that is obviously fabricated and really slows the delivery of this whole thing down.

 

The way this feature is shot doesn't look good, it is a film that is entirely comfortable with average wides, tracking and framing. The editing also lends itself to a slow pace that will not engage the viewer, there really needed to be a snappier feel to this in places. The score is whimsical and over the top, I thought this would pair nicer with a Disney Channel family film than a dramatic biopic. 

Tracey Bonner, who played Rose, is a best friend/confidant figure who really doesn't get much of an established personality herself; Bonner's role often feels like a scene needed someone for the leads to bounce lines off and this very two-dimensional character was the best they had. Carl Clemons-Hopkins, who played Jeremy, is kind of a best friend figure to Snook but really gives nothing to the story; I was also a bit unconvinced with the lack of chemistry he and Snook shared. Jason Burkey, who played Blaine, is quite a stereotypical business exec role; Burkey gives off the simplistic cocky and dominant energy with no substance behind it. Delaney Quinn and Madison Johnson, who played Maren and Ava respectively, are very present as young performers but fail to stand out; often the scenes use these young girls as part of the background rather than defining their role in the story. Kurt Yaeger, who played Billy, really didn't have the screen time for me to learn or care about him much; most of all I was just never convinced that Yaeger and Banks had any kind of history together. Hari Dhilon, Sweta Keswani and Ajay Friese, who played Arjun Kumar, Neeti Kumar and Deshad respectively, just felt like quite a poorly realised depiction of a migrant/second generation in America story; this subplot could have enhanced Viswanathan's story but the film really gave this ensemble nothing substantial.

One of the uglier biopics I've watched recently with no sense of drama, conflict or hook to draw the audience in. I would give The Beanie Bubble a 5.5/10.

Barbie

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Barbie follows the titular character as she struggles with her own status quo becoming disrupted after the girl who plays with her also begins to change. This is such an incredible film about femininity, whether that be reclaiming it or redefining it by redefining how we look at and understand the Barbie doll. The main Barbie we follow in this film is 'stereotypical' Barbie, who gets to enjoy Barbieland as this sort of utopia where Barbies run everything and there is an element of safety because everything is pretend. Yet she starts noticing changes to how she thinks, looks and interacts with the world around her; the way she is being played with and viewed has changed which in turn means she has to go to the real world. What both Ken and Barbie gain from the real world is so fascinating and very well captured. Barbie gains an understanding that things aren't like Barbieland here. Men are in charge, they're inappropriate to women and there's a massive divide in expectations for men vs. women. Barbie also has to come to understand that while Barbie promotes being a 'perfect' woman there's a real challenge of doing that in a world where that's impossible to reach - being a woman in the real world is actually more difficult than the idea Barbie promotes. Ken learning about patriarchy and men having power is a funny yet dangerous storyline that mirrors our world in a way that is clearer and more impactful thematically. Watching the Barbies uniting, and working together to take Barbieland back from this more thinly-constructed take on patriarchy is wonderful and also a pretty important story to tell. This film is constantly witty and tells jokes in a way that pivots from serious wit to straight up camp. Barbie's final scene before returning to the real world is a very real and raw emotional moment between choosing the ease of being an idea of femininity and the more complex experience of living as a woman in our world. I could never have expected something so entirely off the wall, sincere, sidesplittingly funny and important as Barbie turned out to be.

Greta Gerwig's visual style throughout the film is inspired, marking Barbieland as such a unique experience to behold. The shots are always playing with focus and contained framing to really give us a full sense of this world that is more pretend and play. The way this filming sharpens up in the real world with some quite reflective visuals is a nice touch. The special effects never feel overstated, it's clear there's a lot of practical in this film and the CGI work comes in to really enhance the camp elements. This film might not be my top pick of the year but it edges out every film above it when it comes to the soundtrack. The exuberant pop aesthetic is all over the place, whether it's Charli XCX or Dua Lipa the film thrives on these anthem-like songs. I also loved the scenes in which Ryan Gosling and the other Kens gets to perform their music, whether it's the powerful 'I'm Just Ken' number or the hilarious but cringeworthy 'Push' cover I was in absolute awe.

 

Ariana Greenblatt, who played Sasha, is a really versatile up and coming young performer; Greenblatt's rebellious streak in this and watching that side chip away around her mother is well performed. Ryan Gosling, who played Ken, really does his very best to steal the show throughout the feature; in Gosling's hands Ken can be goofy and ridiculous but also really melancholy and insecure in ways that just pivot in the same scene they're being portrayed. Emma Mackey, Hari Nef and Alexandra Shipp, who each played Barbie, were some of the ensemble Barbie's who really made good use of their screen time; Mackey gets to play up the empowered feel of her Barbie nicely while Nef is very good at playing high energy and Shipp is morbidly funny as one of the 'brainwashed Barbies'. Will Ferrell, who played the Mattel CEO, manages to pass off some of the more out of pocket jokes in a very light and flippant way that works; I enjoy that Ferrell's frantic energy seems constantly weirdly placed but that he sincerely seems quite like an ally figure in this film. Helen Mirren, who voiced the Narrator, couldn't be a better pick for our guiding voice throughout the feature; Mirren can be both serene and reflective while also quipping with some biting wit. Simu Liu, who played Ken, has such a carefree and capable physical presence in the film; though not dialogue intensive he and Gosling work very well on building a great rivalry. Michael Cera, who played Alan, is quite an unexpected and goofy role that brings some of the best comedy to the screen; Cera's scene in which Alan attempts to breakout is completely wild and works so well at that point in the feature. Kate McKinnon, who played Barbie, doesn't go too far in terms of range but is perfectly capable of dishing some great comedic lines and exposition; McKinnon gets to toy with what a 'weird' Barbie would be like and leans into that nicely. America Ferrera, who played Gloria, was very nearly my pick for best performance because she's just that good; her monologue for what it's like being a woman in the real world had people clapping in my screening. Issa Rae, who played Barbie, is very charismatic as the President figure of the Barbies; I loved watching Rae get to be both stern and comedic when facing the Mattel CEO in her last scene. Rhea Perlman, who played Ruth Handler, is one of the more fascinating performances in this piece; Perlman gives something so gentle yet otherworldly and wise that really adds an extra layer of mysticism to the piece.

However, the best performance came from Margot Robbie, who played Barbie. The best performance was really quite tough to pick this time around but when Robbie takes a passion project you really feel it in what she brings to the table. I love how whimsical and light-hearted this role is when first we meet her, she's effortlessly carefree and cool which you'd expect from a Barbie portrayal. But then watching as Robbie really gets a bit of room to show her character panic and get quite scared about her changing self and what it means for Barbieland really hooks the audience in. Barbie is such a great character to see interact with the real world, her bursts of optimism or moments of genuine truth make her incredibly endearing. She also has this great bond with Perlman that marks their scenes together as some of the best in the feature. I loved how Robbie brings her character to a place where she loses faith in herself and being Barbie for a time yet through the strength of the other women around her she rises up stronger than before. I think Robbie evolves this character beautifully; the Barbie at the start of the film couldn't reflect on her needs, the state of Barbieland and Ken's identity in the way end of film Barbie does. Margot Robbie leads this film with equal shares of dramatic and comedic presence and it's a performance that will really stand the test of time on her filmography.

I like when this film shrugs and says the way from Barbieland to the real world just sorta happens, that's a nice fun gag that skips past exposition. Unfortunately, the film isn't consistent about this and there are moments where scenes stray too long on trying to explain the more fantastical elements going on in this feature which muddies the waters a bit. The film also has a strange tendency of just dropping storylines and side characters in ways that make the film a little less realised than it could otherwise have been. I think a bit more definition around Gloria, Sasha, Alan and the Mattel CEO would have enriched those characters and storylines more. This film is consistently very funny but it doesn't always place all of its jokes very well, the second to last scene of the feature was very powerful to watch and is followed by an insanely funny joke that takes a lot of power out of the previous scene. Just balancing the tone in this instance would have driven things home nicer.

Kingsley Ben-Adir, John Cena, Scott Evans and Ncuti Gatwa, who each played Ken, all very much felt like background performers in this feature and never had the comedic chops to stand out as more than an ensemble; Ben-Adir in particular just felt underutilised as the Ken that was best friends with Gosling's Ken. Nicola Coughlan, Dua Lipa and Ritu Arya, who each played Barbie, are some of the ensemble Barbies that really don't get great screen time or have very good presence in the film; Dua Lipa in particular feels a little less even-footed as her acting ability isn't her strength.

This movie has EVERYTHING, and Ken. So cool. I would give Barbie an 8.5/10.

 

Joy Ride

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

Joy Ride follows childhood friends Audrey and Lolo as they navigate China to close a business deal and reunite Audrey with her birth mother. There's a part of me that went into this thinking about the quintessential American road trip comedy, how when I was a kid that was defined by The Hangover and the main Asian performance was Ken Jeong (who did great but played on a few stereotypes). To see how far we've come here with something really strongly Asian-American led, with some great tongue in cheek type humour and some thematic work that lands some heavy emotional punches is great to see. Joy Ride really thrives on the core group of four characters, the dynamics established and the intense chemistry between them all. Seriously, a comedic feature where the four leads all bounce off one another effortlessly is such a hit. I think because the chemistry is so good you believe in the interactions, the humour flows freely and those emotional moments really matter. I often felt like this was a film that landed the heavier moments far better than the comedic ones. There's a massive theme of identity and feeling like one doesn't belong in this film and they really drive their point home quite nicely; the twist around Audrey's identity is better than I really expected for a comedy feature. I also think this film deserves major props for changing the narrative around Asian women and their sexuality; often Asian women are presented as sex symbols in media so it was nice this film had the protagonists have ownership over their own sexual experiences and identity.

The editing for this feature is pretty timely, often having a real sense of the gags and landing the flow of the shots in an almost perfect manner.

 

Sherry Cola, who played Lolo, manages to be the crassest of the main cast and also nails her delivery consistently; Cola really is the most naturally fun of the leading four and I was often in stitches when she got to lead a scene. Timothy Simons, who played Frank, is quite a bit of good fun as the 'white ally' boss; Simons finds the right amount of over the top to try and sell the audience his sense of social justice. Sabrina Wu, who played Deadeye, is the more oddball comedic role and kind of a sleeper hit; yet what I liked about Wu was their ability to present a character struggling to find where they fit in in such a genuine way. Stephanie Hsu, who played Kat, really presents a vain role who is really holding together a sort of perfect life fantasy; I really enjoyed seeing Hsu ham it up in her 'horny' scene and when her career tanks after her tattoo is exposed. Ronny Chieng, who played Chao, is hysterical as the extremely intense Chinese businessman; his weary and strict approach to tradition makes the pivot into the second act a ton of fun. Chris Pang, Rohain Arora and Alexander Hodge, who played Kenny, Arvind and Todd respectively, have an incredible amount of charisma that really lend to the sexual appeal of their scenes; Pang in particular is incredibly smooth with his line delivery. Lori Tan Chinn, who played Nai Nai Chen, is able to be surprisingly funny at moments you wouldn't expect from her role; yet I also found Chinn's performance to be very sweet and kind-hearted. Michelle Choi-Lee, who played Min Park, gives a staggeringly powerful performance in her one scene; Choi-Lee's scene is a hello and goodbye of sorts that will absolutely wring at your heartstrings. Daniel Dae Kim, who played Dae, is such a soft and kindly figure; watching him ease us into the introduction of Choi-Lee's character was the perfect set-up for my favourite scene in the film.

However, the best performance came from Ashley Park, who played Audrey. This is a protagonist who has never really connected with her Asian identity or heritage and has wholeheartedly embraced her American upbringing. Park does a fantastic job of portraying this overachiever who doesn't want to face hard truths or difficult moments; she crafts Audrey as someone who is really driven to succeed. I love how Park really connects quite differently with her three onscreen friends; she has a very laidback familiarity with Cola, Hsu and her are more high energy and excitable and then the relationship with Wu is one she develops and works on. Seeing this role get further and further out of her depth the more she is faced with her past is really fascinating. I actually thought the emotional impact we got from Park once her character discovers the truth around her mother is some of the best acting you get within Joy Ride.

This feature was one that held you for long spans of time but could misstep and lose you for decent stretches as well. As a comedy this film was content with aiming for the lowbrow at times, which was disappointing because it often showed a pretty witty script. But there were a lot of moments where repetitive crass jokes made the film start to fizzle, there needed to be more moments where the comedy could look a little different and unique from scene to scene. The ending of Joy Ride really dropped the ball too, things just ended a little too simply and abruptly. All of the relationships were repaired in a very non-confrontational way and then the four characters met up overseas for another trip. It just felt too mellow after the extremes the feature had just taken the audience through.

The cinematography had some great moments but often just felt quite boxed up, there really wasn't a great sense of space in the film as a whole. Also, Blonde already cursed the idea of a camera shot taken from inside a vagina, I didn't need the repeat. The score for the feature is nothing to comment on and the soundtrack has some nice artists but no tracks that really left a noteworthy tone. I even felt the Kpop parody number was a bit of a disconnect from what it was trying to imitate; to the extent it wasn't as funny as the trailer tried to tease.

Debbie Fan, Kenneth Liu, Annie Mumolo and David Denman, who played Jenny Chen, Wey Chen, Mary Sullivan and Joe Sullivan respectively, were quite generic as the parent roles of the two lead characters; it felt like these four were meant to inform our leads quite a bit but they really just felt like bystanders in their big scenes. Desmond Chiam, who played Clarence, really feels like he's trying too hard to reach the comedy of his role; Chiam's over the top nervous Christian boyfriend role just doesn't land as well and flounders against everything Hsu is bringing to that subplot. Meredith Hagner, who played Jess, is quite a limited role that isn't bolstered by Hagner's performance; this drug dealer character is shifty but doesn't lend much more scope than that and is a weak transition into the classic American comedy drug scene. Baron Davis, who played himself, seems to not be so confident in his acting compared to the rest of the cast; Davis feels like he's saying lines he has rehearsed and doesn't work naturally into his scenes.

 

A comedy that feels fresh and has some absolutely wonderful themes around second-generation Asian identity. I would give Joy Ride a 7/10.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is the seventh instalment in the Mission Impossible series and this time pits Ethan Hunt and the IMF team against a sentient AI known as The Entity. I liked that this film felt a little more carefree than the past two features; not because that tone didn't work for those movies but because it made me think back to the times when we first had Pegg and Renner playing in the mix. The one liners really hit home and the film introduces a number of high stakes action or espionage scenarios that have a comedic twist which works to the advantage of the story. I also really enjoyed when this feature trims the large scale narrative down and finds a personal vendetta element, it gives a sense of drive to the film that ups the stakes nicely. This film also introduces Grace, a master thief who really is quite comfortable with pickpocketing and not at all with high speed car chases. Watching Grace and Ethan constantly butt heads until Grace is eventually confronted with a choice to disappear again into her criminal life or join the IMF makes for a fascinating watch. I was so surprised by how nicely paced this film was, nearly three hours in length and it really flew through for me.

 

The cinematography for the feature often looks superb and highlights the appealling on-location shoots, yet the film also really has such a monolithic and detailed approach to the copious action scenes too. I was blown away by the use of visual effects, the derailing train looks great as does the destruction of the submarine at the top of the film. My stomach dropped when Cruise performed his motorbike stunt, this feature is peppered with powerful practical stunt work but it doesn't get much better than that. Lorne Balfe also delivers a fantastic Mission Impossible score that is ringing with intrigue and mystery, those opening credits had the whole audience on the edge of their seats.  

 

Rebecca Ferguson, who played Ilsa Faust, is a little underused in this feature but does not waste a second of her screen time; Ferguson's role is a very hardened and tough figure who quite simply does not know how to back down from a challenge. Tom Cruise, who played Ethan Hunt, continues to lead these films brilliantly; Cruise really gets to showcase his range jumping from charismatic to moments of hollowed out grief right across this feature. Vanessa Kirby, who played The White Widow, is a role I already loved in Fallout but she shines even brighter here; Kirby plays a truly ruthless crime lord figure but also really gets to double as the more skittish Grace wearing an IMF mask of Kirby's White Widow. Simon Pegg, who played Benji Dunn, is really such a great source of comedy for these films; yet I loved the panic as Pegg's character worked frantically to defuse a nuclear bomb in the first act too. Shea Whigham, who played Jasper Briggs, steals the show way more than I expected; Whigham is an American agent with a real chip on his shoulder and watching him steadily fly more off the book was a lot of fun. Ving Rhames, who played Luther Stickell, smoothly glides in as the brains of the IMF team; I loved his comedic back and forth with Pegg but also his ability to switch up and comfort characters like Atwell in key pivotal moments for the team. Esai Morales, who played Gabriel, is an absolutely fascinating new antagonist to the series; Morales exudes mystery and he acts with such intimidating calculation that is often backed up. Henry Czerny, who played Eugene Kittridge, is a welcome return to the series; watching Czerny play an authority figure who feels so weary yet well-accomplished makes him an interesting contrast to Cruise's Hunt.

However, the best performance came from Hayley Atwell, who played Grace. This surprised me, I knew Atwell would kill it but I was not prepared for just how much. When first we meet Grace she's a little aloof and nonchalant, appropriately disarming for a thief. I liked that she had a bit of a cat and mouse rivalry with Cruise going on, her increasing frustration with being pulled into this insane spy world was a fun quality. But then the film and Atwell flip things on us. All that frustration and barbed quipping turns into fear as we come to see the odds stacked against Grace. Her world is turned into a fight for survival after one tense exchange and the levels of terror and desperation we get from At well in that moment are so great. This is a role who spends the rest of the feature wrestling with her own sense of morality, with her expectations of the future and doing her best to make the right call. I haven't signalled a better performance than Cruise on any of my posted Mission Impossible films up till now but Hayley Atwell really just brings her A game for this.

I won't lie, I was kinda worried for the first fifteen to twenty minutes of this film. That boiled down to one plot element that has started cropping up everywhere that I find can be really ill conceived: AI. Hollywood doing the 'AI is the bad guy' trope is something that has increased a lot over the past few years and is often written by screen writers with a very surface level knowledge of the thing they are writing and describing. I was bored to tears by a five minute CIA meeting about this sentient AI in which a handful of great actors did little more than exposition dump in a circle. It really felt lacking in imagination. My other gripe was only a minor one and it revolves around how this film writes Ethan Hunt and his relationship to women. This series has some fantastic actresses playing great characters in it, but there is an element of this film that undercuts them by describing them as potential victims used to get to Hunt. It just feels like these characters are held as emotional stakes for Tom Cruise to weep over first and as well-rounded independent characters second at times.

Pom Klementieff, who played Paris, is really poorly utilised as one of the main henchman figures in the film; Klementieff has already proven her phenomenal range this year so it was underwhelming to watch her deliver barely any dialogue and act out the weirdest turncoat subplot. Cary Elwes, who played Denlinger, is in one of his career worst performances here; this is such a flat character that Elwes delivers as such. Rob Delaney, Indira Varma, Charles Parnell and Mark Gatiss, who played the Security Council, felt like a circle of the dullest characters this film could construct; I couldn't believe such a talented room of performers were saddled with so much empty exposition.

A really solid reminder that sometimes the best kind of blockbuster is one with physical effects, powerful stuntwork and one hell of an A-list cast. I would give Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One an 8/10.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is the fifth instalment in the Indiana Jones series and features Indy picking up the bullwhip once again to pursue a legendary artefact that is also being hunted by a former Nazi scientist. This film has an opening that sent me right back to that eight year old sitting on the couch watching the original trilogy with my Dad - the biggest fan of all. The opening manages to deliver another classic Indy adventure during the fall of Nazi Germany, a small adventure that introduced a lot of key elements for this film while also presenting Indiana Jones in his prime. Yet my love for the first act doesn't end there, this film introduces us to a seventy year old Indiana Jones on the cusp of retirement nicely too. There is a real progression from the Indy we know to the characteristics he would still have or have chanaged by this point in his life. At one point we even see him really get excited and deliver a compelling history lecture that absolutely captures this man with such an adventurous love for the past. The film hooks our old archaeologist back into adventure in a way that really grabs the audience from a Subway spanning horse chase to a tuk tuk chase in Tangier. Thematically I also loved the contrast between Indiana Jones' love for the past and Dr. Voller's obsession with it - this made for quite the compelling antagonist.

The cinematography used throughout is decent, it makes full use of the action set pieces and gives a lot of energy to a film that could otherwise have looked slow with an older lead. The visual effects are extremely impressive, the first fifteen-twenty minutes of this film with the deaging technology is a feat unto itself. I also cannot praise John Williams' score enough, there is a lot of calling back to Raiders of the Lost Ark here and it works very well tonally.

 

John Rhys-Davies, who played Sallah, is an absolutely joy to see return; Rhys-Davies comes back with such immense presence and clear love for Ford's protagonist performance. Thomas Kretschmann, who played Colonel Weber, is one of the few minor antagonists who really steals the show; Kretschmann brings an impassive yet firm approach to authority that really grips you in the opening scenes. Toby Jones, who played Basil Shaw, is a meek yet extremely intelligent figure; I loved seeing Jones as a real fish out of water type that Ford's Jones was desperately trying to exfiltrate. Mads Mikkelsen, who played Dr. Voller, gives one of the best performances in the feature after Ford; I liked that there was his usual cold exterior paired with a sort of ineptitude that meant his villain overstepped in a few great scenes.

However, the best performance came from Harrison Ford, who played Indiana Jones. This character is Harrison Ford, you cannot really separate the two and I feel bad for the next actor who inevitably will be put up to the task. Ford has cornered entire famous roles and performances over the years, but not even Han Solo compares to the sincere love for the role that is on display here. Indy is a very blunt yet also brash individual, cantankerous to new people and his enemies alike. Yet what I love about Ford's acting is how genuinely he hides this feeling of caring under a gruff exterior. Indiana Jones has always been passionate about history and doing the right thing and those elements are so strongly present here throughout. Ford uniquely brings a sort of regret and grief to the character this time around, we learn Indy lost his son and that his marriage has fallen apart. A lot of the Indiana Jones we get in this film is a man still trying to do right and reconcile the past while also dealing with his own personal remorse. This might not be as good as the original trilogy but Harrison Ford is as good as ever.

The charm of seeing an Indiana Jones film does fade away when you sit with this film for too long, and given the exorbitant runtime this happens swiftly. The second act for this film moves far slower than the first, it isn't broken up with stunning action pieces and begins to meander through the adventure a lot more. The core issue here is that Indy is partnered with his goddaughter, Helena, who not only has a criminal background but who consistently rebels against the older figure's guidance. Helena is fated for a point of redemption, you can tell that almost immediately, but the fact it takes her so long and the way she really embraces being morally against our protagonist for the bulk of the feature makes those moments where we are left with just her and Indy a bit of a slump. In a lot of ways it felt like they recycled the dynamic between Indy and Mutt in just a mildly different manner. Yet even this would have worked out alright if it wasn't for that final act and the poor use of a time travel plot device. Watching Indiana Jones and a plane full of Nazis zooming over Ancient Roman warships just pushed me right out of this film. In the original trilogy the otherworldly elements were quite subtle and all the more shocking when they revealed their full power. One thing moviegoers disliked about Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was the very jarring and in your face alien life reveal, this film functions in a similar way. The sudden push into the past was a jarring moment and watching a dying Indiana Jones trying to rationalise staying in the past felt odd and almost uncharacteristic. The time travel plot also introduced some elements that meant the timetravel had to happen for certain things they discovered to exist and I can find this type of science-fiction writing to be quite lazy at times. Overall, this film needed more of the spirit we got in the first act and fewer time travel shenanigans, annoying legacy characters and odd subplots that really bloated the runtime.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who played Helena, doesn't really fit the snarky badass who lives in the thrill of the criminal world; I found the character persona Waller-bridge settled on and presented to really grate with the rest of the feature. Antonio Banderas, who played Renaldo, is woefully underused in this feature; Banderas really dishes some low stakes exposition and otherwise settles quite comfortably into the background. Karen Allen, who played Marion, has one scene that I feel like already played out in the last feature; Allen looks as unhappy as I felt about her character being squandered. Shaunette Renée Wilson, who played Mason, was perhaps the most baffling role in the film; Wilson's character felt extremely mismatched to the antagonist plot and I really questioned the purpose of the CIA subplot. Boyd Holbrook and Olivier Richters, who played Klaber and Hauke respectively, are very forgettable as the token goons of the feature; Holbrook is an actor who often hams up his performances but he really lays it on thick for this one. Ethann Isidore, who played Teddy, is the annoying child sidekick this film really didn't have much need of; Isidore often feels like the extra tacked on piece of the main protagonists. Alaa Safi, who played Rahim, just really overdoes things as a minor antagonist in the film; Safi and Waller-Bridge feel like they are acting for the first time together in their scene as opposed to playing characters with a shared history.

Can someone please keep James Mangold away from aging pop culture icons? I would give Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny a 5.5/10.