This week I watched Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny by James Mangold. While this instalment in the series was better than the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, it failed to approach the roaring sense of fun found in the first three films. This version of Indy was sad. He was sad because he was old. He was sad because his students didn’t love him anymore. He was sad because in his own mind his days of adventure had come and gone. And that’s bullshit! Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark was a liminal character who was not all good. He was better than the Nazis but he was the kind of guy who would shoot a (mostly) unarmed man in the street and not worry about it. Part of his liminal charm meant that he was above the petty moral concerns that bog down the rest of us. Indy from Raiders doesn’t mourn his son who was lost in Viet Nam; he doesn’t ground a daring escape in reality by reminding everyone that his friend was just murdered; he doesn’t complain about nagging injuries while scaling a wall; and most importantly he doesn’t try to stay in the past where he can hide and undo his regrets. We all age, even Indy gets old. But Indy doesn’t lose his brash spirit, or at least… he shouldn’t. Indiana Jones should show us all how to age with grace and cool. He should be a step ahead of the bad guys because he’s seen it all, not continually captured because he’s slow. And above all Indiana Jones should be optimistic about the future not lamenting the past. 6C
Also Shortround wouldn’t have straight up murdered Hauke in that cave river. That was cold blooded and no fun.