Indiana Jones gets less than a fitting farewell

ANYONE old enough to have watched all four previous Indiana Jones movies when they debuted would be stepping into the cinema this time with nostalgia and trepidation. There has not been an Indiana Jones film since 2008. And the franchise has gotten progressively sillier with each sequel. But, hey, after a 15-year hiatus, they must have come up with something that gives the legendary swashbuckler a fitting farewell, right? Right?

Star Wars found ways to gloriously reinvent itself when George Lucas stopped directing the films. The Scream franchise got so much better when Wes Craven passed the reins to younger directors. The Star Trek story world went for a radical reboot in 2009 and has since spawned six related TV series and counting.  

Indiana Jones should have gotten better with Steven Spielberg giving up the writer-director’s chair to James Mangold, who cut his teeth directing both serious dramas (Heavy, Walk The Line) and action movies with soul (Logan, 3:10 To Yuma). Alas, even Mangold couldn’t save Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, the fifth and supposedly final entry in the Indy franchise.