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Flash Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
THERE WERE SEVERAL TIMES DURING THE wedding where I was struck by nostalgic waves of a time from years ago. The wedding was beautiful, and my first sense of nostalgia was when I entered the venue. A man was seated by a baby grand piano, playing a variety of classic songs. Sitting on top were several framed photos of the wedding couple’s deceased parents. Seeing how the parents were dressed reminded me of a celebratory time when my family and I were attending a relative’s wedding and we were all dressed up. I was wearing a new suit and it was the first time I got to wear a tie with it; granted, it was one of those ready-made ties that clip onto the shirt. In attendance at the wedding, were many relatives of mine. Being together was a comforting feeling. For the ones that were close in age to me, there was a long history of us sticking together and sitting at the same table during meals. We talked about when we were kids and had to sit at the “kid’s table” away from the main dining table. Usually, one aunt or uncle would keep tabs on us to make sure we were behaving and eating the food on our plates. AFTER DINNER AT THE WEDDING RECEPTION, there were several events planned by the wedded couple. One of them was a family photo. I cannot describe the feelings I got when the DJ called up all the family members to the dance floor for a group photo. With the photographer and his assistant getting everyone arranged to be visible, showing off their best side, I was teleported back in time at an earlier staging for a family photo. Looking around at the relatives standing next to me, I could see and remember how they looked when we were all much younger. The feeling was incredible. I even remember one of the family photos we all sat in, I was seated on the floor, and I was the only one who was not smiling. In fact, I looked miserable as if I had been crying. Right after the photographer took the picture, I was taken home and a doctor was called to the house. It turned out I had strep throat and to this day, I remember how awful it felt. That photo that was taken hangs on the wall in the hallway of our home. Though I was sick, the memories and nostalgic feelings I had being around a familiar family outweighed any negative feelings about being ill. This same type of nostalgic feeling was strong through me as I was experiencing it multiple times throughout this action-adventure movie. DESPITE BEING OF RETIREMENT AGE, ARCHAEOLOGIST Indiana Jones, played by Harrison Ford (The Call of the Wild, Ender’s Game), must travel the world to reach a legendary artifact before it falls into the wrong hands and changes the course of history. With Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Goodbye Christopher Robin, Fleabag-TV) as Helena, Antonio Banderas (The Skin I Live in, The Laundromat) as Renaldo, Karen Allen (Year by the Sea, Starman) as Marion and Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round, Doctor Strange) as Dr. Voller; this latest installment of the film franchise did not have the sharp humor and directorial prowess of Steven Spielberg; however, it did provide a ton of thrills and action sequences. The first 20 minutes were exhilarating and after that the story went from one chase scene to another to another to another. It got to be too repetitive for me; gratefully they were well choreographed and several of them had sly references to the earlier films. Ultimately, if you are a fan of this franchise then you will enjoy this one. Besides Harrison and Mads being perfect, the nostalgic factor was too big for me not to like it.
3 stars