Ruining beloved characters = Failure Respecting beloved character = Success Top Gun Maverick is the best possible example of this in recent years.

This whole "Deconstruction of the old male hero" trope is getting old

Remember Uncharted 4? When Nathan had essentially won at life....but couldn't get over the itch for adventure? In pursuit of it - he endangers his friendship & marriage for a brother who isn't nearly as mature as Nathan believed. In the end - he comes to terms with his mistakes & choices, deciding the change his life to seek out adventure in a safer way, marries Elena Fisher, gets a beach house & still gets regular visits from the Chad Sully & brother he risked his life for. He even got a dog named Sully like he said he would. I never want to see Nathan Drake again. I'm utterly terrified about what they'd do to him.

It's crazy to think that of all Harrison Ford's iconic characters, it's now Rick Deckard who arguably has the least tragic ending.

I'm still trying to figure out how mads mikkelsen's character survived getting hit in the face with a metal bar while hanging off a train going at full speed

Indy and Short Round would have been great for Indy to work through him losing his son, as Short Round was like his first son anyways.

You forgot to mention how the murder charges were magically wiped away when he got knocked out. That was weird.

Watching how Disney handled Han Solo and Indiana Jones makes me appreciate a movie like Blade Runner 2049 even more so. They did something new while paying homage to the original

If Miles Teller replaced Shia as Mutt I don’t think many people would notice

Here's an idea, rather that Helena being the goddaughter of Indiana from a supposed best friend that we never met, she is actually his daughter-in-law, she was Mutt's wife and his death was really harsh on the whole family, with both of them lashing out at the other, with maybe the implication they didn't particularly liked each other but tried to make things work for his son, and through the adventure they eventually reconcile.

Well…Spielberg also directed Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, so that could be another reason why it feels more like Indy. Even though crystal skull wasn’t very good, Spielberg is still a cinema wizard and every shot has intention.

This would have been a much better ending: Phoebe Waller Bridge fails to convince Indy, she understands why he has to stay. They cry and embrace. She walks away. Now Archimedes walks up to Indy, then give him some psychobabble about how Indy should go back to the future. Indy then realizes Archimedes is right and calls out to Phoebe who turns back, smiles at him and we have a whole sequence of how they go back to the future with Archimedes waving goodbye to them. So much better than Phoebe just socking him in the face and calling it a day.

How they didn’t go with the idea of Indy partnering up with HIS OWN SON and a grown up Short Round has got to be one of the most tone deaf writing choices I’ve heard in a long time. Mutt being killed off is a straight up spat in the face to Indy’s happy ending.

It’s also annoying how the ending of him reconvening with Marion is just what crystal skull already did. It undoes crystal skull just to halfway put it back together.

I wholeheartedly agree with having Short Round in Indy's last adventure. If Indy is the grumpy old adventurer who lost his sense of adventuring, Short Round would be the one who will bring that sensation back to old Indy. No time for love Indy! What a missed opportunity sigh. Just like we will never see Luke, Leia and Han together in one scene.

Yes, Ke Huy Quan would’ve been somebody to get for the final chapter. John Williams score was phenomenal for dial of destiny. The ending did not bother me

The fact that Jeremy has to take a drink before anything tells me everything about this movie 💀

The “deconstruction of the beloved hero” could be interesting once or twice if it was actually good and not a cynical attempt to destroy a beloved character

I have the exact complaint with Helena punching Indy. I really dislike the ending because it wasn't his choice to back to the present. Unlike the Last Crusade where Indy tries to reach for the Grail but his Father convivences him not to, which eventually made his own choice without anyone forcing him.

That’s a very good comparison, for as much as the 4th gets shit on, it has the damn decency to give the character the happy send off he deserved, even if I prefer the ride into the sunset

Funny how Maverick got it right. You don't need to make a legacy character an old wash up .

The fact they didn't make a movie where Mutt and Short Round have to team up to save Indy in the same way Indy saved his father in Crusade should be criminal.

What an absolute missed opportunity with an adult Short Round. I think a lot of people, myself included would have stood up and cheered if Indy, in some profound gesture, passed the torch to Short Round as he donned the fedora at the end of an Indiana's last adventure.

I thought it would have been amazing to see Indiana Jones retired from adventures until he receives a coded message from a long-lost friend in danger. Ultimately, this friend, Short Round, followed in the footsteps of his only father figure, seeking lost relics. Marion urges Jones not to go, but he must go to save his faithful friend. The plot could have explored how the two disconnected, Wu Han's character background, and the events after the Temple of Doom. In the final chapter, Indiana plays a similar role as Henry Jones Sr. to Short Round. Once the treasure is found, Indiana urges Short Round to "let it go" and reminds him that life truly is not all about "fortune and glory, kid." I was happy to see the new film nevertheless. Harrison Ford is awesome.

It's impressive how efficiently Disney has killed their IPs

Even though they said his son wouldn't be in this movie. I was hoping for a suprise cameo at the end with him going back in time to keep him from enlisting.

I noticed that about the "de-aging" segment: they didn't de-age his voice. Disney HAS the technology to do exactly that, they used it perfectly in the de-aged Luke Skywalker segments in The Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett.

John Williams did say they did reshoots for the ending. I think the rumors where that they would time travel back to when Indy was young, and he was going to die, killing off old Indy as well. Helena was then going to replace Indy throughout history, to sort things out. Kathleen wanted that ending (I believe it) but it didn't do well in test screenings and they reshot stuff and rearranged the movie. That would honestly explain the shoddy work on young Indy's face, they just didn't have that much time to do it.

Indy could have left a message in the past for Abner Ravenwood, Marion Ravenwood or even his younger self to discover being archeologists as Warning from the past to stop Mutt going to war and dying

I thought Sha laboooof was great, just misused ( sword fights and vine swinging was dumb ). His character actually had the most room to grow and change though. A later pairing of "Mud and Short Round" as the side characters could really work off each other. Mud is tough, gruff and dumb / Short Round takes after Indiana but he's more skidish and risk averse. The two of them make up an "Indiana". In fact - a "Mud & Short Round" movie might've been kinda amazing.

I can't be the only one who would have preferred the entire movie be that opening flashback scene, all in realistic CG or something...

I am pretty sure the original ending had Indiana Jones stay in the past. And then it would be revealed that Indiana in fact was Archimedes. Which is why Archimedes' intelligence was so ahead of its time and why Indy's watch was in Archimedes' tomb. And it would set up an interesting bootstrap paradox about who actually created the Antikythera device since the only reason "Archimedes" had it was because he found it in the future and brought it back to the past. And since it was left there it could be found in the future to be brought back to the past.

Short Round was the obvious choice for Indy's partner in this movie. The fact that they offscreen kill his son without even seriously considering recasting and gave no thought to a character people would've wanted to see, rather than going for Fleabag to satisfy Kathleen, is really telling. Lucasfilm needs new leadership.

PWB's character knew the villains were killing ppl, and still locked the door on Indy so he's stuck in the room with them. So basically she left him (her godfather) to his death. She feels no remorse or guilt whatsoever, doesnt even apologise. From that moment forward I hated her character and absolutely despised every scene she was in. Also in the ending she punches Indy, at his old age it could've killed him. He was also shot and bleeding so don't know how he survived that. They literally didn't show all the important bits with regard to how Indy survived and how they got back to their present, they flash forward and he just wakes up in his bed and that's it.. Also in the 3rd act the little kid was able to fly a plane, so fkn stupid. This movie should’ve been called the Dump of Destiny.

I think the de aging looked the best that ive seen. the only thing that stood out was something about the eyes, they seemed super still during the close ups

“Like a decent stupid script” killed me 😂

I'm pretty sure Spielberg and Lucas let them make this movie JUST so people would say, "You know, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull wasn't that bad"

"If you haven't seen Dial of Destiny yet". Hahahaha. No chance of that happening. I have standards.

There are two things I've always needed from this channel: Jeremy to watch ATLA after his review of The Last Airbender and a second look at Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I'm a very happy man.

I think you saved me $18... and $20 popcorn... thanks

I feel like Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull is about to gain a lot more defenders after this movie

Dr. Jones was a tenured professor at a renowned University. It would’ve been so much better if he was still a professor and had a student come talk to him about some old wreck or treasure. Jones, who’s been behind a desk for too long says they should go find it. They go on the adventure, Indy gets one last journey and his student realizes that Dr. Jones not just some old dude, but a true adventurer. Why must everything be sad and depressing. I don’t understand how anyone can think “oh, that’s a great plot!” It’s like Disney hammered a square peg into a round hole and not one person thought, “hey maybe there’s a better way to do this.”

That Ky Huy Quan edit was HILARIOUS.

In another life, I’d have liked seeing Ke Huy Quan reunite with Indiana Jones

Should have had Shia in this movie, everyone loves a comeback story and he’s a great actor and could have pulled it off , anyway that would require good writing and Hollywood is all out of good writers

It seems like they were trying to recreate the interactions with Indy and Marion with Indy and his Godaughter. Marion and Indy were antagonistic for much of the first film. One big problem though... enemies to lovers is well establish and works because of sexual tension. These two have no sexual tension, nor should they, so it just feels like two enemies staying together for no reason.

Brilliant video! All the points you raise are truly spot-on.

You have a lot more integrity than most reviews. Your review of this and sound of freedom proved it leaving zero room for doubt.

I think both films prove that Indy is a character of the 40s and if you take him out of that era he loses what makes him special. It's a time and place that works. Even real people of the past. Their stories are of a certain time in their lives, not their whole lives.

At least we still have The Last Crusade and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull endings. Each to their own.

The ending represents Indy waking up to good things in his life rather than to depression (opposite from the character’s arc beginning of the movie).

"Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" at least tries to look like an Indiana Jones movie and still gives us an active Indy. He didn't come across as old, even when watching it fifteen years ago. Speaking of "nostalgia bait," there were a couple of aggravations. In the beginning, the Disney card was on screen, followed by the Paramount card, but then that was followed by the Lucasfilm logo instead of fading to something like a peak. Next - the opening shot - was the close-up of a door's lock with the titles in the same typeface as the first, third, and fourth films. To match those earlier movies, either the Lucasfilm logo should have been before the Paramount one, as it was in the fourth, or just used the Lucasfilm Ltd. title within the credits like in the first and third films. I also wondered why the Indiana Jones theme was just after the first travelogue map scene instead of during it.

The appreciation for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull throughout the fanbase has begun. Saw this coming the moment announced this movie based on what happened to the sequel trilogy

Jeremy has written a more compelling version of the Indy 5 movie in a 17-minute-ish video 😆

I appreciate how the advertisement prior to this video was for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

I always thought crystal skull was good and looked forward to the son taking up the whip for a knew generation, plus that ant scene will haunt me till my dying day

I'm glad even Jeremy has gotten tired of this trend of ruining things by subverting beloved characters into the ground. This all really kicked off with Ghost Busters 2016 and that movie bombed hard. Fans will always reject this crap.

I’ll never get over the kid magically knew how to fly a plane at the most convenient time lmao

Always love watching Jeremy's spoiler talks while i sit on the toilet 😂

I think it’s interesting that Dial of Destiny is out and some people are like “you know, maybe Crystal Skull actually isn’t that bad”. Reminds me of Star Wars, after episode 9 happened and people are now saying “you know, maybe the prequels actually aren’t that bad.” Now I wonder what else we’ll be saying that about in the future. Maybe the new Tron movie.

The rumored orignal ending was that Young Indy sacrificed himself to save the day, which in turn also killed Old Indy. So then Phoebe Waller's character took his place and there was montages of her taking his place in all his previous film adventures and becoming the "new Indiana Jones".

"If you're gonna kill his character, kill him in a car-wreck like a *decent* stupid script" - Jeremy Jahns 2023

The way Helena Shaw treat Indian Jones, Reminds me of the way Corey Cunningham treated Michael Myers in Halloween ends, The disrespect for these Legendary characters is unreal

You really do great work, and I look forward to these insightful spoiler vids!

Let's just all pretend this movie never happened and Indiana Jones ended as a trilogy.

I’ve been watching The Making of Indiana Jones and it still amazes me how much time and effort went into everything, from the casting to the sets to the writing. Not to mention it was all done practically. From the sounds of it, they just went “eh, we’ll CGI everything and throw in a bunch of call-backs.”

they figured out what the antikitheren device does on the tv show, Ancient Aliens on the History channel, Archimedes made robots i think, they didn't show them in the movie, and the device was like a clock that showed the planets rotating around the sun and also showed the phases of the moon and when eclipses were. it could be used to tell time and location for wherever you were on Earth i think , so it was a handy item to have and was probably commisioned or made by Archimedes as a tool to use.

I would've payed for my $11 ticket just for that opening flashback scene. Up there as one of the best Indy scenes

Alcohol required at the beginning of the video said it all. Thanks man.

The ending and the structure really does suggest that the original rumors were true: that fleabag took his place ok history as Indy dies in the oast

Glad you realized the awesomeness of KOTCS

Agreed, Jeremy. Saw it the other day and it was "fun," but felt tired and trite. While it was great to see Harrison Ford reprise his role, I was generally disliking the Indie-Wombat relationship and was sitting there wondering why the two were set up THIS way. I also think there was an entirely different way this movie went after they found the tomb (and can only speculate that this was the reason Spielberg departed from the director's chair). At the end, I was most excited during that intense de-aged opening -- and then it was just a steady descent into mediocrity with nothing creative and an anti-climatic resolution. The Williams score was (per usual) magnificent and the Indie theme was great to hear -- too bad what was the on the screen felt like a poor imitation of a franchise mishandled on its final leg. Top Gun Maverick showed bringing back old franchises can be done right. Disney could have gone so many different (and much better) directions here -- frankly, that's the most disappointing part -- seeing the possibilities onscreen and none of them materializing. BTW, very much enjoy your videos/takes. The best movie reviews on the Net.

As far as I'm concerned? Indy and crew rode of into the sunset at the end of Last Crusade and lived happily ever after. Sadly they never made any movies after that, real shame and missed opportunity, but at least the series ended on a high note

“Examine the body” is exactly how I feel about this Indiana jones movie

I am a huge Indy fan since day 1 back in 1981 and I TOTALLY agree with your review here. It´s spot on what I felt yesterday leaving the theatre.

I pretty much agree with everything you said. The best word I can use to describe Dial of Destiny is "underwhelming". The beginning was definitely the best part, but I felt very bored through most of the second act, and the third act took a major nose dive. People give Crystal Skull flak for including "aliens", but I felt the time travel in this one was even more ridiculous. And yes, I also think Crystal Skull was better as it at least had fun action scenes and felt like a classic Indy adventure. Spielberg's direction helped as well. I give James Mangold credit for trying, but he's just not Spielberg.

I think this is one of your most poignant reviews I’ve seen. It made me feel sad for the state of movies in general….it’s hard to explain the feeling, but I just feel like we’ve lost touch with the form of storytelling that made cinema, literature, and art so impactful. Based on your review, it feels like the concept of the hero’s journey has been lost, and maybe even forsaken by these Hollywood writers. It’s a sad state of affairs atm.

Yes, Short Round would have been awesome! Great to hear you discuss it.

You are best movie critic on KZfaq Everything you said, was exactly how I felt about this film. Even what should’ve been. 4:47 😂

Love the Knockaround Guys reference at 3:26! Underrated movie IMO!

I decided I wasn't going to watch this movie based on Mutt's death and the subsequent divorce with Marion. It just made me more sad than excited.

"Evil cannot create anything new. It can only corrupt and ruin what good forces have invented or made." - JRR Tolkien

That little ‘Disneyana Jones…’ at the end was brutal

You sir, are absolutely right !

If you are going to do a legacy sequel you need to do it like Top Gun Maverick. In that film, Maverick wasn't some broken, sad failure. He was still at the top of his game. In fact, he was better than ever. This film needs to be like that.

Who is watching this review without watching the movie?

Why couldn’t we have had Indy, Marion, Short Round and Sallah on an adventure together? You don’t need these new characters. Have these four great characters we know and love going after Voller and his guys. Would’ve been awesome.

It's refreshing to find a critic not beholden to the movie industry and constantly asking for money to fund his/her independent art house film projects.

Don’t forget the ant scene from crystal skull was wild to me as a kid.

Let's hear how Disney ruined another beloved character.

Overall, I really enjoyed "Dial of Destiny". It felt like an Indiana Jones film more to me than "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" did. That said, I also enjoyed Crystal Skull. The thing I love about your reviews, whether you enjoyed a film or not, is that you explain the reasons why you either enjoyed or disliked aspects of the film in question. That right there sets you apart in the most positive way from so many others posting reviews. Whether it be on KZfaq or in articles. You provide your honest opinions and take the time to go into important details. I truly appreciate that! Keep up the awesome work!

That Short Round bit was hilarious 😂

“Like they’re looking for the Langoliers or some shit.” Deep cut. 😂

I won’t destroy my childhood and watch this movie so this video will be everything I need 😁

Jeremy, I love you man. You’re my favorite KZfaq channel for movie reviews. Can you please please please do a review for sound of freedom? Please?

13:01 no it didn't. The biggest problem with Crystal Skull is the tone. It felt like a parody of Indiana Jones. It didn't take the character or the world seriously. The dialogue and acting felt like something out of the Adam West Batman show.

My biggest issue with the movie is Helena for the reasons you mentioned. I loved the nostalgia bate at the end and I felt like it served the ending well. It felt enough like an indy ending, while also finally giving him his well deserved happy ending. They should have either A. Made Helena Marcus Brody's child because that has weight to it and we know and love Marcus. OR what everyone is saying is that it should have been Short Round not Helena. Also get rid of discount Short Round from this movie, as well as bring Sallah along on the adventure and either replace Antonio Banderes all together and just have it be Sallah, or make Antonio Banderas an old friend of Sallah and he helps them on the diving expedition. If he's Sallah's friend we don't have to have had history with the character. Other than that, Harrison for as a grumpy old man was great, I didn't care for the death of mutt and the divorce until the coarse of history was changed and Marion came in at the end. I wish it would have also changed mutts fate too and there was a mention of "how's the kid" atthe end and Marion mentioned that he's doing well with his family (as you mentioned). And of course Madds Mikkelsen is incredible. He may even be my new favorite Indy villain.

Jeremy! Wow, I watched around several different movie reviews and U by far lined up and said about ur thoughts of this film perfect to a T! I agree with everything u said we’ll done! Perfect overall review of this movie couldn’t agree with u more!;)

One thing that bothered me was at the end Indy mentioned that continental drift was not considered in the calculations for the dial. But then I was thinking, Archimedes also wouldn't have counted for the fact that the planets revolve around the sun. So that would have also affected the dial, right?

Thank you for a real, honest review. One of the few big KZfaq movie reviewers left who is no longer a shill (here's looking at you Struckman) and this is why people will trust you and you will continue to grow.