The 2023 summer showed a boost in cinema with countless blockbusters released one after the other. As a continuation of this Op-ed series, this article analyzes the long-awaited Marvel piece “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3” and Disney’s latest “Indiana Jones: Dial of Destiny”. As the icing on the cake, two final films will be featured in the next issue!
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 2/10
Expectations (and budget) were high for this one. After the disappointing “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” which preceded this movie, fans anxiously awaited the next installment of the Indiana Jones (Indy) series, hoping for an improvement. However, these hopes deteriorated quickly as director Steven Spielberg — who directed iconic blockbusters like E.T., Jaws, and the original Indy trilogy — was replaced by James Mangold, famous for directing “Logan”. The expectation for a respectful, emotional, and most importantly, awesome sendoff was not met.
The first 20 minutes of the movie were creative and energetic, but the attempt to make actor Harrison Ford look younger by AI was ruined by the disturbing contrast of old Ford’s voice. We continue with Indy as an old and depressed professor who faces apathetic students, painting a very negative portrayal of aging. Shortly after, Helena, his goddaughter who seems like the film’s actual protagonist, arrives. Disney’s efforts to create a strong female character were not promising, as Helena was inconsistently characterized and showed no growth. She also seems to humiliate and outdo Indy in everything required to save the day.
The movie also tried to include elements from previous Indy films, one of which was the child sidekick. The most notable one was Short Round in the second Indy film. This film’s sidekick was Teddy Kumar, the supporting act to Helena. Unfortunately, this kid has none of the charm or personality Short Round had and is bait for nostalgia. In turn, this film’s pacing was sluggish, fluctuating rapidly with inconsistent senses of urgency. To make matters worse, the script was tied together by contrivances, with villains conveniently appearing whenever a plot change was needed. Jürgon Voller, played by Mads Mikkelsen, was dull and uninteresting, which was a shame as Mikkelsen is a great actor who deserves better material.
Overall, this movie was a disappointment in every regard. The replacement of Spielberg’s signature direction style dramatically hurt the series and viewers are sure to see the insult to the legacy pioneered by Spielberg.
Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 8/10
“Guardians of the Galaxy Volume” (GOTG) single-handedly saved the dwindling reputation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe after its decline in success with past movies. However, a few issues do arise in the film that hinder its impact.
All of the actors portrayed their roles with perfection, showcasing the talent of writer/director James Gunn and his ability to appeal to the audience’s pathos in the oddest of characters — which makes the GOTG franchise different from the rest. Actor Chukwudi Iwuji, who played the High Evolutionary, gave a notable performance, having elevated the character and made him a great antagonist. Another key part of the movie relies upon the amazing soundtrack: Gunn’s selection of bangers from the 80s and 90s fully complemented the visuals of the movie. Finally, praise must also be given to the technical production team, especially the visual effects animators, as they delivered beautiful graphics that distinguished the movie from other blockbusters.
The highlights of the film were Rocket’s flashback scenes, which showed his early years as an experiment of the High Evolutionary. These scenes featured the modified animals that were his delightful friends, giving us a touching backstory and a glimpse of Rocket’s up-bringing. Tying in details from past movies, Gunn’s creative decisions gave the audience a noteworthy homage.
However, the tedious fetch quest nature of the plot, combined with quick pacing, meant that character arcs suffered from a lack of focus. Additionally, while the new costumes seem high quality, they fall below the impressive looks from previous films, with Star-Lord suffering the most from a lack of a “wow” factor in his apparel.
Gunn once again infused his distinctive style in these films to lend viewers brilliant scenes and a beautiful story. Marvel Studios will certainly miss Gunn, and I, for one, am eager to see his future work at DC Studios.
In the upcoming issue, I will dive into the infamous Barbenheimer, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Mission Impossible: Death Reckoning and potentially other noteworthy films. With that, I urge Insight readers to support good films in cinemas, upholding better success with them.
