Mediocre, toned down version of Indiana Jones

Rating: 6/10 (16 May 2017)

I can't help but compare this to Temple of Doom which many consider the worst in the series. It seems the writers wanted to recreate the magic of the first film, so again, Jones is chasing after a Biblical artifact and fighting Nazis. Gone is the silly, over the top plot of Temple of Doom. However, many of the scenes are boring. Jones spends too much time chasing Nazis around Europe instead of being in a tomb or temple, which is where the series shines. Too much time is also spent explaining the somewhat convoluted backstory. All we need to know is the Nazis are the bad guys. I don't care about the rest. Get on with the action already.
The characters are dull and forgettable, in my opinion. As soon as I saw Elsa, I thought, "You can't trust a face like that". She's too attractive. Of course she ended up being a bad guy. Extremely predictable. Extremely cliché. Then for the remainder of the film, (which is two thirds), she's hardly in the film at all. And that's the problem. Once Elsa disappears, the film lacks a strong female lead. Instead we are stuck with Indy's father. I kept thinking, "Can't Indy drop off his father at a bingo hall somewhere and get back to the action?" I liked his father but he got annoying toward the end. This leads to my next complaint. Why are all the main characters so old? It's like the director went to the local retirement home to do the casting for the movie. Indy's father is 70-80. So is their friend, Brody, and so is the villain. Really the villain is the most generic villain possible. He's basically an old guy who happens to be a Nazi, a complete 180 from Temple of Doom where the villain was a cartoon character brought to life.
My biggest complaint are the action scenes. Don't get me wrong. They're good, but the movie lacks an over the top, epic action scene like the earlier movies. Raiders of the Ark had the giant stone ball. Temple of Doom had the rope bridge and mine cart scene. The last crusade has ... nothing that defines the franchise. There is no single moment you remember ten years later. In fact, Jones spends very little time in actual tombs or temples dodging booby traps and solving puzzles. That's what sets Indiana Jones apart from other action movies. It's unfortunate the writers seem to have forgotten that. Overall, it seems the movie made an obvious attempt to reign in the over the top theatrics of Temple of Doom but in my opinion, went a bit too far. What you are left with is a good film but not a great film. One that falls short of capturing the magic of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Personally I prefer Temple of Doom over this. Yes, that film was ridiculous at times but at least it was more fun. This is more of a standard, all around generic action film.