Mmm, well. I am afraid that the vast majority of this (very long) film was pretty so-so. The alternation of big set pieces with plot and character development was somewhat by numbers and the big set pieces did not always seem to arise organically from the story; you often had the feeling after some, usually quite well written dialogue scenes the feeling, ‘oh, we must be about time for an action sequence’. And these, although decently done, did not do anything new that had not, essentially, been done before (and often better). Moreover, there were at least two almost identical chase/fleeing sequences where the sole difference was the vehicle used by Indy. In addition, to be honest, there were a few moments when what Indy was required to do did seem just a bit too much of a stretch of the imagination, even in a film such as this. Additionally, these sequences, particularly the first couple were so flashily edited with such rapid cutting that it became tricky to actually follow and see what was happening. And in these films, certainly the earlier ones, you were always given time to appreciate what was happening. Here such sequences were all one, frantic tempo, rather than being balanced with some slower and more tension-inducing sequences, as exemplified in the opening sequence of the original film – still a textbook example of how to open a film.
Familiar characters were introduced but I felt that Waller-Bridges part was somewhat underwritten. There could have been a really smart, dynamic and witty relationship between her and Indy – and momentarily, towards the end, this did surface but not enough to take away from the longeurs of the previous hours.
However, in spite of all these strictures, in the final 10-15 minutes, when everything had been resolved, the film soared and this concluding postlude was wonderfully, amazingly powerful – much to my surprise. I was not expecting to feel that sort of response after what had gone before. I would not necessarily say that this redeemed the film – it was only the final scene after all – but it is worth seeing for that.