The first trailer for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny did not impress me, at all. But the Super Bowl spot kind of works for me, at least the bit with Mads Mikkelsen, and Indy asking if he’s “still a Nazi”.
First, it’s a GREAT piece of Indiana Jones business, exactly the kind of thing Indy would say in exactly that tone. And second, it’s an unfortunately good meta joke because Nazis are back in the mainstream and these days, it feels like we do actually have to ask if people are Nazis. So, it works in and out of context. Whatever else happens with this movie, I bet that becomes a meme. And this spot has a high Boyd Holbrook quotient, so they know how to butter my toast, and just reminding me that he’s in this movie makes me like it more.
But I am still hung up on Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character, who is apparently Indy’s goddaughter. I don’t mind the bit with the plane, seems like the kind of thing that would have been a lower stakes stunt back in the day, but now Steven Spielberg has CGI to play with, so whatever. No, what gets me is that they wasted “Indy has a secret child” on Shia LaBeouf and now can’t use that trope for PWB, even though her character is really feeling, looking, and sounding like “Indy has a secret child”.
I remember the introduction to “Mutt”, the roll up on the motorcycle in the first trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and how that kind of gave me a sinking feeling, because The Wild One is the wrong thing to invoke in an Indiana Jones movie. But everything about PWB is striking the right tone this time around, even if they have to play a different hand with her character. I am starting to feel, while still deeply skeptical of further extending the Indy franchise, at least maybe this one won’t be as bad as Crystal Skull.
