Remember that aura of dissatisfaction that haunted the multiplex as the credits rolled on 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? It was in the mutterings of malignancy that decried Shia LaBeouf’s irritating Mutt and ridiculed the risible extraterrestrial final act. You weren’t alone. Dial of Destiny, the fifth and final in the franchise, arrives lobbied by Harrison Ford himself and the screen icon’s personal penchant for an emotional encore. See also: The Force Awakens and Blade Runner 2049. Though seemingly unshared by Steven Spielberg, who steps back from directorial duties for the first time in the series, Ford’s passion is infectious. This one boasts some thunderously entertaining fun.
While Wes Anderson’s recent rebuttal of a TikTok trend for style homage smacked of good will deficiency, the opening scenes of Asteroid City belie a wicked flair for the self aware. This is all very typical, Russian Doll material from the cinema’s most textbook auteur. An obdurately rectilinear repository for the whimsical, sometimes irksome and unfailingly meticulous. There’s no more emotion here than pretence. Asteroid City, we are told from the off, does not exist: ‘it is an imaginary drama created expressly for this broadcast’. Many a true word is said in jest and right back and smack a few.
Having been one of the last decade’s most prolific Hollywood stars, Jennifer Lawrence hasn’t half lain low in recent years. Between 2011 and 2017, Lawrence averaged three major releases per annum. Since 2020, the Time 100 listed Oscar winner hasn’t even knocked out one a year. What could coax such a talent back to Tinseltown? In 2019, it was the promise of working with Adam McKay. In 2022, the opportunity to try a hand at film production itself appealed. As for 2023’s No Hard Feelings, which hit cinemas on Wednesday, it was simply the funniest script the star had ever read. Hm.
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