The fact is this, Indiana Jones 5 is going to be coming as of next year as the tentative release date will be the summer of 2021, but the twist is something that a lot of people might not have thought would happen in any situation. Steven Spielberg, the man that was behind the movies every step of the way so far, is stepping down, and James Mangold, the man responsible for Logan, The Wolverine, and Ford v. Ferrari is being invited to step into the director’s chair. That’s about as monumental as it gets at the moment since anyone taking over a Spielberg production is bound to have a lot of pressure suddenly off-loaded onto their shoulders and a legacy to complete that will have a huge impact on their career. There’s also the idea of whether or not this will be Indy’s final expedition or if Mangold will find a way to keep the character going, which is kind of hard to see since Harrison Ford is getting kind of old to keep doing the same old thing over and over again. In fact as Sandy Schaefer of Screenrant reminds us Ford has already said that he didn’t want anyone else playing the role once he was done with it. Whether Mangold decides to kill off the character as he did with Logan or not though, a lot of fans are already starting to expect to see some of the grit return to the saga of Dr. Jones as the danger continues and the quest for whatever ancient artifact is already on the line.
A rumor has gone around that Spielberg’s heart just wasn’t in the last Indiana Jones movie and it’s pretty easy to believe since Kingdom of the Crystal Skull lacked some of the desired elements that made the first three movies so memorable. Plus, quite a bit of the action was, as always, way over the top, but it was taken to a new level that many fans felt was beyond the limit of the audience’s endurance and was downright laughable at times. Indiana and the bad guy being stuck on a test engine that’s blasting through the desert and not being crushed against said engine was hard to fathom, as was Indy surviving a nuclear blast, while stuck in a refrigerator that was being bounced and beaten about by the resulting blast. Even Honest Trailers and CinemaSins would agree that he would have been little more than a bloody bag of bones and bruised meat by the time the ride was over.
Maybe we’ll be seeing another movie that’s just as over the top but isn’t going so far out of bounds that it will remind us of the old Raiders of the Lost Ark, when things were still down and dirty and bound to remain fairly within the realm of reality apart from the more supernatural elements. It’s been said throughout the last couple of years that Ford would play the role again so long as it was, as always, a worthy script, so it could be that things have lined up in a way that will deliver what could be the last Indiana Jones movie we’ll ever see, at least with Harrison Ford. Imagining someone else as Indy just isn’t bound to be the same since like Han Solo, Harrison Ford created an iconic character that can’t be so easily replaced. The brief stint that the late River Phoenix took on as young Henry Jones Jr. was entertaining, but it wasn’t meant to last. The idea has been floated and even tried in the past, but nothing has stuck so far and at this point it might be that the name needs to be retired for a while following this movie considering that without Ford to continue the adventures it could be that we’re better off wondering just what other adventures he’s been on during his long run as a teacher and archaeologist. Of course there’s always going to be someone that’s willing to step up and say that they can take on the challenge of rehashing the legend and making it into something that can still entertain the masses. Ryan Parker of The Hollywood Reporter has more to say on this matter.
Personally I happen to think that Indiana Jones should have been granted a rest after The Last Crusade as it capped off a nice run and gave us a final movie that should have easily topped just about anything else that might come along. The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull might have been a great deal better had it not come so far after the third movie, as there was a 19-year gap between the third and fourth movies, which is more than enough time to think that it was better to simply let the character rest and move on to something else. The fact that Spielberg’s heart apparently wasn’t in the movie is enough to think that it should have been left alone. Maybe part 5 will be redemptive, but it should still be the last.
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