Ms. Marvel is the latest high-profile superhero to have died, which created some controversy with comic book fans. But what was even more troubling was the jaded reaction from many others who knew she would come back to life as was recently announced. This development is just another example of lazy comic book writing trope of killing off then resurrecting a popular character.
When Ms. Marvel was killed off in the closing pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #26, her death made lots of headlines and angered many fans. But many of them were not upset because she was killed. They were upset over the way Marvel Comics threw out all the pomp and circumstances to commemorate the superhero because it was clear she would not stay dead. Sure enough, Marvel Comics announced a few days ago that she will return in a new mini-series called Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant, which will be written by Iman Vellani, who portrays the superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Seriously, is anyone surprised by any of this? Of course, they would not let the poor girl rest in piece. Not when she will co-star in The Marvels later this year. The only reason as to why go through all this death and resurrection is to synch the character with the MCU version. As most comic book readers know, Ms. Marvel is an Inhuman in the comic books, but for whatever reason she was designated as a mutant in the final episode of Ms. Marvel. Given that Inhumans never reached the popularity of mutants in the pages of Marvel Comics, perhaps the powers-that-be gave up on the Inhumans and decided to have it revealed that she is actually a mutant.
Still, why go through all the hand wringing and kill her off in the first place? In the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man, the title character is shown to be in full mourning over Ms. Marvel aka Kamala Khan, but the two were hardly best buddies. Sure, they’ve teamed up a few times it’s not like this happened to the Human Torch. It would have made more sense if she died in the arms of the superhero Ms. Marvel looks up to, Captain Marvel. This was most likely done to generate sales and interest for the comic books, but we’ve been through this too many times, and it was done much better before.
The best example was with the Death of Superman storyline that spanned many comics. That event worked because his death and resurrection felt organic, had a huge impact in the world of DC, and explored all the nuances of Superman dying and coming back to life. Even the death of Captain America years later was better executed as readers had time to process his death and see the Winter Soldier becoming the new Captain America and so on. There is also the death of the Ultimate Comics version of Spider-Man, which turned out to have introduced an even more popular version of the superhero: Miles Morales.
The problem with Ms. Marvel’s death is that these superheroes deaths have been done to death and in Ms. Marvel’s case, it was done too abruptly. Then before anyone could process anything, Marvel goes and announces she is coming back. There were much more imaginative ways to transform Ms. Marvel into a mutant without using the cheap theatrics of temporary deaths. This development still would have generated news, but with less cynical reactions. The fact that Marvel chose the cheap and easy way to go about her transformation just underlines how the so-called House of Ideas has run out of them.
Now that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has been released, the Indiana Jones film franchise is complete and we can rank all five films.
The quality of these films are generally high, some of which are genuine masterpieces. Even the films that rank at the bottom are entertaining with their own merits, but have their flaws, of course.
Here are the Indiana Jones films ranked from least to best. Be aware of spoilers ahead and feel free to drop a comment about your own preferences!
5. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
It had been nearly twenty years since Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade came out in theaters when the fourth film premiered. This was the best they could come up with? This was the film that gave us the infamous phrase nuke the fridge because Indy survived a nuclear explosion by hiding in a refrigerator. Our favorite archaeologist deals with the 1950s as he searches for the lost city of Ankakor in South America. Among the 1950s tropes Indy grapples with include the red scare, bug-eyed aliens, and a greaser who turned out to be his son.
It was great seeing Harrison Ford reprising his role as Indiana Jones and how the adventurer functioned in a different decade. Some of the images from director Steven Spielberg were jaw dropping such as Indiana witnessing an atomic mushroom cloud or a great motorcycle chase on a college campus. But more often than not it felt like many of the filmmakers were phoning it in and taking the easy route. The film is riddled with obvious and needless CG images and stunts, and most of it looked fake. There was little sense of danger in many scenes.
Despite the fact that the script had been worked on forever, it still needed work as the motivations of characters did not make sense. The camaraderie between Indiana and his son was undeveloped and paled when compared to that of Indy and his father in the previous film.
4. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
As the franchise’s only prequel the second Indiana Jones film turned out to be the darkest in the franchise due to personal issues regarding divorces that creators Spielberg and George Lucas were going through at the time. The result was that the film feels mean spirited at times and dated with its misogyny and questionable depictions of other cultures.
It lacked the epic scale of Raiders of the Lost Ark and the filmmakers reveled too much in trying to gross out audiences and with trying too hard to be different from the first film. At times, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom felt more like a romantic comedy instead of an adventure film. Also, the MacGuffin Indy hunted for was far less impressive when compared to the Holy Grail or the Ark of the Covenant. What exactly do the Sankara Stones do except glow? The characters were annoying and unlikeable especially Willie Scott. She was supposed to be a sharp contrast to the tough-as-nails Marion Ravenwood from the previous film. But by trying to make Willie the opposite of Marion, the filmmakers turned her into a stereotypical screaming damsel in distress who lacked any substance.
Despite its faults, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom has some of the franchise’s greatest action scenes that still hold up to today and are iconic. Ford was great as always, as was the production design and score by John Williams.
3. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
The fifth and final Indiana Jones film has had a mixed reaction from fans. It will take some time to see how it holds up, but for now this is the rank it has earned. There was a lot of trepidation over the film since Spielberg did not direct it and many questioned how an old Ford could believably play a swashbuckling treasure hunter. But the film is an enjoyable send off to the franchise.
Even though Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny lacks a lot of Spielberg’s visual flair, director James Mangold does a fine job with this look at Indiana Jones as a senior citizen in the late 1960s. Embittered over the death of his son which destroyed his marriage and facing retirement, Indiana carries out one final treasure hunt with his goddaughter, which involves time traveling to ancient Syracuse and meeting Archimedes.
There are some issues with the plot mechanics and its credibility (something that the other films suffer from, such as characters using life rafts to jump from an airplane and other feats that would have killed them). But Ford has some good chemistry with Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who plays his goddaughter and the film has some exciting moments, especially during a flashback scene set in World War II and an intense tuk-tuk chase sequence. Anyone hesitant about the film because of Spielberg’s absence should put doubts aside and see Indiana Jones in his last great cinematic adventure.
2. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
After the mixed reaction to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Spielberg and Lucas went back to basics and delivered a rousing adventure that is nearly as great as the first film. It is also the funniest film in the franchise.
The film opens with a rousing flashback to 1912 which features River Phoenix as a teenaged Indy. After we find out why he fears snakes and how he got his famous fedora hat, the film jumps forward to 1938. Indiana travels to a pre-World War II Europe to find his missing father, who he has not spoken to in some time. Sean Connery was magnificent as Indiana’s father and the two actors share some of the best moments in the franchise thanks to their incredible chemistry.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade follows some of the same beats as Raiders of the Lost Ark, such as Nazis, intense chases, epic scenery and spine-tingling explorations of ancient sites. Thanks to Spielberg’s skills, a great script and inspired acting, the third film is definitely classic cinema. Oh, be sure to watch the film to the end as it features one of the most beautiful ending scenes ever filmed as Indiana Jones and his companions ride off into the sunset.
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
Also known as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, this is the first and still greatest Indiana Jones film. When thinking about the recent Martin Scorsese “This is Cinema” meme, Raiders of the Lost Ark certainly applies to that phrase!
Set in 1936, Raiders of the Lost Ark introduces us to Indiana Jones, a two-fisted, globe-trotting archaeologist who hunts ancient treasures. Inspired by the movie serials of the 1930s and 1940s, Raider of the Lost Ark elevated that kind of cinema into the greatest action-adventure film of all time. This was due to the groundbreaking collaboration between George Lucas and Steven Spielberg who wanted to do his version of James Bond. Here’s a bit of trivia, Lucas initially called the hero Indiana Smith and we’re glad the name was changed to Jones since it flows much better!
Spielberg was at his best when directing this monumental film. It featured many of his trademark visual touches like his God light on characters and inventive composition of shadows and silhouettes to showcase characters. Of course, none of this would mean much without a great script, which is what the film thankfully had from Lawrence Kasdan. Each shot was nearly perfect as the level of excitement and mystery increased with each passing second. Raiders of the Lost Ark is true cinematic treasure that has endured through the years and set a standard with adventure films that is difficult to match. That is why it is the best of the Indiana Jones films.
NOTEWORTHY MENTION
Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues
During the 1990s, ABC aired The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, which were historical dramas about Indy when he was a child and a young adult. The episodes had opening and closing segments that starred George Hall as an old Indiana Jones in his 90s telling tales of his youth. In one episode, “Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues”, Harrison Ford reprised the role as a bearded Indiana in 1950 who told a story about himself in Chicago in 1920. This episode has been recut into a television film with the same title, but honestly the best part of the episode involved the two segments with Ford.
Harrison Ford returns one final time in his famous role as the swashbuckling archaeologist Henry “Indiana” Jones, Jr. in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. The fifth film in the Indiana Jones franchise has been in development hell for several years and it seemed that it wouldn’t ever be made.
Many fans were skeptical that the fifth installment would be able to compare to the previous four films directed by Steven Spielberg. Adding to the doubts were Ford’s age (he turns 81 this month) and the mixed reactions to the fourth film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. So, the question most of us have is does the film deliver? For the most part, yes it does.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny opens with an extended flashback sequence in 1944 where Indiana or Indy is battling Nazis in Europe during the waning days of World War II. Unlike the previous films, there aren’t any title cards that establish the time and place, which was disappointing.
Anyway, Indy and his friend Basil Shaw (Toby Jones) are after a macguffin called the Lance of Longinus, which the Nazis possess. A German astrophysicist named Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelson) that is working for the Nazis deduces that the artifact is a fake and tells his superiors about half of another artifact that he possesses. It’s called the Antikythera or the Dial of Destiny and it could help Germany win the war. Before long, Jones and Shaw clash with Voller and the Nazis and are able to acquire the Dial from Voller.
The film flashes forward to 1969 in New York City. Jones is now an old, embittered man who emulates Clint Eastwood’s character in Gran Torino. He is about to retire as an archaeology professor in Hunter College and cannot be bothered to join in the citywide celebrations over the Apollo 11 moon landings. He runs into Shaw’s daughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), who is a treasure hunter and archaeology student and wants to acquire the Dial of Destiny, which is in the college’s storeroom. Also interested in the Dial is Voller himself and his henchmen. After the war, Voller fled to the United States and helped NASA with their efforts to get to the moon. Voller is able to steal the Dial and sets out to find the other half, which is somewhere in Europe.
It turns out that the device was built by the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes, and allows a person to track fissures or cracks in time, which would let that person travel to different time periods. Obviously, Voller wants to use the re-assembled device go back to Nazi Germany and win the war. The film turns into an extended series of exciting chases as Indy and Helena try to find the other half of the Dial as well and stay one step ahead of Voller and his goons.
Even though Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was not directed by Steven Spielberg, the film is still a fun adventure while trying to evoke the spirit of the older films in the franchise. While director James Mangold cannot compare to the great Spielberg, he does an admirable job with this film.
In a way, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny echoes some themes from Mangold’s Logan, in that that film also dealt with an aging hero past his prime who is forced to go on one last adventure. Don’t worry Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is not bleak like Logan, but the themes about aging are well explored. Indy’s age and his lot in life in the late ‘60s may alarm some fans but this honest look at the aging hero in the twilight of his life is a novel theme that had not been explored before in the franchise. On the other hand, his physical feats and invulnerability given his ages does stretch credibility.
The film is similar to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in that the macguffin is more sci-fi based, but unlike the fourth film it doesn’t have sci-fi tropes involving aliens and flying saucers. The Dial’s usage was quite astonishing and fit in well with Jones’ world view. It’s too bad there cannot be another film that would make up a trilogy where Indiana Jones sought sci-fi based macguffins instead of the religious ones he hunted in the first three films. Oh well.
A huge reason why Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny works is due to Ford himself. He pours himself wholeheartedly into the role since he knows it is the last time he will play the plucky archaeologist. At this point, Ford is an acting legend that should be treasured and most of us are grateful he was able to don his fedora and leather jacket one last time. The other actors are also excellent in the film including Waller-Bridge and Mikkelson.
The production perfectly captured the look of the different time periods. The special effects, especially the de-aging done for Ford when he played the character in the 1940s was excellent aside from a few quick hiccups. But Mangold was able to keep the action and story moving along to keep us from focusing on the occasional effects flaw.
The only other gripe about Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is that it is a bit long. It tries to capture the feel of the Spielberg films and while it quite can’t do it, the effort was commendable. As mentioned above, the story usually keeps moving and we’re engaged during the ride. However, it does not have silly moments like nuked fridges and is also not afraid to have more grounded and emotional moments for Indy. But don’t worry, once the action starts, Indiana Jones finds his old groove, which is always a delight to watch.
This was not supposed to happen. Even though The Flash, the latest film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), had many delays and behind-the-scenes obstacles, the solo film debut of the superfast DC hero had a lot going for it. From over-the-top praise from early screenings and the return of Michael Keaton as Batman, the film was expected to perform well in the box office when it premiered last week. Yet, here we are with the film being a massive box office flop that could not even earn $70 million in the U.S. for its opening weekend and with even more dismal earnings expected this weekend. No mistake here, folks. The limping and wounded DCEU cannot be salvaged in any form because of the failure of The Flash.
It is all too easy to blame the failure of The Flash to superhero film fatigue, but that is just an easy answer. After all, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse performed very well when they premiered earlier this year. So, what happened? It will take some time to determine what went wrong, but for now here are some reasons as to why The Flash was a dud in theaters.
Bad DCEU Reputation
Let’s face it, although the DCEU has had a few great films, too many of them had problems when it came to quality. After Shazam! In 2019, the DCEU films that followed, with the exceptions of The Suicide Squad and Zack Snyder’s Justice League, were ravaged by fans and critics. They also performed poorly in the box office, especially The Suicide Squad. In fact, the last DCEU film that was a bonafide hit was Aquaman, which was back in 2018. The recent failures gave the cinematic universe a poor reputation that caught up to it and left The Flash with an insurmountable obstacle.
Adding to the poor reputation was that The Flash starred Ezra Miller, an actor who has gotten into trouble for alleged criminal activities, a lot of it was violent. Ordinarily, Miller would have been and should have been fired from the role, but the film studio, Warner Bros. did not recast the role. Instead, the film proceeded with Miller continuing to play the title superhero because it was not financially feasible to restart production with another actor. Miller’s toxic behavior turned off many fans who refused to pay money to see the film since doing so would in a sense condone Miller’s actions.
Overhype & Missed Opportunities
With the recent failed DCEU films, The Flash was seen as the last, best hope for the DCEU. It had many hurdles to overcome, but the film’s team got through them. There was some hope for the film as early screening reactions were positive. Celebrities like Tom Cruise and Stephen King raved about the film. There was excitement over Keaton’s return and promises of cameos from past DC films and TV shows since the film dealt with the multiverse.
Unfortunately, while The Flash is one of the best DCEU offerings and a solid superhero film, it had its share of issues, such as its script. Without going too much into spoilers, why didn’t the Flash use his time travel powers to find out who killed his mother? Also, at the end of the film, it’s clear that the superhero did not learn the hard lesson about interfering with time based on what he did at the end.
Also, some of the special effects were downright awful. How bad? Arrowverse bad! Speaking of the Arrowverse, it is puzzling why the film did not feature an appearance by Grant Gustin, who played the Flash for several years on TV or even John Wesley Shipp, who played the superhero in the early ‘90s. In the TV version of The Flash, Ezra Miller appeared briefly and met the Grant Gustin version of the Flash. So, why wasn’t Gustin in the film?
After years of delays and behind-the-scenes controversies, The Flash, the “final” film of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), is finally here. Fortunately, despite its flaws and the real-life, alleged criminal actions of its star Ezra Miller, the film was worth the wait.
The Flash is a very loose adaptation of the Flashpoint DC Comics mini-series where time-travel actions by the Flash disrupt his timeline. The film takes place during a day-in-the-life of the titular character, Barry Allen aka the Flash (Miller), who performs his superspeed heroics while carrying on in his lonely civilian life. He is trying to find evidence to prove that his father, Henry (Ron Livingston) is innocent of killing Barry’s mother, Nora (Maribel Verdú), when Barry was a child. During a moment of grief, Barry runs so fast he momentarily time travels. This gives him the idea to use his abilities to go further back in time to save his mother. Even though his friend Bruce Wayne/Batman (Ben Affleck) warns him of the dangers with tampering with time, Barry decides to go through his plan anyway and succeeds.
During his journey back to his own time, Barry becomes stranded ten years in his past. After reuniting with his mother and father, Barry soon encounters his younger self and realizes he arrived at the day when he got his superspeed powers. The attempt to ensure that the younger Barry gets his powers succeeds, but the present-day Barry loses his powers. What’s worse is that a short while later, the Kryptonian warlord Zod (Michael Shannon) arrives with his army on Earth to conquer the planet. Barry learns that in this world Superman, who defeated Zod in Man of Steel, does not exist and the only existing superhero is a retired Batman (Michael Keaton). It is up to the three to find a way to defeat Zod and recreate Barry’s powers.
There is so much to enjoy in The Flash, which is one of the best DCEU films. Let’s start with Miller’s performance as both Barrys. Yes, the DCEU version may be too strange and quirky, but Miller is able to create two distinct versions of the same character. One who is immature and very obnoxious, while the slightly older version is more mature, sensible and even sympathetic, although his brash actions created the temporal crisis. The way the film had the actor interact with his film was flawless thanks to clever editing and effects.
Speaking of effects, they are the one major flaw of The Flash. Several sequences are masterful and eye-popping, especially whenever the Flash travels through the speed force, or when our heroes and Supergirl (Sasha Calle) battle Zod and his forces. But other times it is painfully obvious that bad CG is being used. This happens in the film’s opening scenes when the Flash tries to save a bunch of fake-looking infants who are falling from a high-rise hospital and at one point later in the film when several characters are showcased in other universes. It’s not clear what happened, perhaps the producers ran out of money and the film studio Warner Bros. refused to provide more funds. Director Andy Muschietti offered a nonsensical explanation that this was intentional so we could see how the Flash sees the world around him while he is traveling at hyper speeds. Bullshit!
We’ll probably get the real story years from now. But seriously, it would have been better if stock footage from other films and TV shows were used during the scenes where the Flash views other universes. This worked in the recent episode of Titans when Beast Boy glimpsed other universes including the DCEU. What was surprising was that we did not see the CW/Arrowverse version of the Flash played by Grant Gustin. This was unusual since Miller made a brief cameo as the Flash during the Arrowverse’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” event a few years ago. The other cameos seen are fun especially for DC fans.
Uneven special effects aside, The Flash is a fun, surprisingly humorous and spirited superhero film that has a lot of heart. Its last merit is rather surprising and credit goes to Miller and Muschietti. The emotional beats are very aching during the film’s final act when Barry has to acknowledge some painful truths about life. There was one scene near the very end that was so heart wrenching even though it was inevitable.
As well as Miller was in both roles, the other performers like Keaton and Calle also turn in fine performances. Obviously, it was great seeing Keaton reprise his iconic role as he found a new spark and purpose in his life, which was to help Barry. The relationship between the two was the heart of Flashpoint and was essentially recreated in this film, although the film has little to do with the comic book storyline. It was also a treat to see Affleck reprising his role as Batman, as well, even though this will be the actor’s final performance as the superhero. The one brief moment we see his version of Bruce interacting with Barry showed the two have a natural chemistry and it will be missed.
Without going into spoilers it is not clear where the film leaves off in terms of the disrupted timeline. There was an original ending that was nixed in favor of what turns out to be a joke, and a bad one at that for those who loathe some of the older Batman films. Given its dismal box office performance and Miller’s situation it is doubtful this version of the Flash will return as this is the end of the DCEU. Still, The Flash is an enjoyable time-travel/superhero yarn that sends off the DCEU on a high note.
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