2023-06-28 14:26:18
By Simon Cherner
Published on 19/05/2023 at 18:17, Updated just now
Harrison Ford, digitally rejuvenated, in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. lucasfilm
NEWSPAPER – A “good surprise”, even a “miracle”. Without equaling Steven Spielberg’s original trilogy, this new and final part of the adventures of Indy, in theaters on Wednesday, seduced almost all the press.
It had been expected in theaters since its screening at the Cannes Film Festival and the surprise Palme d’Or offered to its most faithful interpreter, Harrison Ford. The end of the session was fortunately marked by thunderous applause. Perhaps because it was unexpected, the success of the new Indiana Jones wrung comments bordering on ecstasy from the press.
“Eureka!”title Olivier Delcroix for Le Figaro ; “crazy virtuosity”, abounds the criticism of Luc Chessel in Release ; while, on Twitter, Philippe Rouyer is delighted with a «grand spectacle» finally “grandiose and mischievous” – we even saw Simon Rauxrifleman at Widescreendrop the words of «miracle» and of «mastery». Also sated with this film feast, Renaud Baronian from Parisian applauds in turn – and finally blows. “It’s yes, a big yes of relief, following an absolute pleasure, top-of-the-range entertainment, a great cinematic adventure”.
Read alsoWhat is Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (really) worth, the latest installment in the cult saga?
The secret of the recipe? His cook. Steven Spielberg, historical brigade leader of the saga, handed over control to another filmmaker for the first time. The master saucier James Mangold, gravedigger of the superhero Wolverine in Logan , put on the hat. The heir is up to it and “deploys a Spielbergian know-how”approves Christophe Caron, in The voice of the North . In his review for First François Léger is also delighted with the work of the director who “elegantly appropriates Indiana Jonesbetween great spectacle and very clever modernization of the legend».
Eternal youth
An astonishing point floats from the first returns of the fifth Indiana Jones. Few lines dwell on Harrison Ford’s digital rejuvenation in several sequences of the film. However, the technique had caused a lot of ink to flow with the revived Peter Cushing of Rogue One the Robert de Niro cheered up by The Irishman or even the almost chubby Johnny Depp of the last Pirates of the Caribbean . As criticism is proverbially more generous in its assassinations than in its congratulations, one risks taking this silence for a resigned satisfaction.
Read alsoJeanne du Barry: criticism little dazzled by the dull sun of the aristocracy
Expected at the turn, the rejuvenated version of Harrison Ford therefore seems to pass the test of verisimilitude. That’s not the case with all the special effects though – maybe not quite finished yet. “We rub our eyes at the mediocrity of certain visual effects and digital backgrounds with blatant artificiality”asserts Philippe Guedj of Point , yet rather convinced by the film. More diplomatic, Gilles Kerdreux d’West France note that “scenes on a green screen can be seen a little”.
The other stumbling block is the management of the abundant capital nostalgia carried by the saga. References and winks are legion. Words like “counterfeits”«autocitation» et “copy” have been written. Clearly less enthusiastic than their French colleagues, Anglo-Saxon critics shamelessly compare this Dial of Destiny you honey Crystal Skull Kingdom. Owen Gleiberman, from Variety sigh thus from this “suite that serves up nostalgic rose water without the slightest thrill”. Richard Lawson de Vanity Fair grieves over the uniconic object of Indiana Jones’ quest. The American preferred the Ark of the Covenant of Moses and the Grail of Christ to the dial of Archimedes, “which simply does not have the same cultural weight”.
Read also“This is the last time I play the character”: Harrison Ford says goodbye to Indiana Jones
James Mangold, however, manages to straddle his few wanderings and lead them to a cinematic object on the verge of extinction in Hollywood blockbusters: an idea. The one who crosses The Dial of Destiny is steeped in a particular melancholy, “that of memory, of the advantages and disadvantages of going back, or not, in time. In short, old age, vestige, old debris. A whole archeology»points out Luc Chessel for Release. For Fabrice Leclerc, of Paris Match the message is thus delivered with accuracy thanks to “the intelligence of a scenario that turns all expectations upside down”. This did not prevent several journalists from finding the time long. Allow two and a half hours to see The Dial of Destiny.
On the side of Monde , critics like to slow down and bite into a madeleine from time to time. So we pastiche Proust there. This gives the following title: “Harrison Ford in Search of Lost Time”. Jacques Mandelbaum admits to being charmed by “the poetic motif of time travel”. He explains: “Harrison Ford becomes, before our eyes, the true relic of this ultimate story, a testimony to the past which is dear to us and which we treasure to prevent, as well, that this past is abolished in us.”
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#critics #spellbound #archaeologist #adventurers #farewell #show