TheFilmFreak1

It is difficult to impartially review a film made by a dear friend, and all but impossible when oneself had a small hand in its making (I was a sort of editing consultant). I'm too close, I know too much about how much of a labour of love this was and all the fun, fascinating ways it evolved.

The Mirror of Amun-Ra was made with a miniscule budget. Considering that limitation it is amazing how well the film threads the needle of grand pulpy adventure and traditional short film. The necessarily abbreviated and highly telegraphed character arcs of the short film format are embraced like a lover returned from war. The script is unabashedly silly. Both the leads, especially Jarrod Crooks, throw themselves into this silliness, letting themselves be larger than life but also maintaining an earnestness. These characters are not self-aware meta creations, they believe they are real. It's nothing Oscar-worthy but it does make the film come alive. The moral dilemmas that arise, they do mean something because of this sincerity. Janelle Kloth's bashful performance really catches you off guard in this respect.

With the script and performances very nicely married, the film's main weaknesses come in some of its technical aspects. The music is alright, but its ambition does overstretch its resources. The real problem, though, is the sound mixing. Simply put, it is often too loud, making little things like a twig snapping sound like Gabriel's Trumpet. The dialogue is clear, which is not a given for an indie film shot in a forest, but there is an inescapable artifice to how this film generally sounds.

But it is also in the technical elements of the fim that we find its greatest strength. The cinematography is hands down my favourite thing. The influence of the late, great Douglas Slocombe is indubitable, with blocking and composition precise and aesthetically pleasing and a colour grade that is so soothingly autumnal it belies the film's digital camera. I loved looking at this movie. It is the work of someone with a natural eye for beauty. It could have served to be a bit more dynamic during the action beats but there's also a novelty to the restraint.

Finally, for editing, my professional field, I have only good things to say. The film is paced very well. It feels no longer or shorter than it ought to be and your attention never wanders.

In summation, a fun but refreshingly earnest work that does feel its budget but also embraces its limitations to deliver something emotionally affecting and very easy on the eye.

Congrats Jon, you did it!

I'm not an enormous Indiana Jones fan. It's always been a second-rate James Bond helmed by a first-rate director. Raiders, the first and unquestionably most beloved entry in the franchise, struck me as two thirds of a great film, and then a dull third act where Indy gets captured and the villains kill themselves. Last Crusade was the same, but better. Crystal Skull was the same, but far worse. Temple of Doom was the most unique, a dark descent into a vivid and rather racist hell climaxing in a symphony of violent thrills, and it stands as my favourite. I didn't come into Dial of Destiny with stratospheric expectations, and neither should you, except maybe the hope that it's an improvement over Skull.

On that front I am happy to report that it is. Yet Mangold is no Spielberg, regardless of how good Logan was, and the blocking and camera work of the latter is terribly missed, especially in the opening action scene that on paper reads so much like classic Indiana Jones adventure but in reality plays like a Captain America set piece. Mangold often needs three shots to communicate what Spielberg could do in one. That isn't so bad when the action is brightly lit and well photographed, like with two exciting chase scenes in New York and Tangier, but it's a bigger problem during the opening and climatic action set pieces where so much of what is happening can only be glimpsed through night and fog. Otherwise, a clear step up from the last film. Compared to the original trilogy, Dial of Destiny is cast in a less flattering light.

The biggest problem is the script. It has vestigial, necrotic plot elements from earlier drafts in its narrative body that put one in mind of the Disney Star Wars trilogy. Shaunette Renée Wilson's character, the Lance of Longinus, a certain character surviving a virtually unsurvivable injury in the prologue, the Moroccan baddies... all strangely superfluous. There's also a sense of missed opportunity. I know many will hate the climax for its outlandish nature, but personally I didn't think it went far enough. It's such a mesmerizing left turn it feels insulting when the writers put the car in reverse.

In the end, it's fine. I like that Indiana's age is acknowledged beyond wry dialogue, incorporating his vulnerabilities into the action. I like Mads Mikkelsen. I like Helena Shaw's kid sidekick and that the story acknowledges the existence of tourists for I think the first time in the whole saga.

It's fine.