(Left) Sophie Turner in ‘Another Me.’ Photo: 20th Century Fox. (Right) Lara Croft from the ‘Tomb Raider’ video game.
Launched in 1996 on Sony’s PlayStation console, the ‘Tomb Raider’ series has gone on to be a huge selling title across various platforms, earning more than $95 million by last year and spawning a massive amount of merchandising.
The series gives the player control of fictional British archaeologist Lara Croft, who travels around the world searching for lost artefacts and infiltrating dangerous tombs and ruins.
That most recent title came from MGM and Warner Bros., but though there had been talk of a sequel, with first ‘Meg 2: The Trench‘s Ben Wheatley and then ‘Lovecraft Country’s Misha Green attached to make it, development stalled.
Amazon, of course, bought MGM, but the rights to the ‘Tomb Raider’ games had already lapsed from the studio because of the lack of forward movement on the new movie.
With the rights firmly in Amazon’s grip, the plans have now shifted to building out an interconnected Lara Croft universe boasting a new game release and what will probably be another movie reboot but is currently focused on a TV series (unrelated to the one already on Netflix).
Who is who in the new ‘Tomb Raider’ TV series?
Jason Isaacs in ‘Words of War’. Photo: Decal.
Martin Bobb-Semple is Zip, Lara Croft’s long-standing tech support and friend, while Isaacs is Atlas DeMornay, Laura’s uncle. Bill Paterson is playing Winston, the longstanding Croft family butler.
Weaver, meanwhile, will be Evelyn Wallis, a mysterious, high-flying woman who is keen to exploit Lara’s talents and Paterson Joseph is Thomas Warner, a senior government official brought in to clean up an almighty mess.
The rest of the cast includes Jack Bannon, John Heffernan, Celia Imrie, Sasha Luss, Juliette Motamed and August Wittgenstein.
When will the ‘Tomb Raider’ series hit screens?
With production just now kicking off, there’s a chance the show could be ready for late this year, but 2027 seems more likely.
(Left) Sigourney Weaver stars in ‘Call Jane.’ (Right) Sophie Turner stars in ‘Trust’.
Preview:
Sigourney Weaver is in talks to join the ‘Tomb Raider TV series.
Sophie Turner is playing Lara Croft.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge is co-showrunner.
While she’ll be back on big screens next week with ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash,’Sigourney Weaver also has her eyes on TV –– and another big, popular property to boot.
(Left) Sophie Turner in ‘Another Me.’ Photo: 20th Century Fox. (Right) Lara Croft from the ‘Tomb Raider’ video game.
Launched in 1996 on Sony’s PlayStation console, the ‘Tomb Raider’ series has gone on to be a huge selling title across various platforms, earning more than $95 million by last year and spawning a massive amount of merchandising.
The series gives the player control of fictional British archaeologist Lara Croft, who travels around the world searching for lost artefacts and infiltrating dangerous tombs and ruins.
That most recent title came from MGM and Warner Bros., but though there had been talk of a sequel, with first ‘Meg 2: The Trench‘s Ben Wheatley and then ‘Lovecraft Country’s Misha Green attached to make it, development stalled.
Amazon, of course, bought MGM, but the rights to the ‘Tomb Raider’ games had already lapsed from the studio because of the lack of forward movement on the new movie.
With the rights firmly in Amazon’s grip, the plans have now shifted to building out an interconnected Lara Croft universe boasting a new game release and what will probably be another movie reboot but is currently focused on a TV series (unrelated to the one already on Netflix).
What has Phoebe Waller-Bridge said about ‘Tomb Raider’?
Phoebe Waller-Bridge from ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ at Star Wars Celebration 2023.
Here’s what ‘Raider’ fan Waller-Bridge had to say:
“Lara Croft means a lot to me, as she does to many, and I can’t wait to go on this adventure. Bats ‘n all.”
When will the ‘Tomb Raider’ series hit screens?
With the show still in the development phase and casting not yet complete, we wouldn’t expect this one on screens much before late next year or at some point in 2027.
Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft in 2018’s ‘Tomb Raider.’ Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.
Other Movies and TV Shows in the ‘Tomb Raider’ Franchise:
Filmmaker Kogonada’s first two films, ‘Columbus’ (2017) and ‘After Yang’ (2021) were, respectively, an unconventionally low-key romance built around architecture and a melancholic meditation on what it means to be human in a high-tech society. ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,’ his third feature and first production for a major Hollywood studio (Sony), attempts to combine whimsy and fantasy with themes of love, regret, and loss, only on a much bigger canvas.
But despite the presence of two of our most charismatic actors, Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell, the visually lovely film is let down by a treacly, frequently dull script (by Seth Reiss) that trades real emotions and characters for pre-programmed mannequins and faux sentimentality. It’s one of those movies that reveals all in its trailer (which has been playing for months) and offers nothing beyond its superficial gloss.
Robbie and Farrell play Sarah and David, two people who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and strike up an immediate attraction, despite both attempting to wave it off (“I’m afraid of hating you,” says Sarah) and insisting they’re not in the market, despite clearly being two lonely, somewhat lost people. What neither knows is that they both rented cars for the occasion from the same mysterious agency, located in a vast warehouse in a narrow alley in the nameless city in which they both live.
The film slides into the fantastical from the start with David’s visit to the agency, where he’s served by a foul-mouthed, German-accented, overly enthusiastic cashier (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) and the more elderly, gruff mechanic (Kevin Kline), who rent him a long-discontinued 1994 Saturn SL with a special GPS that offers to take him – and Sarah – on the title trip, which they end up taking together after Sarah’s vehicle breaks down.
That trip takes David and Sarah to a series of doors in unusual places (like the middle of a forest), with each door leading to a moment in one or the other’s past that has defined their attitude toward life and love. In other words, the film offers up the kind of cheap Hollywood excuse for therapy and self-reflection which claims that if you can go back and confront that one thing that’s been hanging you up your whole life, everything else will sort itself out. Not only is that not true, but each major moment in both Sarah and David’s lives is the kind of trite cliché we’ve seen before: getting one last moment with a deceased parent, confronting a lost love, and so on.
The problem is that we don’t really know anything about either Sarah or David from the start, so they simply feel like automatons going through the motions as they take 109 minutes to arrive at the predetermined outcome of their journey. There’s no real emotion at play here, and no real chemistry either between the stars. When one finally confesses their love for the other, it seems almost comical – they literally just met a day or two before.
Kogonada has a great eye, and he and cinematographer Benjamin Loeb shoot the hell out of ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,’ bathing everything in warm hues and glowing light. But the heart of the movie is hollow, the plot points overly stylized and self-consciously theatrical (Sarah and David actually end up on an empty stage at one point, like they’ve stumbled into a Lars von Trier movie), and the needle drops become increasingly heavy-handed, culminating in ‘Let My Love Open the Door’ playing as someone literally opens a door.
In her first screen role since 2023’s ‘Barbie,’ a luminous Margot Robbie does the best she can with a role that is severely underwritten. Sarah keeps telling David that she’s horrible; she tells her mother that she’s bad with men; and yet we never get any real sense of why that is except for what she tells us. Farrell also looks terrific in the film (Kogonada is certainly kind to his actors) and, like his co-star, tries to wrestle some humanity out of his character, but can only go so far with the barely sketched template he’s got to work from.
The best work in the film undoubtedly comes from Waller-Bridge as the car rental agency’s cashier, who gleefully doles out the word ‘f**k’ like candy (hence the otherwise unnecessary R rating) and injects some real Terry Gilliam-like absurdity into the opening moments of the story. It’s too bad she disappears for most of the rest of it, since more of her and Kevin Kline as her straight man would liven up the proceedings considerably. Except for the two leads, none of the other characters even merit actual names.
Kogonada’s first two films were marked by their intimacy and even dream-like atmosphere, as well as their own visual acumen, but only the latter makes it into ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey.’ The story is so predictable and undercooked, the themes so saccharine, and the characters so flat that this movie runs out of gas long before that Saturn SL ever has a chance to.
‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’ receives a score of 40 out of 100.
What is the plot of ‘‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’’?
Sarah (Margot Robbie) and David (Colin Farrell) are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on a fantastical adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their pasts and possibly get a chance to alter their futures.
Who is in the cast of ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’?
(Left) Sophie Turner in ‘Another Me.’ Photo: 20th Century Fox. (Right) Lara Croft from the ‘Tomb Raider’ video game.
Preview:
Amazon MGM has confirmed that Turner is officially aboard.
Chad Hodge is joining Phoebe Waller-Bridge to run the show.
The show will run on Prime Video.
We’ve known for nearly two years now that Amazon has plans for treasure hunting character Lara Croft and the series of ‘Tomb Raider’ games in which she appears.
Now, from the sounds of it, Waller-Bridge and Amazon have made their choice, as Deadline reports that Turner, who played Sansa Stark in the huge HBO fantasy series, will be strapping on a utility belt and shorts as Croft.
Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft in ‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
Launched in 1996 on Sony’s PlayStation console, the ‘Tomb Raider’ series has gone on to be a huge selling title across various platforms, earning more than $95 million by last year and spawning a massive amount of merchandising.
The series gives the player control of fictional British archaeologist Lara Croft, who travels around the world searching for lost artefacts and infiltrating dangerous tombs and ruins.
That most recent title came from MGM and Warner Bros., but though there had been talk of a sequel, with first ‘Meg 2: The Trench‘s Ben Wheatley and then ‘Lovecraft Country’s Misha Green attached to make it, development stalled.
Amazon, of course, bought MGM last year, but the rights to the ‘Tomb Raider’ games had already lapsed from the studio because of the lack of forward movement on the new movie.
With the rights in Amazon’s grip, the plans have now shifted to building out an interconnected Lara Croft universe boasting a new game release and what will probably be another movie reboot but is currently focused on a TV series (unrelated to the one already on Netflix).
What has Phoebe Waller-Bridge said about ‘Tomb Raider’?
Phoebe Waller-Bridge from ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ at Star Wars Celebration 2023.
While Amazon MGM Studios Head Jennifer Salke has described the company’s plans for the show and other ventures as “epic” and “globe-trotting,” here’s what ‘Raider’ fan Waller-Bridge had to say:
“Lara Croft means a lot to me, as she does to many, and I can’t wait to go on this adventure. Bats ‘n all.”
When will the ‘Tomb Raider’ series hit screens?
With the show still at the casting stage (and Amazon as yet unwilling to officially confirm Turner, pointing to a deal that hasn’t closed right now), it’s far too early to speculate when it might be on Prime Video’s servers.
But we’ll go ahead anyway: 2026 at the earliest!
Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft in 2018’s ‘Tomb Raider.’ Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.
Other Movies and TV Shows in the ‘Tomb Raider’ Franchise:
Jake Gyllenhaal attends as Amazon debuts Inaugural Upfront Presentation at Pier 36 on May 14, 2024 in New York City. Photo by Slaven Vlasic-Getty Images for Amazon.
Preview:
Jake Gyllenhaal will star in a ‘Road House’ sequel.
Amazon confirmed the news today.
The company also announced word on ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ and more.
It was a big news day for Amazon’s film studio arm and streaming service Prime Video, as the companies used their shared first “Upfronts” (a presentation for ad buyers) to announce some new projects and follow-ups to recent successes.
Prime –– pun entirely intended –– among the movie news was word of a sequel to this spring’s ‘Road House’, the updated take on the cult Patrick Swayze bar-brawling drama that starred Jake Gyllenhaal.
Though the first film arrived on a wave of negative press –– producer Joel Silver was removed for aggressive behavior, director Doug Liman denounced the plan to release the movie direct to streaming (he’s since made peace with the idea) and a lawsuit from the writer of the original that claimed the new movie was simply a grab at keeping the IP –– ‘Road House’ has turned out to be a big success for Amazon/MGM, with 50 million views globally in its first two weekends.
And there was more to come…
This is what Amazon film boss Jennifer Salke said at the event:
“As we saw this spring the world went crazy for a little movie called ‘Road House’. Nearly 80 million viewers globally have watched ‘Road House.’ We like to watch these results like a baby.”
So, far from putting baby in a corner (a little cross-Swayze humor there), the studio has Gyllenhaal ready to return for a follow-up. No other details were confirmed, so we’ll have to wait to see if Liman is lured back to direct (highly unlikely) and what the story might be for the star’s main character Dalton, the MMA pugilist-turned-bar bouncer.
(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
The thriller series, which takes the Angelina Jolie/Brad Pitt movie as its loose inspiration to tell a story of relationships and spy craft, was confirmed to be returning for a second season.
But unlike ‘Road House’, there was no confirmed casting, so while Donald Glover (who also co-created the show with Francesca Sloane) and Maya Erskine starred in Season 1 as two strangers brought together by a mysterious agency, there is no word yet on whether they’ll be back (despite the first season ending in a seeming cliff-hanger).
Sloane is back for Season 2 to run the show, but it remains to be seen whether the series continues the story of the established John (Glover) and Jane (Erskine) Smith or follows some other agents.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge was originally aboard to develop and co-star in the show with Glover but left after creative differences. Still, she’s stuck around Amazon/Prime Video…
Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s ‘Tomb Raider’ series
Phoebe Waller-Bridge from ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ at Star Wars Celebration 2023.
While we knew that ‘Fleabag’ creator has been developing a show based on the ‘Tomb Raider’ video game, Amazon has now handed down a series order.
Waller-Bridge will write the series, but currently doesn’t plan to star.
Here’s what she had to say about the news:
“If I could tell my teenage self this was happening I think she’d explode. ‘Tomb Raider has been a huge part of my life and I feel incredibly privileged to be bringing it to television with such passionate collaborators. Lara Croft means a lot to me, as she does to many, and I can’t wait to go on this adventure. Bats ‘n all.”
(L to R) Cailey Fleming and Ryan Reynolds star in Paramount Pictures’ ‘IF.’
After spending most of the past decade following the end of ‘The Office’ in “tough guy” mode, playing a soldier, a spy, and an alpha male patriarch (perhaps to distance himself from his nerdy image as Jim Halpert), John Krasinski pivots into family film mode with ‘IF,’ an original live-action feature that he wrote, directed, and co-stars in. But while Krasinski showed some filmmaking flair with the intense ‘A Quiet Place’ and its sequel, his heavy-handed attempt to make a would-be family classic is overwrought and underwritten, giving the usually charismatic Ryan Reynolds and spunky young star Cailey Fleming little to do but stare at some Pixar-esque CG creations.
Story and Direction
Director John Krasinski on the set of Paramount Pictures’ ‘IF.’
‘IF’ opens on Bea (Fleming), a young girl who loses her mother to cancer before the opening credits even finish rolling. But that’s not all: Bea’s dad (Krasinski) is suffering from a heart condition and requires surgery, forcing Bea to stay at her grandmother’s (Fiona Shaw) New York City apartment while her dad undergoes his procedure (his pre-op stay in the hospital is unbelievably long – whatever he does for a living, he must have great insurance).
Lonely but apparently not going to school, Bea spies some odd-looking characters around the apartment building that lead her to a flat upstairs. That’s where she meets Cal (Reynolds), a strangely out-of-time man who resides in the whimsical apartment with a whole horde of bizarre beings that only Bea and Cal can see. As Cal explains, these are imaginary friends, or IFs for short, who are looking for new children to bond with since their previous children grew up and forgot about them.
Cal takes Bea to Coney Island – apparently it’s perfectly okay for a 12-year-old girl to wander around the city as she sees fit – where he introduces her to a subterranean retirement home for a large contingent of IFs, such as a robot, a flaming marshmallow, a glass of water, a big purple furball that looks like it stumbled over from ‘Monsters University,’ and many more. Most of them are voiced by famous people like Steve Carell, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney, Emily Blunt, Awkwafina, Matt Damon, Jon Stewart, and Blake Lively, who all don’t get much more than a line or two (even the ones married to the director and/or male lead). The founder of the place, a teddy bear named Lewis (the late Louis Gossett Jr.), recruits Bea to help Cal find new children for the wayward IFs, which Bea apparently finds more worthy of her time than, say, staying by her dad’s side.
(L to R) Ryan Reynolds (Cal), Louis Gossett Jr. (Lewis) and Cailey Fleming (Bea) star in Paramount Pictures’ ‘IF.’
‘IF’ wants very badly to be a sort of live-action Pixar movie. While the idea of hanging onto one’s power of imagination even as an adult is a worthy one, and we will give Krasinski a certain amount of respect for taking a big, original swing with his own material, he’s not good enough of a writer to make it work and can’t quite get a handle on it as a director either. The movie continually tries to pull shamelessly and relentlessly at one’s heartstrings, aided so obtrusively by Michael Giacchino’s pervasively syrupy score (a rare misfire from the otherwise great composer) that one wants to tell the music to shut up.
The biggest problem with ‘IF,’ beyond its overt mawkishness, is that Krasinski’s world-building is sloppy and undercooked. Does Bea’s grandmother wonder where she’s going all the time? Does her father? Why can some people suddenly see their IFs for no apparent reason years after having forgotten them? How can IFs apparently open doors and move objects? Sure, this is a fantasy film, and real-life logic doesn’t always apply; but there has to be some sort of internal logic, a set of rules for the world, and that doesn’t seem present here.
There are some funny lines sprinkled throughout the film, and young children may delight in some of the many IFs who populate the story (even if none of them are given anything more than a cursory character sketch), but ‘IF’ meanders along with little urgency and no real sense of what we’re supposed to feel, despite its strenuous attempts to make us feel something.
John Krasinski Cast Many BFFs in ‘IF’
(L to R) George Clooney (Spaceman), Amy Schumer (Gummy Bear), Emily Blunt (Unicorn), Steve Carell (Blue), Flower, Cailey Fleming (Bea), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Blossom), Richard Jenkins (Art Teacher) and Maya Rudolph (Ally) star in Paramount Pictures’ ‘IF.’
‘IF’ has a stacked voice cast, although as mentioned earlier, the IFs come flying through so frequently that few get a chance to make any kind of impression. Aside from the kindly, wise Lewis, the IFs who get the most screentime are Steve Carell’s Blue and Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Blossom, a sort of 1920s dancer who turns out to be Bea’s grandmother’s one-time IF.
The main human character, Cailey Fleming’s Bea, starts off as earnest and intelligent, but begins over-emoting through the second half of the film; Fleming is still an engaging presence who can probably do better. Krasinski’s dad, a whimsical sort who implores his daughter not to grow up too fast, is too smug to earn much of our empathy, while the usually sparkling Reynolds is forced to play it somewhat morose and passive through large sections of the film. His effortless way with one-liners doesn’t get the workout that this film could use. ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’ can’t come soon enough.
Final Thoughts
Cailey Fleming (Bea) and Steve Carell (Blue) star in Paramount Pictures’ ‘IF.’
There’s a 10-minute tour through the IF retirement home about half an hour into the movie, in which Lewis tells Bea that she can make whatever she wants happen just by thinking about it (we guess). It’s a potentially interesting idea ruined by overly frantic, busy visuals, ending in an extraneous dance number which has absolutely no bearing on the rest of the plot. It’s also indicative of the problem with the rest of ‘IF’: this is a shapeless movie that feels more like the director playing with all the tools at his disposal yet not firming up the story he wants to tell.
After the success of the ‘A Quiet Place’ films, we suppose it was inevitable that the director would get to indulge himself with a vanity project. And as noted earlier, certain younger audience members may be enraptured by everything going on in the film. But if John Krasinski wants to try his hand at a family movie again, he should concentrate more on a good, focused story and characters, and less on self-satisfied sentimentality.
‘IF’ receives 4 out of 10 stars.
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What is the plot of ‘IF’?
A young girl going through a very difficult time in her life suddenly gains the ability to see the imaginary friends (IFs) of other people who have left them behind. With the help of a neighbor, the little girl attempts to reunite all the IFs with the kids they once belonged to.
(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
Premiering on Prime Video this week, ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ loosely –– very loosely –– adapts the 2005 Doug Limanmovie that saw Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie playing married assassins unaware of each other’s secret job whose stale relationship is re-ignited when they’re assigned by their competing agencies to take each other out (and we don’t mean on a date).
But the new series shares really only the title and the most basic concept with the movie. Instead, here we have two strangers who apply for a job that sees them partnered up and moving through the various stages of relationships in their fake coupledom even as real feelings develop and the missions become more perilous.
Maya Erskine in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ deployed monsters as metaphor for teenage angst, body changes, and concerns. ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ tries a similar trick (though hopefully without the problematic future Joss Whedon of it all), utilizing the central couple’s various experiences as a mirror for a developing relationship.
It’s not a completely 1:1 situation, though some episodes play to that much more than others (episode 5, for example, sees the duo forced into a situation where their charge, played wonderfully by a superbly grumpy Ron Perlman is effectively a substitute child) but in general, the idea works.
Sometimes the balance of character work to action can be off-kilter, and not everything about the main dynamic works (Donald Glover and Maya Erskine have decent chemistry, though it takes some time to find its groove). Which, we suppose is how all relationships start and end up working.
But on the whole, it’s an entertaining peek into the various marker points of the relationship and the series format certainly offers more scope to explore the character levels than anything in the movie.
‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’: Script and Direction
(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
Though Glover originally developed the show with ‘Fleabag’ creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, creative differences saw Waller-Bridge depart and Glover instead create the show with his ‘Atlanta’ cohort Francesca Sloane (who runs the show here).
The writing for the series carries some of the hallmarks of Glover and Sloane’s past work (though none of its experimental, random nature which probably wouldn’t have worked for this). This time around, their focus is on the burgeoning relationships and using the spy missions/job as a giant metaphor for an evolving connection between two people is one that largely works well, even if it does mean there tends to be a larger focus on interaction between the two main characters rather than the action side of things. Jane and John are written decently, though they may end up testing the patience of some audiences.
As for the metaphors, they run the gamut from excellent to exhausting. One episode, where our main pair meet and spend time with another “John” and “Jane” is at times interminable (no fault of the actors involved). But the mission-of-the-week format means that if you don’t spark to one episode, you may well enjoy another.
Directors Hiro Murai, Christian Sprenger and Karena Evans (the first two have ‘Atlanta’ experience on their busy resumes, the latter has focused more on music videos and other TV series) bring a fresh, dynamic look to the show, and if the action moments aren’t quite up there with the likes of the ‘Mission: Impossible’ or ‘Bond’ franchises, that’s because it isn’t the main point here. This is a relationship drama with a side of set-pieces.
‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’: Performances
(L to R) Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
With the guest cast almost constantly changing (only one or two people beyond the leads appear in more than a single episode), the weight is very much on Glover and Erskine. As people who have both been the focus of TV series they co-created, they’re both more than able to carry the load of leading roles.
Of the two, Erskine comes off better, getting to show more development than the slightly more disconnected Glover. She’s excited for the opportunity to begin with, but you can really see the weight settle upon her as the season moves on. Keeping the metaphor of the relationship going, she becomes more and more disenfranchised as she realizes she’s holding up more of her end in terms both missions and personal life.
Which is not to say that Glover is bad –– his John Smith is a man who seems far less willing to leave his old life behind (a nod towards the usual commitment issues found more often in men than women) –– and he has some superb moments as the relationship develops and, at times, sours.
(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
Neither of the main pair are natural action stars, but they do their best, aided with a decent stunt team.
Around them is an ever-changing roster of others: Paul Dano is a good-looking neighbor who Jane takes a shine to, while Wagner Moura and Parker Posey are the other John and Jane who share the double date that ends awkwardly (and dangerously). Again, as mentioned above, the actors are perfectly fine in their roles, they’re just let down a little by the episode’s script.
Perlman, meanwhile, is wonderful in his role as the mysterious man that John and Jane are assigned to protect.
‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’: Final Thoughts
(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
If it sometimes stretches the concept a little thin, ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ is an effective mix of spy thriller and marriage drama with the emphasis on the latter.
Those seeking the next ‘Atlanta’ won’t find that here, but then, that wasn’t the point –– and as adaptations of movies go, this at least has the confidence to truly be its own thing.
‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ receives 7.5 out of 10 stars.
(L to R) Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
What’s the story of ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’?
Two lonely strangers land jobs working for a mysterious spy agency that offers them a glorious life of espionage, wealth, world travel, and a dream brownstone in Manhattan.
The catch? New identities in an arranged marriage as Mr. and Mrs. John and Jane Smith. Now hitched, John (Donald Glover) and Jane (Maya Erskine) navigate a high-risk mission every week while also facing a new relationship milestone.
Their complex cover story becomes even more complicated when they catch real feelings for each other. What’s riskier: espionage or marriage?
Prime Video’s ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ has launched its first trailer.
The show stars Donald Glover and Maya Erskine.
The series launches on February 2nd.
Once upon a time, ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith‘ were Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, playing married assassins whose relationship had begun to feel stale. But when they discover their shared, hidden sides, things spice back up –– even if neither might survive it.
In taking that idea, ‘Atlanta’ creator and co-star Donald Glover has given it a slight twist (see below), recruiting Maya Erskine to play Mrs. Smith to his Mr.
From the looks of the first teaser, the show certainly manages to bring both the funny and the action levels, so this is one we’re anticipating.
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What’s the story of ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’?
(L to R) Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
While it has a similar basic concept to the 2005 Doug Liman movie (famously the project where Pitt met and ended up married to co-star Jolie), the new series puts a fresh spin on the story.
Here, Glover and Erskine play two lonely strangers who land jobs working for a mysterious spy agency that offers them a glorious life of espionage, wealth, world travel, and a dream brownstone in Manhattan.
The catch? New identities in an arranged marriage as Mr. and Mrs. John and Jane Smith. Now hitched, John and Jane navigate a high-risk mission every week while also facing a new relationship milestone. Their complex cover story becomes even more complicated when they catch real feelings for each other. What’s riskier: espionage or marriage?
Who also appears in ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’?
Maya Erskine in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
Glover co-created the series with Francesca Sloane, one of his ‘Atlanta’ colleagues. Christian Sprenger, a fallow ‘Atlanta’ veteran, is the main director.
Originally, ‘Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge was aboard to co-write and co-star, but because of creative differences, she left the show in 2021.
“I worked on that show for six months fully in heart and mind and really cared about it — still care about it. And I know it’s gonna be brilliant. But sometimes it’s about knowing when to leave the party. You don’t want to get in the way of a vision. Creative collaboration is like a marriage, and some marriages don’t work out.”
When will ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ be on our screens?
All eight episodes of the show will debut on Prime Video on February 2nd.
(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.(L to R) Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
While this film may be the last time we’ll see Harrison Ford don the fedora and the whip, it doesn’t mean we can’t go on one final globe-trotting adventure with the famed archeologist.
“Daredevil archaeologist Indiana Jones races against time to retrieve a legendary dial that can change the course of history. Accompanied by his goddaughter, he soon finds himself squaring off against Jürgen Voller, a former Nazi who works for NASA.”
‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ first premiered at the 76th Canne Film Festival, exactly 15 years after ‘Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ premiered at Canne. Leading man Harrison Ford also received the Palme d’Or d’honneur for lifetime achievement at the festival.
“They say when you’re about to die, you see your life flash before your eyes, and I just saw my life flash before my eyes,” Ford said as he accepted the award.
The previous installment, ‘The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,’ was not received well by the audience, earning a 53% score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, ‘The Dial of Destiny’ received an 88% score from the audience, with many comments calling out certain classic Indy moments in the film.
Using the de-aging technology, the story takes us back in time to see a younger Indy, with a great action sequence aboard a moving train with the film’s antagonist Voller (Mads Mikkelsen). It had all the classic Indiana Jones movie moments and also set up the film’s McGuffin – the Archimedes dial.
Ford has been playing the globe-trotting, Nazi-punching archeologist for over 4 decades, debuting the character in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ in 1981. Now at 80, the actor returns to the role once again. We find Indiana Jones in a very interesting time – weighed down by his failed relationship with his wife Marion, being forced into retirement, and dealing with the loss of his son Mutt (Shia LaBeouf). This is certainly different than the Indy we know and remember, but Ford brings sincerity to the role and is ever committed to big action sequences and a high-speed car chase through the city as he and Helena go after the Dial.
The movie opened in theaters on June 30, 2023, and is available in various formats, such as Dolby Cinema, IMAX, 4DX, and ScreenX. ‘The Dial of Destiny’ still playing in theaters, so be sure to check your local listings and Moviefone below for showtimes in your area.
‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’’ has a total runtime of 2 hours and 35 minutes.
Watch the official trailer for ‘The Dial of Destiny’ below:
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Can’t make it out to the theater? Don’t worry. Since the movie is under the Walt Disney Studio banner, it will surely make its way to Disney+. Typically, Disney Studios films adopt a 45 to 90-day theatrical release window before it arrives on the streaming platform. This was the case with films such as ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ and ‘Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania.’ No official date has been announced for the film’s release on the streaming platform or VOD.
What is the plot of ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’?
In 1944, American archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) helps colleague Basil Shaw (Toby Jones) against Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), a Nazi, from obtaining a mysterious dial known as the Antikythera. Twenty-five years later, Jones is uneasy over the fact that the U.S. government has recruited former Nazis to help beat the Soviet Union in the competition to make it to space. He is about to be forced into retirement when, surprisingly, his goddaughter, Basil’s daughter Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), accompanies him on his journey for the Dial. Meanwhile, Voller, now a NASA member and ex-Nazi involved with the Apollo Moon-landing program, is also after the dial, and wishes to use it to make the world into a better place as he sees fit.
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Who is in the cast of ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny?’
‘Dial of Destiny’ is an improvement from ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,’ but still not a great ending for Indiana Jones’ story. The screenplay is confusing and convoluted, while the pacing is slow at times. Director James Mangold does an efficient job but the “Indiana Jones” magic is still missing from this installment. Harrison Ford gives a strong and emotional performance, while Phoebe Waller-Bridge breathes some fresh air into the franchise, but ultimately the film feels like an epilogue rather than a definitive final chapter.
The movie begins in 1944 at the end of World War II with an excellent sequence that takes place on a moving train. Ford is de-aged for the scenes, and while the VFX don’t entirely work, Mangold shoots the actor as sparingly as possible, as a little bit goes a long way. The sequence is classic Indiana Jones and one of the best set pieces in the film. But once the story cuts to present day, it drags to the next action sequence. Many of the characters’ motivations are unclear, as is the true power of the dial, this film’s McGuffin. And without giving away the ending, that seemed to come out of nowhere, like Indy meeting aliens in the last movie.
James Mangold is a very accomplished director, having made such films as ‘3:10 to Yuma,’ ‘Logan,’ and ‘Ford v Ferrari,’ and does a good job with the action sequences and the drama, but the pacing and the tone never seems quite right. This is the first film in the franchise not directed by Steven Spielberg, and while I certainly did not like ‘Crystal Skull,’ I have to wonder if the “magic” missing from this movie isn’t him? Mangold leans heavy on the nostalgia, which serves the film well with several cameos and callbacks. The director stages some impressive action scenes including the opening, a parade chase through the streets of New York, and a final mind-bending sequence.
Overall, the movie feels more dramatic than necessary and lacks the fun of the first three films. The 1969 setting of the movie is refreshing and contrasts Ford’s age and the flashback sequences well. Using the idea of Nazis working with NASA on the space race was a clever idea, but not really explored enough. Nor is the true power of the dial, which is problematic because they’ve been chasing after it for the entire movie and we don’t really understand what it is capable of until the end.
Harrison Ford will always be Indiana Jones! The actor returns to the role a little more gruff, but it suits the character well. Ford gives a great performance, but it is more dramatic than I expected. As an actor, Ford is excellent, but I question taking the character in this direction, as it sucks some of the fun out of the movie. Indiana lost his son Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) in Vietnam, his wife Marion (Karen Allen) has since left him, he is being forced into retirement, and he seems to have a drinking problem. It’s a different way of looking at Indy, and while it’s not my idea of a fun time, Ford brings a lot of sincere emotion to his beloved role. And it is nice to see him wear the Fedora and crack the whip one more time.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge gives a wonderful and cheeky performance as Indy’s goddaughter Helena. It’s a fun character and Waller-Bridge breathes fresh life into the film with her role. However, I do question the way the character was written, as her motivations are unclear at times and seem to change on a whim. That said, she is a good foil for Indy, and has lovely chemistry with Ford.
Several new characters are introduced, but most of them have limited roles. Toby Jones plays Helena’s father and Indy’s friend Basil Shaw. He’s only seen in flashbacks, but is good in his scenes with Ford, especially in the beginning. Antonio Banderas is introduced as an old friend of Indy’s, and while his presence was more than welcomed, we don’t spend enough time with the character to really get to know him. But the most confusing addition was Ethann Isidore as Teddy, an ally of Helena. No offense to the young actor, who was fine in the role, but the character seemed unnecessary and his relationship to Helena was vague and never really explained.
Again, in a far too limited role, John Rhys-Davies returns as Sallah, who first appeared in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and last in ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.’ He has only a few scenes but they are all with Ford, and it’s great seeing the two together again. Davies also has one of the best lines in the movie, but I wish the character could have been more involved with Indy’s journey.
Is Marion Ravenwood in Dial of Destiny?
Yes. Karen Allen returns as Marion Ravenwood, but like Davies, she really only has a cameo. However, the character plays a pivotal role in the film and is the reason for most of Indy’s actions and motivations.
Mads Mikkelsen plays a strong Indiana Jones villain with his performance as Nazi turned NASA scientist Jurgen Voller. The actor plays the role surprisingly differently than you might expect, and is a worthy adversary for our hero. While the actor never hides the characters motivations or true intentions, the story fails him at times when it becomes too convoluted. Voller’s role with the CIA is also confusing, working with agent Mason (Shaunette Renee Wilson), who seems unclear on why she’s helping him. And Boyd Holbrook basically plays the same role he did in Mangold’s ‘Logan,’ as Voller’s lead henchman.
Without giving away the end of the movie, we eventually learn that the Dial’s power has to do with time. This leads to an absolutely preposterous ending, that again, I won’t spoil. But it feels like something someone would write in fan-fiction and not a proper ending to Indiana Jones’ journey. In fact, the ending is so ridiculous its laughable and took me out of the film completely. That being said, it’s not as bad as Indy meeting aliens, but I do wonder if the franchise wouldn’t have been better off ending with ‘The Last Crusade,’ which was pretty much a perfect movie and the best in the franchise next to ‘Raiders.’ Still, it is fun seeing Ford as Indy one more time, and I do appreciate his thoughtful and emotional performance.
In the end, ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ just didn’t work for me. Mangold fills the movie with great action, and lots of nostalgia and dramatic emotion, but the story is all over the place, along with the tone and pacing. The returning characters that you want to see more of are limited, and too much time is spent on ancillary characters. Both Waller-Bridge and Mikkelsen give fresh and fun performances, but just like Indy, Harrison Ford swoops in and saves the movie. If for nothing else, the film is worth seeing just to get a glimpse of Ford as his signature character one more time.
‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ receives 6.5 out of 10 stars
