Indiana Jones 5 and Top Gun 2: Revisiting the Comparison

The expectation some have that Indiana Jones 5 will play like Top Gun 2--dominating its summer's box office with a bigger-than-expected opening, followed by stronger-than-expected legs leading to a gross towering over those of its rivals--has been much discussed in the press on account of the two films both being revivals of major '80s-era "feel good" hits with the kind of stars "Hollywood doesn't make anymore" that even seem comparable in getting a big screening at Cannes prior to their worldwide release.

There has, of course, been less comment, or even acknowledgment, of the undeniable differences in the circumstances of their release. The Rah-Rah attitude the media took toward Top Gun 2 meant that pretty much no one talked about the advantage it derived from having relatively little box office competition from other action-oriented blockbusters; or the Rah-Rah attitude itself, which is to say, the media's cheerleading for the movie.

It was always clear that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny would not have such a clear run at the box office--the summer of 2023 packed with big movies (even if audience enthusiasm for the particular films may be shaky in this era of numerous aged, run-down franchises). Now, in the wake of the premiere at Cannes it seems clear that the movie will not have the media cheerleading for it. (Indiana Jones 5's Rotten Tomatoes was score was, in fact, "rotten"--a mere 50 percent as of Friday, as against the 77 percent that even the not-so-well-received Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull managed.)

This matters all the more because Indiana Jones 5 probably needed critical backing more than Top Gun 2 did. Certainly I remarked the headwinds facing that blockbuster--but I suppose my expectation was that the audience's reception would, if not positive, incline more toward disinterest than dislike. In the case of Indiana Jones 5 dislike seemed a real danger given the skepticism in many quarters about such a project from the start--with this exacerbated by the fact that, in contrast with the do-over of Top Gun that gave its target audience more of what it liked the first time, and was received by it as a "feel good" movie, Indiana Jones 5 looks like the opposite. Departing in significant ways from its predecessors (structurally, aesthetically, etc.), it would seem that those who had doubts about the necessity or desirability of a fifth film, made under Disney management, starring an octogenarian Harrison Ford, helmed by Logan director James Mangold, and costarring Phoebe Waller-Bridge, will, on reading the reviews available now at least, feel they were entirely right to be doubtful. Indeed, while the analogy that occurred to me a few days ago was between Indiana Jones 5 and Daniel Craig-era James Bond 5, No Time to Die, especially in the wake of some of what I have seen on the Internet, I would not rule out a The Last Jedi-level Internet backlash against the film--with all that implies for how the film will perform at the box office, and general feeling toward the individuals and firms involved.