Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty/LucasFilm Ltd
More often than not, to be an Indiana Jones fan means embracing the ridiculous. That South American temple armed with a giant rolling ball as a security system in Raiders of the Lost Ark? Seems plausible! A man in a foreboding headdress rips some poor soul’s heart out before somehow burning him alive? When Temple of Doom came out, we went with it. Noted Scotsman (and former James Bond) Sean Connery as Harrison Ford’s dad in Last Crusade? Let’s fucking GO!
But not even the atomic refrigerator scene from Crystal Skull could have prepared me for what was to come with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, a film that includes both time travel and a young CGI Indy. The film is a staggering collection of choices, right down to Indiana’s horseback ride through Manhattan’s subway tunnels.
The most absurd creative decision of all, however, might also be the most subtle: How the hell did Indiana Jones, a man with specific trauma around both cockroaches and rats, wind up living in New York City?