A blueprint for how a blockbuster sequel should be done. Director Steven Spielberg is mindful of the series’ history with the rousing opening sequence, in which a young Indy (River Phoenix) tries to stop a looter. (Clever touches reveal how his persona was formed.) Then Spielberg nearly tops himself, serving up inventive stunt sequences nearly on par with those of the first action-packed film. The movie also offers Sean Connery as Indy’s father, providing both emotional layering and deft comic support. The two iconic actors play off each other perfectly. Ford has never been this self-deprecatingly funny, while Connery makes being a doddering old man look gallant. If it was jarring to see how off-tone Spielberg was in Temple of Doom, it’s equally shocking here to see how effortlessly he gets the magic back.
