In a franchise that has contained the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail, it should not be possible to say “that ending was too fucking stupid”.

And yet I am saying exactly that.

Let’s be clear: it wasn’t a Phantom-Menace-grade celluloid abortion. It wasn’t a waste of money or time, mine or the makers. I was amusingly diverted for most of the movie. But at the points where it gets stupid, it get really, unforgivably fucking stupid. Not in a “switch-your-brain-off-and-it’ll-be-entertaining” way, no. In a “so-stupid-it’s-just-plain-poor” way.

What bugs me is that it’s meant to be pulp. The very font of fun-but-stupid. Except I can’t help feeling that what they made was the inverse. Stupid-but-fun. I feel I’m forgiving it the massive weaknesses, because the fun bits were good. And then I think about the fun bits, and realise they could have done those same sequences in *any* Indy film, and they get less forgivable.

But, in the end, I had fun staring at a really big screen. It’s just not fun I feel entirely good about.