Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny – A Fitting But Flawed Send-Off

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny marks the fifth installment in the beloved adventure franchise that’s been going strong for 40+ years. Dial of Destiny see’s the talented and genre hopping James Mangold take over in the directors’ chair and do a pretty commendable job behind the camera, taking over from Steven Spielberg who directed the previous four installments. Set in 1969, the story sees Indiana Jones (Ford) on the verge of retirement in a world that seems to have outgrown him until his goddaughter Helena Shaw (Waller-Bridge) shows up and thrusts him into one final adventure that sees them take on a Nazi-turned-NASA scientist Jürgen Voller (Mikkelsen) in a race to find an ancient artifact that could change the course of history forever. Ever since its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last month, it has been the subject of many unfair concerns and vocal criticisms. While the film never comes close to recapturing the magic of the original trilogy, it delivers a solid and fun sendoff to a beloved character that most audiences will likely enjoy.

The first half of the film is honestly about as close to perfect as an Indiana Jones film can get. The flashback opening starts things off on an incredibly strong note, offering everything audiences could possibly ask for out of an Indiana Jones sequel. It’s just classic Indiana Jones from front to back and despite the massive update in visual effects and its budget, that entire sequence feels like it was pulled from one of the first three films in the best way possible. Meanwhile, one of the big criticisms this film has been facing is the de-aging effects used on Harrison Ford to make him look much younger. A bit distracting, it is the one thing that takes away from the film’s otherwise fantastic opening sequence. The effects look fine when there’s not a lot of movement on screen, but it just looks off in scenes with motion. It also doesn’t help that Ford sounds like an 80-year-old man in a 40-year-olds body.

Thankfully, the film doesn’t lose momentum after the enthralling opening sequence either and manages to feel like a classic Indiana Jones film for the majority of the runtime. While Mangold is obviously no Spielberg, the final product feels in line with the original trilogy. The action is all well shot and fun to watch, especially the many different chase sequences both on foot and in vehicles. Ford slips right back into the role of Indy perfectly and this film as a whole is worth seeing for him alone. It’s very clear what this character means to him, and he does absolutely wonderful work in his final portrayal of the character. Waller-Bridge as Helena seems to have drawn a divided response as well and while Helena may not be the most well written or likeable character, she is fantastic in the role and really elevates her from what was clearly on the page. The relationship between Indy and Helena works for the most part because of their strong chemistry. And getting to hear John Williams incredible score one last time on the big screen again was bittersweet to say the least and lives up to the ones that came before it.

That being said, once the film enters the second half, its flaws continue to mount while the excusable ones from the first half are only magnified. The fact that it has a major villain problem is kind of crazy to think about when they are played by Mikkelsen. While is fine in the role, Voller isn’t all that interesting or compelling and never truly poses that great a threat. Even his henchmen are disappointing and forgettable once the credits roll as the film just doesn’t do anything remotely interesting or exciting with them despite all the ingredients being there. The criminally underrated Boyd Holbrook gets a great action sequence and a nice little setup before essentially turning into Voller’s primary wordless henchmen who primarily does nothing more than lurk in the background.

Also, the second half is when the film starts to drag as there’s absolutely no reason this needed to be 154 minutes let alone anything over 2 hours. While Mangold does make it feel for the most part like an Indiana Jones film, there’s no denying that some of the magic that Spielberg and George Lucas brought to the original film trilogy is gone. It doesn’t help that this time around, there’s a lot more visual effects than practical effects either and noticeably bad moments of greenscreen more often than not. The only other complaint with this one revolves around the third act but it’s impossible to discuss without giving anything away. Though they certainly went for it, it’ll definitely cause divided reactions from fans and casual audiences.

At the end of the day, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny marks a fitting farewell to this beloved character and ends his story is a mostly satisfying place even if the surrounding film has some definite flaws. Although it still doesn’t come close to capturing the same magic that the originals were able too, not that it ever needed to, it’s at least an undeniable step up from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Perhaps going in with lower expectations will help, but this is still a blockbuster worth seeing and has an old-fashioned feel to it that audiences rarely see from Hollywood anymore.

still courtesy of Lucasfilm

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/