Pan and Slam

Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

PG-13 2h 34m

• Director
  • James Mangold
• Stars
  • Harrison Ford
  • Phoebe Waller-Bridge
  • Antonio Banderas

BY JASON KOENIGSBERG

Forty-two years after he first hit the big screen and fifteen years after we last saw him, Harrison Ford dons the iconic fedora for the fifth, and presumably final time as Indiana Jones, one of cinemas most recognizable heroes in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Is it worth being in the canon and part of the legacy built by Ford with his friends George Lucas, who produced the previous four films, and Steven Spielberg, who directed the previous four films? Is it worth making the trek to the cinema to see it? Is it even worth seeing at all? The short answers to those questions are: Hell No, kind of, and absolutely yes! Does this review fail in its purpose to guide you on whether to see the movie or not by not giving a definitive answer… well that is up to the viewer and their expectations. How much they love and admire Indiana Jones will determine a lot of if they walk out happy humming the rousing theme song by John Williams as the credits role. The headline and the star rating are a fair assessment from a strictly critical point of view on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, however for many people of a certain age seeing this movie they might feel much stronger one way or the other.

The film opens up with the Lucasfilm logo onto a lock instead of the Paramount logo being used to frame the first shot of a mountain in some manner. That is already the first minor disappointment for staunch Indiana Jones fans. It then goes straight into the action revealing Indiana Jones is held as a prisoner for the Nazis who are once again the main villains of an Indiana Jones adventure. From there audiences are given a twenty minute action sequence with a digitally de-aged Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones fighting Nazis with a chase scene that goes by car and switches to train where he tries to save his friend and acquire a valuable artifact the Nazis have stolen. The characters we meet in this chase and the artifact, which features a McGuffin, will all play heavily into the main plot later on. The digital effects to make Harrison Ford look younger work very well in the same vein as the special effects from The Irishman (2019). The action set piece itself does not meet the standard for what a great first action scene should be. It was well shot and had all the right staging with ample surprises around every corner, yet still felt predictable. Once Indy gets onto the train everything felt similar yet inferior to the big action train scene with Tom Cruise in the first Mission: Impossible (1996).

It ends exactly as one would expect and then we jump forward to a much older and grumpier Dr. Jones in 1969 getting woken up in his Manhattan apartment to a neighbor blasting a very loud Beatles song. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny conveniently ignores some major elements from the fourth picture Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) that were unpopular and deservedly so. Unfortunately, by doing that it sacrificed an emotional drive that could have focused on Indiana Jones seeking redemption or dealing with a loss in a manner that would drive him and shape him as an older man. Instead a main aspect of the previous film that could have carried over was dealt with in on single shot, then a few tepid emotional moments when Indiana Jones talks to his goddaughter to give the audience forced background on their relationship and fill in some holes. They acknowledge what happened, play some sad music and rapidly move on going straight to the plot. It is understandable why this movie would want to do course correction after the underwhelming response to the fourth film but Indiana Jones deserves better treatment than shoddy forced screenplay 101 moments and so do we.

In fact, Harrison Ford deserves better than the dialogue they give him. He literally carries this movie on his eighty year old shoulders. His name is not often mentioned in the same sentence when listing the greatest actors of his generation like DeNiro, Pacino, and Hackman but he deserves to be. After all he is Indiana Jones, one of the greatest action heroes of all time as well as Han Solo, the best big screen Jack Ryan, and in between gave outstanding performances in Blade Runner (1982), The Fugitive (1993) and 42 (2013). Because he was such a successful movie star and viewed as a sellout, his acting talents are often overlooked. Well look no further than Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny to see how Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones basically singlehandedly propels this movie. If the viewer cares about anything happening on screen it is because of him and his gravitas mixed with just the right dash of humor. He acts his age and the script recognizes that. They have him teamed up with his goddaughter played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge to find a priceless artifact her father was obsessed with. Regardless of what she has done and accomplished before, sharing so many scenes with Harrison Ford she comes across as having the charisma and screen presence of a gerbil. This would have been a role better filled by a big name talent that could rival Harrison Ford’s star power and go head to head with him convincingly. For those worried that Indiana Jones might be sidelined since he is an old white man and they would save all the best and most noble moments for the female sidekick, that does not happen. Her character is more of a mercenary who only cares about money and Indiana Jones still has the same old school values and traditions reminding us there are more important things than money and that “it belongs in a museum”. Mads Mikkelsen is more than adequate as the main Nazi villain. He has proven to be very reliable in these types of roles. Usually the main antagonists from Indiana Jones movies are not that memorable. Kudos to him for being an impressive villain in both the James Bond and Indiana Jones franchises. Harrison Ford still has what it takes to be Indiana Jones and is the best thing about this film.

The director James Mangold is no Steven Spielberg, but very few filmmakers are. This is the first Indiana Jones movie not directed by Spielberg who only has an executive producer credit alongside his friend George Lucas. Spielberg could not have directed this movie with Nazis as the main enemies after making Schindler’s List (1993) and swearing to never take the horrors of World War II in a lighthearted manner but James Mangold does a commedable job with the scripts he has. This is his follow up to his Best Picture nominated film Ford vs. Ferrari (2019) and over a quarter century in his career he has directed some of the biggest movie stars of all time like Tom Cruise, Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Sylvester Stallone, Joaquin Phoenix, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Angelina Jolie and Reese Witherspoon in their Academy Award winning roles and now Harrison Ford. He is a lot like Ron Howard where he can helm a big budget with big stars and almost always delivers a high quality picture.

The music by John Williams is also one of the most iconic aspects of the series and it was nice to see his name in the credits and that the nonagenarian is still the only one to orchestrate an Indiana Jones movie. This score took heavily from the music he composed for Minority Report (2002) in some suspenseful scenes but that only added to the experience. Thankfully, the CGI was vastly superior to the special effects that we last saw in an Indiana Jones adventure. Do not worry, there are no main characters swinging from vines with monkeys or getting blown up in flying refrigerators this time around. The visuals look good and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny feels like a movie made in 2023.

But like most movies made in 2023 it is about half an hour too long and it feels it. It aims for the middle to please everyone and hits a bullseye. The third act really did manage to throw a whopper of a surprise near the end with the climactic showdown and that set piece makes up for some of the mediocre action scenes that came before it. This review is a conflicted one because there is a lot to admire with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny but there are no serious stakes involved. There is no emotional investment in this story other than seeing Indiana Jones and rooting for him. Nostalgia can go a long way in movies and that will really make a huge impact on how much the viewer enjoys Dial of Destiny.

Regardless of if you see Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in cinemas you can sit back and enjoy John Williams’ indelible score.