Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Movie Review Rating:

Star Cast: Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Thomas Kretschmann, Toby Jones, Boyd Holbrook, Oliver Richters, Ethann Isidore, Mads Mikkelsen

Director: James Mangold

What’s Good: Everything is ending for Indy & there won’t be any further milking unless Disney one day doesn’t decide to ruin this further with the help of AI

What’s Bad: What could’ve been three parts to remember forever would be discussed with two blots in the end

Loo Break: It’s one lengthy film, you’d need it

Watch or Not?: Only & only to bid adieu to the legendary Harrison Ford

Available On: Theatrical release

Runtime: 2 hours 34 minutes

User Rating:

Before we jump into the life of 70-year-old Indiana Jones (played by Harrison Ford for the one last time), we’re taken through a flashback sequence set in approximately 1944 (during the ending phase of World War 2). A splendidly de-aged Indy (aged 45) is captured by German soldiers who are on their way back home retreating some precious historical artefacts for Hitler.

The artefacts included a ‘dial of destiny’ by Siceliote mathematician Archimedes, which can detect fissures in time (it can time travel) introduced by Dr Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen). Indy manages to steal a part of it with his bud Basil Shaw (Toby Jones), cutting to the present day in 1969. The now Senior citizen Indy unites with Basil’s daughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) to collect the remaining pieces of dial not letting Voller go back in time to change the result of World War 2.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Movie Review: Script Analysis

Though the story advances over a decade from the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, it starts with a stylish flashback from 1944 which is just a few years after the Last Crusade (1938). The de-ageing portions of Harrison Ford are both impressive & scary at the same time. Scary because you know he’s not the same person & impressive also because of the same reason.

The technology could now bring back actors from the dead doing a film for y’all, but is that necessary? That’s a debate for some other time but the tech has improved a lot than what it was a couple of years earlier in The Irishman. Ford v Ferrari’s writers Butterworth brothers, Jez & John-Henry Butterworth have reworked the script initialised by Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull’s writer David Koepp.

The core of the Indiana Jones franchise has always been the MacGuffin each of the instalments has followed, apart from the last one which happened only because George Lucas wanted to do something around Aliens with Steven Spielberg. Despite this one revolves around Archimedes’ ‘Dial Of Destiny’, we, the audience, are the MacGuffin of it. This time around Indy is fighting Nazis to hunt for our attention more than anything else.

It’s always hard to make a comeback post an abysmal 4th part following an epic trilogy, and that reflects in how quickly the film slips from “Dafuq!” to “What The F*ck?” The de-aged portions showing a 45-year-old Indy retain the voice texture of the 80-year-old Harrison Ford, why? When you can optimally use the de-ageing tech for the best visual outcome to date, why can’t you use AI to do the same for the dialogues as well?

Despite all this discordance, the first 20 minutes remain the best chunk of the film. Because it retains the Indiana Jones flavour way better than the rest of the film. The chase sequences look more authentic because of the de-ageing process and we don’t have an 80-year-old Harrison Ford doing stunts insanely impossible for people of that age, which kind of creates a disconnect with the story in the later half.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Movie Review: Star Performance

The eternal excitement of being Indy is still alive in Harrison Ford, despite all the cracks in the wall he somehow manages to make us believe that he’ll always have it in him. The fact that you’re witnessing a man completing his 40-year journey with the same character makes all of this even more special.

Before talking about Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Helena, we’ll need to have a word about Toby Jones’ Basil Shaw because he suddenly becomes this important person in Jones’ life naming him as the Godfather to his daughter. All these new connections just can’t build any personal connection with the characters or even the franchise. Phoebe’s performance ranges from annoying to amazing, the only positive being that she’s not used as just another prop.

Mads Mikkelsen yet again manages to play a scary character with finesse. He underplays Dr. Jürgen Voller so beautifully because as a mad scientist, anyone could’ve crossed the line to come across as impressive but Mikkelsen just stays Mikkelsen infusing fear effortlessly. Ethann Isidore’s Teddy is no Short Round, he’s just an attempt to sketch one more such character but failing at it badly.