Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Review
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) Movie reviewOR movie run by James Mangoldwritten by Jeez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth AND David Kopp and playing Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, Mads Mikkelsen, John Rhys-Davies, Ethan Isidore, Karen Allen, Shaunette Renee Wilson, Olivier Richters, Thomas Kretschman, Toby Jones, Boyd Holbrook, Martin McDougall, Ala Safi, Francis Chapman, Chase Brown AND Nasser Memarzia.
The fifth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, starts off with a bang and maintains its momentum for a good hour before diving into familiar adventure movie territory. There have been many Indiana Jones rip like Jungle Cruise these days, and Indy’s new director James Mangold doesn’t explore much uncharted territory in the second half of the film, and while the material is new, it feels a little stale — almost like it’s been done before. That shouldn’t stop fans of the show from enjoying seeing our hero (played by Harrison Ford) flourish in the role Ford is known for most.
This film opens in the early 1940s with Indiana Jones hanging by his neck against his will as the ground falls away from him. He has a noose around his neck, but you know our hero is bound to escape this unfortunate predicament. The finely choreographed action begins with a brilliant sequence set atop and inside a train as some Nazis set out to steal something precious (an artifact) from Indy (Ford, who has a blast) who runs along with his friend, Basil Shaw (the always terrific Toby Jones). When Indy instructs Basil to shoot the bad guys, Basil accidentally shoots poor Indy, who has enough on his plate dealing with a bunch of bad guys that include the evil Dr. Voller (Mads Mikkelsen).
After our heroes make a daring escape, we jump forward 25 years to 1969. Indiana is trying to get some young people to reduce the noise in their apartment early in the morning. Indy is soon to give a lecture at a New York City college, and in the class is none other than his daughter, Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge). Indy is also retiring soon, and a party has been thrown for him in the early part of the picture as well.
Soon, Indy and Helena’s characters are chatting in the shop and, eventually, the CIA gets involved as the goons from earlier in the picture return to get their hands on the half of the Dial of Destiny mentioned in the film’s title. The Dial of Destiny has special powers when it fuses the two halves together, and although the concept of fusing the two halves together seems familiar (F9: Fast Saga especially comes to mind), plays well at the beginning of Mangold’s film.
So the action is never better than when Indiana steals a horse from a parade where the bad guys are in hot pursuit of our hero. Indy crosses the horse at the 59th Street subway station in an inspired scene that can inspire applause from the audience. As Indy rides his horse against a moving train, the film becomes more and more exciting. The plot revolves around Indy’s attempts to get his hands on what Helena takes from him and auction it off to another location where our hero tracks it down. Indiana and Helena bicker and argue a bit, and Indy reminds Helena that her father, Basil, shot her once for good measure.
Some supporting characters here could have played better than they actually did in the movie. Antonio Banderas plays a boat captain named Renaldo, who appears briefly in a role that seems like it mostly ended up on the cutting room floor. Banderas is okay, but not at the level he should be working at at this point in his career. A new character named Teddy (adequate Ethann Isidore) appears in the film, but he’s here to be kidnapped to help advance the plot as Indy goes looking for him after our baddies capture Teddy. Finally, the other role that feels a bit disappointing is that of John Rhys-Davies’ Sallah, who saves Indy at a key point in the film by appearing in a taxi. Rhys-Davies is excellent, but Sallah gets lost in the mix here in a film that’s too long with not enough substance to justify its bloated length.
That said, there are some special set pieces, such as when Indy and Helena dive into a cave with scorpion-type creatures that will surely bring back memories of the snakes in the original. Raiders of the Lost Ark. Even Teddy gets his moment to stand out in a scene set underwater that’s enough to keep the audience invested in the action. Destiny’s magic number is, perhaps, the most disappointing aspect of the film, but it’s not fair to reveal what exactly this major plot point has in store for audiences. There are a few surprises, but they aren’t as fun as one might hope.
The photo uses digital de-aging technology to make Harrison Ford look younger. It works wonders. In retrospect, the actor doesn’t look as old as Ford actually is. This makes the film more believable. Ford is convincing as Indy and has lost none of his charm. But the film suffers from too many cliffhangers and unnecessary characters like Karen Allen’s Marion, who was thought to be at a distance from this material in the earlier scenes of this film, but appears later.
Mads Mikkelsen is quite menacing and a multi-faceted villain. He gets some moments in the picture that work by keeping the movie from losing a bad guy we love to hate. The problem with this film isn’t the lack of compelling villains, it’s the lack of proper pacing to keep the final material in the film from becoming monotonous and boring. Jungle Cruise and other Indy movies came to mind over the last half hour or so Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Indiana Jones may be hanging up his hat in this latest installment of a Harrison Ford film. Maybe that’s a good thing since the scenarios can only be so for this character, judging by this latest effort. With a stronger script, the fifth installment could have overcome some of its downfall. As it is, the film is certainly not bad, but it lacks the punch of its predecessors as well as the originality of those films. However, the first hour makes the film worthwhile. Phoebe Waller-Bridge also has a good rapport with Ford, and their scenes together, to Mangold’s credit, never feel cheesy. In the end, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny it could be better but it could also be much worse.
ASSESSMENT: 7/10
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