If you’re over a certain age, then I imagine the film I’m about to discuss requires little introduction. However, for those on the slightly younger side, or for the few people who have simply slept on the Indiana Jones movie series for the past 40+ years, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a brand-new Indy film which makes its long awaited arrival this week.
The picture – the fifth entry in the Harrison Ford-fronted action-adventure series – is set during the late 1960s, and chronologically takes place after the events of The Temple of Doom, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Last Crusade, and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. According to Ford, Dial of Destiny is his swan song, because after this fifth movie he’s hanging up his fedora, so if you want one last ride with Dr. Jones, then this is it!
As to whether you want to head out to the cinema to catch this fifth instalment is something I’ll come to momentarily. However, for now, let me fill you in on a few key details about the film including the cast and the all-important premise.
Directed by James Mangold, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny stars Harrison Ford, alongside Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, and Ethann Isidore. The movie is playing in UK cinemas from today, and will be on general release in the US from Friday.
In terms of the story, the year is 1969 and things aren’t going so well for Indy. In recent times he’s separated from wife Marion, he’s just retired from his teaching job, and he’s reached a point in his life where the future seems less than exciting.
But what Indy doesn’t know, is that one more adventure is just around the corner. His god daughter, Helena Shaw, is searching for the two halves of Archimedes’ ancient Dial of Destiny and she wants Indy’s assistance in locating the full artefact.
However, Helena isn’t the only one looking for the Dial – the government are also interested in it, and so is physicist and former Nazi, Jürgen Voller. Voller in particular believes the Dial would give him great power, and he’ll stop at nothing to get it.
Teaming up with Helena and her young companion Teddy, Indy sets off on a globe-trotting journey to track down the Dial. But will the trio of adventurers find the lost pieces, or will the Dial fall into the wrong hands?
OK, with all that out of the way, I’ll circle back to what I mentioned above, about whether or not you should head out to the cinema to watch this latest Indy movie. And the answer is: Only if you’re really desperate to see this film.
Of course, if you’re the world’s biggest Indiana Jones fan, or you’re simply curious about this final instalment, then I expect you’ve already got your tickets. Nothing I say will change your plans – nor should it – and I hope you have a marvellous time.
As for everyone else, I’m sorry to say Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is very underwhelming. The story is lacklustre, the direction is only ever adequate, and it doesn’t feel like the grand send-off for a character who is a cinematic icon.
At best, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a watchable movie which provides some entertainment and benefits greatly from a strong cast. At worst, it is a fairly bland sequel, that lacks any creativity, and makes it clear this is a film series that sadly is long passed its prime.
It’s not dire, so don’t think that it is, but it is unimpressive for an Indiana Jones film. For the most part Dial of Destiny is a very generic action film, and as a result, in places it’s really quite boring.
There are two key issues with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and the first begins with director James Mangold. Mangold is a great director, who previously oversaw one of my favourite comic book movies (Logan), yet here he brings nothing of value to Indiana Jones.
Sure, he delivers a movie which gets from A to B to C, but there is no flare, no dynamism, and no sparkle. Mangold takes over the franchise from Steven Spielberg, who helmed the four previous instalments, but boy, is Spielberg missed.
At no point does Mangold capture the fun or the spark the Indy films are known for. He fails to understand this film series in the way that Spielberg does, and by the same token he fails to make it special.
Remember how exciting the opening scene of Raiders was, or the musical number that kicked off The Temple of Doom? Yeah, well don’t expect any of that with Dial of Destiny. The film has a by-the-numbers opening, set during the dying days of World War II, and it just goes on, and on, and on.
And even once the prologue is out of the way, the film still just goes on, and on, and on. While watching, I kept waiting for the good stuff to kick in, but after about an hour of plodding I realised it wasn’t to be.
The script fails to include anything exciting and this is the second key issue that plagues this movie. The reason this film struggles to live up to (most of) its predecessors, is because the script is uneventful.
Fifteen years have passed since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull debuted, and within this time there have some backstage changes for Lucasfilm, and various attempts to get Dial of Destiny off the ground. Finally after all those years, Lucasfilm got a workable script for the movie, written by no less than four people(!!), and yet this limp offering is the best they could come up with and it shows!
With the exception of a couple of genuinely decent moments, the script is tired and uninspiring. It offers nothing new, it reads far too much familiar ground, and demonstrates no signs as to why this script was ultimately chosen.
Indy movies should be like Bond films, that are given time to develop and come to fruition when there’s something important to say. This doesn’t appear to be the case with Dial of Destiny, and it feels as if the greenlight was given without the written material being strong enough.
Moving away from the not-so-good aspects of the film now onto something more positive, and where Dial of Destiny does shine is in the casting department. With the exception of Phoebe Waller-Bridge who is a bit irritating as Helena, the rest of the film’s cast are great.
Mads Mikkelsen is as reliable as ever as the film’s chief bad guy, while newcomer Ethann Isidore is good in the role of young Teddy. Meanwhile, there is some fine (if all too brief) support from the likes of Antonio Banderas, Toby Jones, and John Rhys-Davies, who drop by at different points in the film to keep things moving along.
But the jewel in the crown of this film is Harrison Ford, who is very switched on, very present, and fully committed to the part of Indy. He is easily the best aspect of this fifth film, and you can tell he is giving it his all.
If you’ve watched any of the interviews or promotional material that is accompanying the release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, then you will know the Indy movies clearly mean a lot to Ford. And while this film may not live up to the legacy set out by some of the earlier instalments, Ford’s performance is never less than perfect.
Outside of the cast, a now 91-year-old John Williams returns to score the picture, which is a treat in itself, and the movie looks visually pleasing. Unlike the inexcusably bad CGI seen in some recent blockbusters (most notably The Flash), there’s nothing dodgy on offer here.
The film also includes a number of call-backs that should keep long-time fans happy, as well as a very good explanation as to why Indy’s family aren’t involved in this new movie. In fact, the discussion surrounding Marion and Indy’s son, Mutt, is one of those decent moments I mentioned that can be found in the otherwise lacklustre script.
Dial of Destiny also benefits from a good, if not entirely satisfactory finale. While the majority of the film is snooze-worthy, things do pick up during the climax, and this means the final 30 minutes are quite fun.
Although Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is far from a car crash, and it is perfectly OK at times, the film suffers to live up to its own legacy. When I think of the Indiana Jones films I think of excitement, adventure, and entertainment, and this is largely missing from this picture.
I grew up during the 1980s, and I remember being transfixed by Raiders and The Temple of Doom when I was a kid. I’d reinact scenes from the film in the living room or on the stairs, and I’d imagine I was Indy, searching for lost treasure and punching out bad guys.
I don’t imagine any young audiences of today will watch Dial of Destiny and have the same experience. It simply doesn’t have the same energy, and it certainly doesn’t inspire in the same way.
I understand this film does feature an older Indy, and his ageing is a key part of the movie, so it was always going to be less appealing to youngsters, but this doesn’t change the fact the movie doesn’t land quite right. Sure, it’s watchable, and it’s nice to see Ford back one last time, but after all these years this film should be better than it is.
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