Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Year: 2023
Director: James Mangold
Starring: Harrison Ford, Mads Mikkelsen, John Rhys-Davies & Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Runtime: 154 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 14/07/23
Director: James Mangold
Starring: Harrison Ford, Mads Mikkelsen, John Rhys-Davies & Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Runtime: 154 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 14/07/23
There’s something kind of sad about the way the Indiana Jones franchise keeps being dragged back out for another go at it. Whilst franchise creator George Lucas agreed with the franchise’s original distributor Paramount four sequels following the success of Raiders of the Lost Ark, only two came to fruition in a timely manner, with Ford hanging up his whip and fedora seemingly forever until nineteen years later Lucas & Spielberg reunited once more for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which for many undid the conclusion given to Indiana’s story in The Last Crusade. With a passing of the torch planned from Ford to Shia LaBeouf, Crystal Skull’s disappointing reception had Lucas go back to the drawing board indefinitely, before shelving the project entirely in the early 2010’s. Not passing up any opportunity to parade a corpse around though, the acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney in the 2010’s guaranteed new Indiana Jones sequels and considering Ford’s age we all assumed it would be a reboot, or at least having him in a less central role. But no, Dial of Destiny has arrived, and Ford’s back in the starring role. Should he have packed in the whip for a walking stick? Sadly, the answer is yes.
The year is 1969 and Dr. Henry Jones Jr. (Harrison Ford) is retiring from teaching. There’s a dwindling interest in history since man has walked on the moon and following the death of his son in the Vietnam War and the subsequent split from his wife, Jones just wants to spend his twilight years hiding away from the rest of the world.
But when he is approached by his goddaughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) who seeks his help completing her late father’s work, locating the two halves of Archimedes’ Dial; the pair are dragged into a deadly race against time as former Nazi scientist Jurgen Voller (Mads Mikklesen) also seeks the dial in the hopes of using it to travel back to WWII, succeed Hitler, and lead Germany to victory over Europe and the United States.
The year is 1969 and Dr. Henry Jones Jr. (Harrison Ford) is retiring from teaching. There’s a dwindling interest in history since man has walked on the moon and following the death of his son in the Vietnam War and the subsequent split from his wife, Jones just wants to spend his twilight years hiding away from the rest of the world.
But when he is approached by his goddaughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) who seeks his help completing her late father’s work, locating the two halves of Archimedes’ Dial; the pair are dragged into a deadly race against time as former Nazi scientist Jurgen Voller (Mads Mikklesen) also seeks the dial in the hopes of using it to travel back to WWII, succeed Hitler, and lead Germany to victory over Europe and the United States.
Credit where it’s due, I enjoyed the story of Dial of Destiny. It had that pulpy Indiana Jones feel that Crystal Skull was a little lacking in, it feels like a globe-trotting adventure inspired by classic adventure serials, and it has some well written and compelling characters. I like what they did with Indy here, an old man who’s lost everything, the world is moving on from a fascination with the past and now looks to the future, and he is beginning to feel like a forgotten relic. He’s kind of bitter, and rightly so, and especially now that his goddaughter has turned up wanting to continue the work that drove her father insane.
Helena is a great character too, a far cry from what audiences received with the supposed Ford successor in Crystal Skull’s Mutt. A bright, witty, resourceful young woman who like her father and Jones believes that there’s still a world of wonder out there left to uncover, and she wants the adventure to go with it. But crucially she’s out of her depth when it comes to facing off against adversaries who want her dead.
There’re a few familiar faces that crop up along the way, most notably Sallah (John Rhys-Davies); and when these happen it feels like a genuine throwback that’s been weaved in naturally and thoughtfully, rather than forced in however it’ll fit (I’m looking at you Star Wars).
The problem I have is that I didn’t find Voller a particularly compelling villain, which is strange because I love Mikklesen, and I thought that Voller’s ambition was unique. We’ve had plenty of Nazi’s in Indiana Jones films now, but Voller’s desires extend far beyond the typical Nazi seeking glory for his country, it’s a fresh perspective on how Hitler lost the war and how it could have all been prevented. But for some reason it just didn’t click. Perhaps he needed more screentime, more things to do, his bodyguards seem to do most of the work for him, and I just felt this disconnect between what the character wanted and what he actually did to achieve it.
Helena is a great character too, a far cry from what audiences received with the supposed Ford successor in Crystal Skull’s Mutt. A bright, witty, resourceful young woman who like her father and Jones believes that there’s still a world of wonder out there left to uncover, and she wants the adventure to go with it. But crucially she’s out of her depth when it comes to facing off against adversaries who want her dead.
There’re a few familiar faces that crop up along the way, most notably Sallah (John Rhys-Davies); and when these happen it feels like a genuine throwback that’s been weaved in naturally and thoughtfully, rather than forced in however it’ll fit (I’m looking at you Star Wars).
The problem I have is that I didn’t find Voller a particularly compelling villain, which is strange because I love Mikklesen, and I thought that Voller’s ambition was unique. We’ve had plenty of Nazi’s in Indiana Jones films now, but Voller’s desires extend far beyond the typical Nazi seeking glory for his country, it’s a fresh perspective on how Hitler lost the war and how it could have all been prevented. But for some reason it just didn’t click. Perhaps he needed more screentime, more things to do, his bodyguards seem to do most of the work for him, and I just felt this disconnect between what the character wanted and what he actually did to achieve it.
Where Dial of Destiny falls flat is in the action sequences, and for an adventure film that’s kind of a problem. Dial of Destiny has the unfortunate job of being the first film I watched after having seen Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One, and I fear that my lack of enthusiasm for Dial of Destiny’s action might in part stem from how amazing Dead Reckoning’s were. But it really shows just how not cut out for this kind of thing Ford is now. A lot of the action sequences see him being entirely passive or static, and things just kind of happen around him and Helena. Plus, there’s such a heavy reliance on some rubbery looking CGI that you never for a second believe that any of what you’re watching is real. It’s just so synthetic and fake, and the few times where Ford is required to be a bit more physical with the role you can really see it taking such a physical strain on him, and it’s just kind of embarrassing.
Thankfully John Williams’ incredible score returns once again and that definitely gives the film a bit of life, but no matter how good the score is it can’t do all the heavy lifting in an action scene.
This isn’t the worst Indiana Jones movie; I’d still give that title to Temple of Doom. But I’d say this is about level pegging with Crystal Skull and that’s to say it’s not particularly good. There’s no reason as to why you should watch this, you won’t be missing out on anything if you just let it pass you by. It’s a shame that what I hope is Ford’s last outing as Indy ended up like this, with him barely able to keep up. But I appreciate the journey his character is taken on through the film, and it’s good to see that side to the character that we’ve never had an opportunity to before.
You don’t need to watch Dial of Destiny, there’s so many other films out there more deserving of your time, money, and appreciation. It’s a kind of sad end to one of the eighties most iconic movie franchises, but it’s just another example of why some things should just be left alone. Unfortunately I don’t see this being the end of the franchise, but perhaps a full blown reboot might be a better option than dragging out Harrison Ford in a wheelchair and oxygen mask next time.
Thankfully John Williams’ incredible score returns once again and that definitely gives the film a bit of life, but no matter how good the score is it can’t do all the heavy lifting in an action scene.
This isn’t the worst Indiana Jones movie; I’d still give that title to Temple of Doom. But I’d say this is about level pegging with Crystal Skull and that’s to say it’s not particularly good. There’s no reason as to why you should watch this, you won’t be missing out on anything if you just let it pass you by. It’s a shame that what I hope is Ford’s last outing as Indy ended up like this, with him barely able to keep up. But I appreciate the journey his character is taken on through the film, and it’s good to see that side to the character that we’ve never had an opportunity to before.
You don’t need to watch Dial of Destiny, there’s so many other films out there more deserving of your time, money, and appreciation. It’s a kind of sad end to one of the eighties most iconic movie franchises, but it’s just another example of why some things should just be left alone. Unfortunately I don’t see this being the end of the franchise, but perhaps a full blown reboot might be a better option than dragging out Harrison Ford in a wheelchair and oxygen mask next time.