Harrison Ford returns to the role of the legendary hero archaeologist for this highly anticipated final installment of the iconic franchise– a big, globe-trotting, rip-roaring cinematic adventure. Starring along with Ford are Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Thomas Kretschmann, Toby Jones, Boyd Holbrook, Olivier Richters, Ethann Isidore and Mads Mikkelsen. Directed by James Mangold (“Ford v Ferrari,” “Logan”) and written by Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth and David Koepp and James Mangold, based on characters created by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman, the film is produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Simon Emanuel, with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas serving as executive producers. John Williams, who has scored each Indy adventure since the original Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, has once again composed the score.
What I Thought:
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny isn’t good. It’s not the abomination I heard it was, but that doesn’t make it good either. I was hoping my low expectations for it would mean it might end up surprising me and be watchable, but I honestly don’t think I’d watch it again. At least not anytime soon which stinks because the first three films are classic action adventure flicks.
Harrison Ford is definitely up there in age, but I have to admit he’s not bad in the role, well the parts he actually plays. There’s de-aging and it’s heavy on CGI and stunts so who knows exactly how much is Mr. Ford and how much is a stuntman and CG. But for the scenes he’s in, he’s solid.
The big issue is that despite being called Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, it’s more about introducing Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character so she can basically take over the franchise. Instead of it being one last hurrah for Indy, it feels more like her film and not the send off we all wanted. She even gets her own version of Short Round with a little thief character who can fly planes. How convenient.
The story itself is fine until the end. It opens during World War II with Indy captured by Nazis looking for the spear that was used on Christ, but Indy escapes with a different artifact and the story jumps 20 plus years. Waller-Bridge is the daughter of an old friend and wants Indy’s help or so it appears. The adventure goes from there jumping around the world with new and old characters.
That sounds like a perfectly acceptable Indiana Jones plot, but then it takes a hard left that I probably can’t spoil. It kind of lost me at this point. It’s not hard to follow, but it feels out of place for Indy storytelling. There’s always been supernatural elements to the films whether it’s the Ark of the Covenant or other artifacts, but this seemed too far fetched. It’s too timely I guess because it seems like a storyline we’d like today and not in the universe of Indiana Jones.
And because of that you lose the power of a good villain played by the brilliant Mads Mikkelsen. He’s a fantastic actor and really captures the Nazi element. Boyd Holbrook is a bit one dimensional in the sidekick way, but Mads is always good. If it was Mikkelsen’s Nazi vs. our favorite adventurer professor, it would have been a great final film. Unfortunately we get Waller-Bridge, her thief, Holbrook and wannabe federal agents and so much more. It’s way too cluttered so they can introduce all these new people.
People aren’t loving Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and it’s already on shaky legs. I don’t think it’s going to open big like they originally thought and word of mouth will probably make it even worse. It could have been the final film in a beloved franchise that a generation of us would have supported, but it’s not. I expected much worse, but I still can’t recommend it especially to diehards. If you thought Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull wasn’t good, you won’t like this either.
The Nerds Templar 