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Poster Description: Indiana Jones holds his coiled whip aloft. There are a lot of characters in this poster, making it very messy. The less important characters appear smaller, or maybe it’s because we’re tight for space, because Helena Shaw looks lost in the bottom right corner with Teddy and Antonio Banderas’s character. At least the villain looks dramatic in shadow in the top right corner. |
In 2008, Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull confused me, but otherwise certain that was…it. Henry Jones Jr and Harrison Ford could retire. (Hey, I saw it as a teenager: as far as I was concerned, Ford was ancient. Sorry, Harrison Ford!). I can safely say I was wrong as, in the years that followed, we saw Ford in two of the three Star Wars sequels, and rumours of a young Indiana Jones movie starring Chris Pratt never progressed (a blessing in disguise, IMO). Then, in 2023, we got another sequel.
Full disclosure: while bombastically petty of me, the film’s title put me off. The Dial of Destiny might as well have called itself Indiana Jones and the McGuffin to End All McGuffins. Nevertheless, Dad got the DVD for Christmas, and those leftover festive snacks and drinks weren’t going to devour themselves, so I figured we might as well watch something to pass the time.
The film’s prologue reminds us why the series has endured; Henry Jones Jr, searching for an artefact on a train overrun with Nazis, rescuing a friend in the process. It should be entertaining, and it is, and the technology to de-age Harrison Ford’s face is remarkable; it’s clear he still “got it” when it comes to the action stuff. Unfortunately, my brain switched off repeatedly throughout my first and second viewing. Similarly to James Bond films, there is a sense that the writers behind The Dial of Destiny were going through a checklist of what we’ve come to expect from Indiana Jones with less substance. At the same time, I found the friendship between Jones and Basil Shaw (Toby Jones) endearing enough to want the movie to explore it more. I was going to be disappointed.
(Also, a small part of me feared “Baz” was a double-triple agent. The scars left by The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull run deep).
We fast-forward to the 1960s, watching Indiana Jones yell at young people to turn down their music and pour liquor into his morning coffee; it leaves a bitter taste (pun intended). We still have a Nazi baddie in Mads Mikkelsen’s Jürgen Voller trying to find Archimedes’ Dial. As you would expect from Mikkelsen, his performance is nothing short of chilling if thoroughly underused. Another new character, Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), is a breath of fresh air the film needs. While Voller wants the dial for its alleged power, Helena wants it for the money. Teddy, her charming teenage sidekick besides, she is far from Indiana Jones’ substitute. Waller-Bridge and Ford’s chemistry is somewhat stilted; Helena has a nickname – Wombat – which teases a past warmth between her and Henry that we don’t really feel. There’s too much plot to get through. Why is Indiana Jones freaked out by bugs now?
Nevertheless, The Dial of Destiny is better than I thought. Granted, the action is fun but not gripping; the character development is fine if predictable, though still shocking in places. It still relies too much on nostalgia to keep us interested before things get weird towards the end, though that revelation is almost a throwaway slice of “meh.” It could have been worse!
My Rating: 3 STARS OUT OF 5
My Sources:
Film poster - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Jones_and_the_Dial_of_Destiny
What happened to those talks about Chris Pratt playing Indiana Jones? - https://www.thethings.com/harrison-ford-didnt-want-chris-pratt-to-play-indiana-jones-movies/
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