Geek Review: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

When filmmakers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas came up with the idea for Indiana Jones over 40 years ago, they saw it as a modern day tribute to the movie serials from the 30s and 40s, and with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the further adventures of an era of filmmaking comes to an end, as Dr Henry Walton Jones Jr. (Harrison Ford) retires under the careful, though at times meandering, guidance of director James Mangold. 

Like the artifacts of the past that he has sought the whole of his life, time has not been kind to Indy. Friends and family have come and gone, and upon his separation from his wife, Indy has no idea what he wants to do next, until his goddaughter Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) seeks him out, and betrays him almost immediately. And so he goes, to Morocco and Greece, in pursuit of Archimedes’ Dial of Destiny, challenged by his old foes, the ever-reliable Nazis, and the crushing weight of his retirement.

Ford has played the legendary archaeologist across four earlier films and one TV appearance across 40 years and while the eras has changed, his deameanor and attitude has not. Comforts doesn’t begin to describe his presence under the fedora and trusty whip. But age has definitely caught up with Ford and something must be done. Unlike Spielberg who relies more on practical effects, Mangold is not against injecting new technology into the series and it starts off with the de-aging process in an opening sequence that takes place towards the end of the Second World War, where Indy and his friend, Basil Shaw (Toby Jones) first came across the Dial in the hands Nazi scientist Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen). 

Needless to say, the Dial is thought lost and Voller, dead, until his retirement is challenged by the return of the Nazis, who are pursuing Helena who has managed to swipe the ancient artifact from the hands of the world’s most famous archeologist.

As much as this movie is about classic adventure, it’s also about history and legacy and what we leave behind. While themes like mortality (Last Crusade) and the battle of good versus evil (Temple of Doom) have been covered before in the franchise, Dial of Destiny takes it up a notch as Indy grumbles and mumbles about his inability to scale walls like he used to, and is frustrated with his irrelevance to the modern world. He talks and meets with the few friends he still has left from adventures from a lifetime ago, and reveals to his goddaughter that which he has loved and lost to the world. Grief takes a toll on people, and it is evident in Indy’ lack of thirst and desire. It is, in all honesty, sad but Indy will always do the right thing even if it means chasing after Nazis halfway across the world in order to save history and pull his straying goddaughter to a path of good. 

While Indy is a shell of the man he, and we, used to know, we do see glimmers of his youthful self in some scenes. For an 80-year-old, Ford is still as charismatic as ever and can still carry action scenes impressively well. There’s plenty of running, tuk-tuk chase scenes, and even an underwater dive and while he doesn’t move quite as quickly, he can still throw a punch. Mangold seems intent on selling us the idea that Indy is still as sprightly and keeps the camera for slightly much too long during the chase/fight sequence to the point where watching him run across the screen multiple times can feel tiring. Still, there aren’t many actors in their golden years who can land and take a punch, so we’re giving credit where credit is due. 

Sharing ample screen time with her screen godfather, Waller-Bridge plays Helena as cunning, stubborn and smart. Her values are slightly different from Indy’s, as she uses history to enrich herself. This belongs in a museum, he once said and maybe less so in today’s materialistic society, but he believes in his goddaughter and that relationship takes centerstage. The two are different from each other but their (familial) love for each other keeps bringing them back together. The tension and bickering between them remind us a little bit of Indy’s relationship with Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) in Temple of Doom but rather than the relationship developing platonically, we have a new father-daughter relationship in Dial of Destiny. 

Their relationship isn’t the only thing reminiscent of Temple of Doom. Helena is accompanied by Teddy Kumar (Ethann Isidore), a street boy who has a passion for planes and is talented at pick-pocketing, which is an obvious attempt at recreating Ke Huy Quan’s Short-Round but without the quirky one-liners (No time for love Dr. Jones!). But does he succeed? Not quite. Short-Round was essential to Temple of Doom’s plot and was an important person to Indy – more so than Willie if we’re willing to admit. Teddy is no Short-Round and while he does play an important role towards the end of the film, the plot could still go on without him. Indy loved Short-Round but in Dial of Destiny, he didn’t really care much about Teddy’s safety. This is no diss to Isidore, who is a great actor, but perhaps, Teddy’s inclusion felt more like an attempt to rouse some nostalgia rather than to serve the plot of the movie.

Mikkelsen is no stranger to playing European madmen, after turns as Hannibal in Hannibal and Gellert Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, so watch as Mikkelsen brings the same calculative genius to his character here, through we have to say – mathematicians aren’t particularly scary are they?

Running 154 minutes, the movie does feel long and maybe Mangold could have let Spielberg edit the final version instead. There is a lot of running and travelling from point to point in the film, but with fewer action-oriented scenes or moments that helped to propel the story. Overall, the story felt like a wild-goose chase and a long-winded way to tell viewers that the past remains in the past – and by the end of the film, we can’t help but feel the same way about the franchise.

Hollywood is seeing a resurgence of popular franchises in the 80s and 90s being re-introduced to newer audiences. Some, like Dial of Destiny, serve as a send-off to an actor or a particular character and others, like The Matrix: Resurrections, are used to gauge appetite and introduce newer characters who can take the lead in future instalments instead. The only movie in recent years that has successfully done both is Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick. Fact of the matter is, every movie that attempts the same will unfortunately be compared to Top Gun: Maverick, and Dial of Destiny doesn’t even hit the bar.

Personally, this isn’t the sendoff we expected for Indiana Jones and Ford, but more of another adventure in another time. The nods to the previous movies warmed our hearts with nostalgia, but Dial of Destiny didn’t bring anything particularly new. Let’s not forget that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a horrible sequel, so expectations for Dial of Destiny are understandably higher, as it it meant to wrap up Indy’s and Ford’s last adventure. It doesn’t quite hit the mark though Dial of Destiny is enjoyable. Ultimately, John Williams’ familiar music as well as Ford’s class and charisma will pull fans to the cinemas, but it’s just not in his destiny to have a grand exit.