Title – Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
Director – James Mangold (Logan)
Cast – Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Karen Allen, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies
Plot – Coming out of retirement for one last grand adventure, archaeologist/explorer Indiana Jones (Ford) must search for an ancient artefact before it falls in the wrong hands and changes the course of history forever.
“I miss waking up every morning wondering what wonderful adventure the new day will bring to us”
Review by Eddie on 30/06/2023
A legendary character with a collection of equally iconic films, when it was announced Harrison Ford would for one final time be donning his fedora and cracking his whip, everyone who has grown up with cinemas most adored archaeologist/snake hating adventurer Indiana Jones was hoping for a fitting farewell to a character and series that has given us so much joy over the years.
Forging ahead like 2008’s fridge infused letdown that was Kingdom of the Crystal Skull never happened, Dial of Destiny is the first Jones entry not overseen by co-creator and director Steven Spielberg, who here passes the reigns over to the very capable James Mangold, whose last 15 years of work includes 3:10 to Yuma, Logan and Ford vs. Ferrari, giving everyone reason to hope that despite Spielberg’s absence, Destiny could be all the things we have known and loved about the brand since Raiders of the Lost Ark leaped onto screens all the way back in 1981.
Dazzling the world with its charm, its energy, its smarts and a collection of characters full of life and attitude, Raider’s of the Lost Ark really is everything that Destiny sadly is not and while it’s arguably better than the misguided Crystal Skull and no doubt hamstrung by the fact it has to work around Ford’s ageing hero, it doesn’t excuse Mangold’s film from lacking a singular truly memorable set-piece, as his two and a half hour epic amounts to nothing more than a series of chase scenes (and one of the largest collections of sucker punches you’re ever likely to witness in a singular film) centred around some exposition, all marching towards a divisive final act that will divide squarely into love or hate from audiences.
Reportedly budgeted in excess of over $300 million dollars, Destiny wants for nothing when it comes to tools at its disposal to deliver blockbuster goods and it’s undeniable that there are some impressively crafted sequences such as a de-aged Ford battling Nazi’s in the films opening act or racing a Tuk Tuk through the narrow streets of Moroccan city but at days end those such CGI infused moments lack the same vibrancy and lived-in feelings of the series heydays and when they all take place around a rather uninspired plot, its hard to get overly excited in any way during Destiny’s journey.
Now teaming up with Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Helena “wombat”, Jones’s long estranged goddaughter, in a battle against Mads Mikkelsen’s Nazi scientist Dr. Voller to find the missing piece of a seemingly magical dial, Ford stands out as the best singular aspect of Destiny as the industry veteran defies his age and gives the film its best shot of overcoming its rather mediocre feeling throughout but even Ford at his best wouldn’t have been able to make this event anything more than passingly entertaining.
Undoubtedly designed by the studio to exist in hopes that if Destiny took off she could take over the reigns of a new-age and agenda pleasing Indiana Jones brand, Waller-Bridge’s was arguably the best chance of Destiny finding an element outside of its by the numbers action and curiously uninspired script work but even the talented Killing Eve and Fleabag actress is unable to bring anything to the table here that can save Destiny from its middle of the road happenings.
When at its peak a series that not only inspired but demanded regular re-watchers and a series that redefined Hollywood adventure films for the better, Indiana Jones has given us a lot across the many decades of its existence and we will forever be thankful for it, it’s just a shame this final (or is it?) adventure is mostly a non-event, giving us more time with our beloved hat wearing adventurer, which is always a good thing, but failing to do anything of note that will be remembered once the final credits begin to roll.
Final Say –
It’s impossible to call The Dial of Destiny a success but also harsh to call it a complete failure. A film that just ‘happens’, a film whose action is expensive looking but devoid of imagination and a film whose characters outside of its iconic central figure just come and play a part, The Dial of Destiny isn’t a fitting swansong to a giant of cinema, just a passable conclusion to and a reminder of the greatness that once was.
3 sticks of dynamite out of 5
Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys) 
I think you were kinder than it deserved, and definitely kinder than me!
It’s been curious, over the weekend I’ve been reading a lot of commentary online and the general population seem to be enjoying this much more than I expected.
E
Same! I’m quite amazed at how great the reviews are elsewhere.
I expected a lot more hate tbh. I wonder how it will be judged in the coming months/years?
E
*sounds of a dead horse being flogged*
Sadly it’s like that with a lot of Disney products these days!
E
I was trying to avoid any reviews before seeing it, but could not resist yours. As long as it’s better than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I’m fine.
Be keen to hear what you think once you’ve seen it mate. I expected more people to really be against it but so far seems to be swaying to more of a positive general reception.
E
Amazing to think I was 13 years old when I went and saw Raiders of the Lost Ark and here I’ll be at 55 watching this one. Your review makes it sound like I anticipated, middle of the road at best, but with Harrison Ford doing his thing. My kids are obsessed with treasure hunting (real treasure hunting, like we were about to fly west to search for Fenn treasure before it was found). And they love movies like Uncharted, National Treasure, etc. They’d love the first Indiana Jones, but this one I don’t know about. It seems more like a cat and mouse than a treasure hunting movie. Thoughts?
I would have loved to have seen Raiders on release mate, would have been quite special.
This is certainly more of a cat and mouse game than a treasure hunting situation, the hunting and puzzle solving is probably the weakest of the series.
E
Thanks! I’ll keep that in mind.
I enjoyed it, I accept it is not perfect by any means but I think some people had decided to dislike the film however it turned out. The trades are already shouting “flop” as the film in theory needs to take $800m plus to turn a profit on a $330m plus budget. I hope the noise does not put people off, I think most Indy fans will enjoy the film on some level. As to the ending, well remember in Raiders, people’s faces melted off due to some supernatural force at the end, so….
Someone explained the movie too me as neither exciting nor boring and I really can’t think of a better way to explain my feelings towards it. It’s just a movie that “happens”, you don’t hate your time with it but would be hard pressed to find anything in it that would make you want to go back and sit through it again. One of the biggest issues for me was all the set pieces looking expensive but really failing to ignite the imagination at all.
E
This blog post provides an interesting perspective on the latest Indiana Jones movie. It’s great to see Harrison Ford reprising his role, and the mention of James Mangold directing gives me hope for a fitting farewell to the character. However, I’m curious to know if the lack of truly memorable set-pieces impacted your overall enjoyment of the film?
I honestly believe that the set-pieces were the biggest let down with the film. Too me they amounted to just a collection of chase scenes in the large instances and the over use of CGI wasn’t a great addition to the film. The set pieces pale in comparison to the original series entries.
E
I have heard the same. Thanks for your reply.
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I understand where you’re coming from. This movie got tedious as it went on, and it stopped looking and feeling like an Indiana Jones film. But the first third carried me through the middle, and, God help me, I loved the finale. Indy almost got to live every archeologist’s dream.
I wish that Lucasfilm were in better hands, but for every Willow, there’s been an Andor.
Considering the cynical process that brought it to life, I thought Dial of Destiny was fun.
I really wanted to like this more. I just found myself in the middle ground through the entire thing, I didn’t hate it but I just found it all rather mediocre and almost instantly forgettable, something Indy at its best never was.
E
I think I’m on your side with this one. I’m quite desappointed because the action is now really boring (talking too much, not enough brutal) and Mangold missed the real quest of the script (it shows us nothing of an old man Indy). But, I like the ending.
The action was really lifeless, felt like an over CGI fest. Almost like a video game rather than a movie with good memorable stunts.
E
Great review. I agree with you. I have mixed feelings about this movie. It wasn’t terribly, but also not great either. It definitely had potential and Ford was still great as the character, but it felt too long and sometimes underwhelming. To me, it was better than Crystal Skull, but not as memorable as the original trilogy.
Just such a forgettable film for such an unforgettable character. A real shame they couldn’t send him out on a high!
E
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