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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Review
Image Credit: Lucasfilm
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Directed By: James Mangold
Written By: Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, David Koepp, and James Mangold; Based on characters created by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman
Runtime: 154 minutes
MPA Rating: Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, language and smoking
Harrison Ford – Indiana Jones
Phoebe Waller-Bridge – Helena Shaw
Mads Mikkelsen – Dr. Voller
Boyd Holbrook – Klaber
Ethann Isidore – Teddy
John Rhys-Davies – Sallah
Toby Jones – Basil Shaw
Antonio Banderas – Renaldo
Olivier Richters – Hauke
Thomas Kretschmann – Colonel Weber
Shaunette Renée Wilson – Mason
Indiana Jones returns for one last adventure on the big screen. Harrison Ford dons his famous fedora, whip, and leather jacket. Steven Spielberg opted out of directing the franchise’s fifth installment, with filmmaker James Mangold stepping up to take the reins. Mangold has previously had success taking over beloved franchises, but sadly, he’s unable to work that same type of magic with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
The Dial of Destiny certainly has the building blocks for a rousing, fun final adventure, but the experience comes off as tired and blundering. There are some entertaining moments peppered throughout the experience of watching The Dial of Destiny. However, filmmaker James Mangold fails to recreate the magic of the 1980s installments before CG visual effects became prominent.
The Dial of Destiny begins promisingly enough, showcasing Dr. Jones (Ford) in his prime years at the height of World War II. Indy and his friend Basil Shaw (Jones) have infiltrated a Nazi base to abscond a priceless historical artifact. That leads to a thrilling train sequence, matching Indy against Colonel Weber (Krestchmann) and the nefarious scientist, Dr. Voller (Mikkelsen). The de-aging technology used to showcase a much younger Ford for this scene is far from perfect. While Indy looks younger in this scene, Mangold and his team did not account for the utilization of Ford’s current, much older, and more grizzled voice. Ford’s voice in 2023 does not sound as it did 25 years ago. Hearing Ford’s much older-sounding voice coming from a younger-looking face and body creates an odd disconnect. Regardless, the opening prologue still provides a fun, old-fashioned Indiana Jones adventure, visual effects and sound issues aside.
The narrative then picks up in 1969. Indiana Jones lives alone in New York City. He’s about to retire from his professorship at Hunter College. He is going through the motions, and his students don’t seem to care about history. Young people no longer look up to rugged heroes and explorers like Dr. Jones. With the city holding a parade for the returning Apollo 11 astronauts, the message is that young no longer want to explore the ruins of civilizations long past. They want to explore the stars. Unfortunately for Dr. Jones, his glory days are long over, and he’s estranged from his beloved wife, Marion.
Indy’s doldrums are interrupted by his wayward goddaughter, Helena Shaw (Waller-Bridge), the offspring of Indy’s old friend Basil from the prologue. Helena is searching for the remaining pieces of a dial her father and Indy located and took from the Nazis in the opening sequence. The dial was crafted by Archimedes, and it’s believed the dial can locate fissures in time. The dial does not trigger time travel, but it can theoretically help one navigate through time. Helena wants it for personal reasons, and Indy knows the location of one piece of the dial. However, Dr. Voller is back, now working as a rocket scientist for NASA’s space program. Dr. Voller hasn’t forgotten about the dial either, and he’s willing to do anything to get it to change the past. So, it’s now up to Indiana Jones to take up fedora and whip once more to save the day and keep the dial out of the hands of Voller and his compatriots.
The Dial of Destiny suffers from a bloated, unjustifiably long, overstuffed runtime, coming in at over two-and-a-half hours. The movie feels long, and it never matches the excitement level of previous installments. The action peaks during a chase sequence in Tangier, Morocco, which other than the prologue, is the closest the movie comes to matching classic Indiana Jones. Many sequences run too long and take far too long to set up. It also feels excessively padded. Long movies can work, but Indiana Jones stories require tighter, leaner pacing and editing.
To the credit of the cast, the movie has its moments. Ford does his best with what he’s given. He also does well attempting to perform with grace and respect to the character in his advancing age. There are some poignant moments throughout the film that Ford nails, along with John Rhys-Davies, who makes a welcome return as Indy’s old friend Sallah. The sadness and regret of Indiana Jones that he’s lived an incredible life with next-to-nothing to show for it is powerful. The story does have some strength in that regard. The problem is that getting from points A to B lacks energy. Much of the action is missing the practical, realistic, in-camera style that the franchise was best known for at its height.
The story falls apart when The Dial of Destiny reaches its final act. It’s here where having several credited screenwriters rears its ugly head. The plot struggles with its finale. At least the film features a satisfying resolution, but the climax is nonsense and doesn’t work. The final act does not ring true to the character of Indiana Jones and what he would do. The beauty of Indiana Jones as a character is that he never finds what he’s seeking, but he gains something more profound in return. That is the essence of what makes this series great, and this film loses sight of that in the final act.
There has been significant discussion about Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s presence and role in the franchise. Waller-Bridge is a fine performer and has decent chemistry working with Ford. She is by no means the heir apparent to Indiana Jones. She is not even searching for Archimedes’ dial for altruistic reasons. The roguelike, flawed aspects of Helena Shaw make her a more interesting character. Helena is a good character who fits the material, and the controversy over her role is way overblown.
The script of The Dial of Destiny reeks of many rewrites and how to properly send off Harrison Ford for a final adventure, even though that technically already happened and was done much better beforehand. The Dial of Destiny isn’t a total loss. It has some decent performative moments that longtime fans will appreciate. However, sometimes certain franchises and characters are better left in the past where they belong.
