Review: Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny

Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

The fifth - and likely final - Indiana Jones movie may not be in the same league as Steven Spielberg's original trilogy, as was the case with 2008's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," but director James Mangold has a flair for high-octane set pieces and Harrison Ford, donning the hat and whip for the final time, remains such a presence at age 80 that he makes up for some flaws in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny."

Naturally, the film opens with an extended scene in Nazi Germany - of course, Indy gets to punch a few Nazis - where he and an archaeologist pal (Toby Jones) steal part of Archimedes' dial, which is said to be able to predict fissures in time, from a Nazi scientist named Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) and a group of Hitler's thugs aboard a train. The opening scene, which features a somewhat unrealistically de-aged Ford, is one of the film's many action set pieces, albeit not its most inspired.

We jump ahead to 1969, where Ford - no longer de-aged - awakens in his apartment in nothing but a pair of boxers and shows up to work, where he's been given a retirement sendoff. We learn that he and his wife (Karen Allen) are separated. Shortly thereafter, he's approached by a young woman, Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), who is the daughter of Toby Jones' character from the beginning. She knows that Indy has half of Archimedes' dial, and she intends to find the other half. However, she's led Voller, who is still alive, and a group of villains for hire right to Indy.

Most of the rest of the two-and-a-half hour picture involve chase scenes or Indy and Helena - accompanied by a young boy named Teddy (Ethann Isidore) who they pick up in Morroco - attempting to keep the dial away from Voller and company, or attempting to get it back from him.

The film's best set piece is a chase scene through the narrow side streets of Tangier in which Indy, Helena, and Teddy ride in a small cart in pursuit of Voller. There's some great action choreography during the sequence, which is the closest to capturing the spirit of the earlier Indiana Jones movies' action sequences. 

On the other hand, the finale involves Indy, Voller, and most of the other main characters ending up in a specific place and time that I won't divulge - but suffice it to say, it's a bold and somewhat unexpected choice. And I'm not sure it works. The Indiana Jones films have often had an otherworldly element to them, but only around the edges. They've primarily been adventures set in the 20th century with an interest in history and archaeology. The final scenes of "Dial of Destiny" go a little further than it possibly should into the realm of fantasy.

The original Indiana Jones trilogy was comprised of three of the best adventure movies of that era - and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" remains one of the greatest of that genre of all time - and a lot of credit goes to Spielberg, who perfected the blockbuster and made adventure movies featuring large canvasses, but with care, whereas so many tentpole pictures these days feel like marketing campaigns to make more money for seemingly never-ending extended universes.

This time around, it's Ford who is the glue holding it all together. We're in an era in which popular films of yesteryear are being given one more spin - the recent "Top Gun" sequel was an example of how to do it right and, in my opinion, was significantly better than the original film. "Dial of Destiny" is pretty fun at times - and Ford remains a genuinely great screen presence - and it's better than your average summer blockbuster. But neither of the 21st century Indiana Jones movies are on par with the original trilogy.