Review of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) by Rebecca31 — 04 Jul 2023

Alright Indiana Jones fans we’re back again for Indy’s last adventure, yes I know we said that the last time but this time it really is the last chance to see Harrison Ford as the iconic archaeologist on the big screen. So despite what you’ve heard from the reviews, if you’re a fan of these movies then you really do have to see this one too. Sure we all sat through Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull so if you survived that then you can sit through this I promise you.

Indiana races against time to retrieve a legendary artifact that can change the course of history. In typical fashion, he’s not the only one looking for the artifact. Enter Mads Mikkelsen, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Boyd Holbrook. No I’m not listing Antonio Banderas with the cast, despite his name being all over the posters, he was barely used, what a waste. We meet Indy as a bitter old man, in the middle of a divorce and just about to retire. Clearly his best days are behind him and the last thing he expects is to go on another adventure to retrieve an ancient artifact before a bunch of Nazis use it for “insert evil plan here.” Yes the Nazis are back again, they worked so well as villains the last times, why not use them again. Harrison Ford, check. Nazis, check. The hat, check. The whip, check. Spielberg…eh not this time. Fear not, you’re in the capable hands of director James Mangold. Remember what he did to Wolverine when he made Logan? Well he didn’t quite reach that standard here unfortunately, but hey at least it’s better than The Crystal Skull. And sure look, we’re all going to have our own ranking of the Indiana Jones movies, I definitely believe the 4th is the worst of them but no matter how you feel about this one we’re all agreeing that Raiders of the Lost Ark is the best by a long shot. Honestly, I never really loved any of the sequels, and please Temple of Doom fans don’t kill me, they have their moments but Raiders was an absolute masterpiece, I rewatch it every Christmas but with the sequels and now The Dial of Destiny I can’t see myself looking at them again.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is fun and worth a cinema trip for the fans of the franchise. It is nostalgic to see Harrison Ford take on his most iconic character once more and as I’ve said countless times already, nostalgia sells. It’s entertaining and a bit of fun, even if it is moving from set piece to set piece like a National Treasure movie. Despite a running time of 2 hours 34 minutes you don’t actually feel the time pass. There’s enough going on to keep you engaged though it doesn’t quite have the same magic as the original. It also took a very unexpected turn in the final act. And I’m not sure it really worked for me, it felt too out of place for an Indiana Jones movie but I didn’t hate it. Mads Mikkelsen plays a formidable villain as always. He never puts in a bad performance and he was a perfect choice for an Indiana Jones bad guy. Phoebe Waller-Bridge was a good addition to the cast and in no way deserves the harsh comments doing the rounds on certain websites. There’s almost a cartoonish level of violence going on in The Dial of Destiny, I’ve never seen quite so many characters getting brutally injured and not even showing a bruise. I know we need to suspend belief a little bit during these action/adventure movies but The Dial of Destiny was definitely pushing it.

It’s sad to see that the times of casting a different actor to play a younger version of a character is now over. With modern CGI, we’re seeing more and more of the digital de-aging of famous actors now for flashback scenes (and in some cases, the entire movie). And sure it didn’t look too bad here for the opening of The Dial of Destiny but there are a few moments during that sequence where it looked a little like a video game. In fact the CGI throughout The Dial of Destiny looked a little dodgy, and I’m not about to criticise Harrison Ford for not riding a horse through a parade of people, the dude’s 80 but if you’re going to rely on so much CGI then it really needs to look better and less like a video game cutscene.

While the newest addition to the Indiana Jones franchise won’t exactly blow audiences away it makes for an entertaining cinema trip and should keep the whole family engaged. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has been announced as the last Indy movie so let’s leave it at that. It’s done now, no more sequels, or prequels, no more, it’s done. We’ve said goodbye to Indiana Jones three times now, I think that’s more than enough. At the end of the day, this was never going to live up to people’s expectations and it’s impossible to reach the standard set by Raiders of the Lost Ark. It’s a very average action/adventure movie that gives another farewell to an iconic movie legend. Recommended for all the Indiana Jones fans or anyone who enjoyed National Treasure and/or Uncharted.