Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

Rating: 8.0

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny may not have been exactly what I was expecting or wanted, but it’s a solid Indy adventure! Not the best, but certainly not the worst. Harrison Ford was fantastic (as always), John Williams composed a beautiful score (as always), but the movie was missing one crucial element that makes Indy special: Steven Spielberg. I love James Mangold, but even he can’t measure up to the cinematic brilliance of Spielberg. But really who can?

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Film Info:

Premise: Daredevil archaeologist Indiana Jones races against time to retrieve a legendary dial that can change the course of history. Accompanied by his goddaughter, he soon finds himself squaring off against Jürgen Voller, a former Nazi who works for NASA.

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Lucasfilm

Directed by James Mangold

Written by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, David Koepp & James Mangold

Cast: Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, John Rhys-Davies, Antonio Banderas, Toby Jones, Boyd Holbrook, Ethann Isidore

Runtime: 2hr 34min

Rating: PG

Action, Adventure

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IMDb Rating: 6.9/10

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 69%

RT Audience Score: 88%

RT Critic Average: 6.4/10

RT Audience Average: 4.4/5

Metacritic Score: 57

CinemaScore: B+

Letterboxd: 3.1/5

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Fun Fact: The only Indiana Jones film in the series not to be directed by Steven Spielberg - though he does have an executive producer credit. The decision to step away from the film as director was entirely Spielberg's idea.

And in more bittersweet news: As of the release of this film, this will be John Williams final film score.

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Review:

written by Tyler Park

I expected Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny to be this year’s Top Gun: Maverick. I wanted to be wonderfully amazed at how this film lived up to the perfection of the original films.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is not what I expected. It may not even be exactly what I wanted. Am I slightly disappointed? Yes. But that might not be fair to the movie. I expected too much, setting my expectations so high that I could only come out of this movie somewhat let down.

But, despite my slight disappointment, I must be fair to this movie. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a solid film, and a fun adventure and does have some classic Indy moments. There’s a lot that works, and a lot that doesn’t. I’m genuinely super conflicted about this movie — and I think that’s the root of my disappointment. I so desperately wanted to love it, that I can barely accept that I only liked it.

I know one thing for certain; if you’re an Indiana Jones fan, you still gotta see this movie! It may not be the best or reach the heights of the original trilogy, but it’s certainly better and has way more classic Indy vibes, than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Harrison Ford goddamn kills it as Indy once again. This is easily his most iconic character, and he gives Indy the performance of a lifetime. You just don’t see Harrison when you look at the screen — you see Indiana Jones right from frame one. It’s made really clear onscreen that Harrison absolutely loves playing this character, and he really makes sure that Indy goes out in a blaze of glory in this one! It really could be one of Harrison’s best performances — but really he just IS Indiana Jones!

You know who else really showed the eff up? John freaking Williams! But I don’t even really need to say that — of course he did! He’s a true legend, and at 91 comes back with yet another memorable and rousing score to bring us back into Indy’s world. From the opening notes of the first music in the film, I knew this would be yet another iconic score from Williams, and it sounded so perfectly Indy even before we heard the iconic Raiders’ March! Williams also does something really interesting with the use of that theme to mirror Indy’s arc in the film (which I’ll explain a little later)! The score is just freaking excellent, and if this is to be Williams’ final time composing for a movie… what a great way to end!

Now, the real question. Why am I so conflicted about it? I clearly loved some elements, but I have to say there were also some things that didn’t work so well for me. The most jarring thing about Dial of Destiny is how it’s so very, very much not a Spielberg movie. It’s a James Mangold film through and through, one that slides right into his Cinema of Masculine Melancholy (aka Sad Dad movies). I love James Mangold, and I love his style! I thought his ideas for his take on an Indiana Jones film were quite interesting and I thought he did quite a decent job! But he’s no Spielberg. And frankly, no one is. I really hate to say Mangold is the issue here, so I won’t, but it’s the lack of Spielberg’s magic that really drags this movie down for me. It really shows how much of the success of the previous Indy films comes down to Spielberg’s imaginative direction, and without him, Indiana Jones just doesn’t have quite the same spark. No one can stage a scene like Spielberg can, no one can block a scene like him, light a scene like him, place and move the camera the way he can… and so ultimately we all got used to his masterful style as the style for Indiana Jones… meaning this film unfortunately suffers from the absence of Spielberg. The original Indiana Jones movies are some of the best-looking blockbusters ever made. Every shot is perfectly framed, with beautiful hard lighting that brings out the rich, vibrant colours. Dial of Destiny, on the other hand, looks like dark, desaturated yellow and brown digital sludge. It has this artificial, flat look to it in the effects and action that somewhat hurts the film. The thing that bummed me out the most about Dial of Destiny was a lack of strong images. I know Mangold is no Spielberg and we've had nowhere near the time with his film as we've had with the previous ones, but I can't think of a single interesting composition.

Comparing Mangold to Spielberg is unfair, but it's a huge bummer he filmed almost all the action in airy wide shots or awkwardly tight mediums with blurry backgrounds. There's no sense of geography or visual stakes. There were multiple instances where I thought: “Oh Spielberg would have so much fun with a scene like this”. It's sad, but the least thrilling part of Dial of Destiny is the action — the movie is simultaneously action-packed and lacking any genuine thrills. I suspect a huge part of why so many report finding the action in Indy V a little dull probably comes from how Indy is mostly observing the set pieces, passively reacting to what's going on around him. At some points, he gets to drive a little. He's given shockingly little to do. He's rarely the one causing, or indeed influencing the actual set-pieces. It's mostly passive. Even the climax — which I won't spoil and love — has him peer out a vehicle window, a third party to the mayhem unfolding near and below. It's the Indiana Jones movie where Indiana "does" the least. This weirdly supports the melancholic tone of the movie, but man, the action suffers. Obviously, this is because Harrison Ford shot Indy V in his late 70s, but my favourite section of action in the movie — his escape from the library, fleeing through the parade, etc — shows him as a lithe physical performer that still respects his limits. I wish the whole movie was that. My reckless conjecture is that Mangold was too focused on making the action superficially "epic," so instead of designing "smaller" set pieces around what Ford actually could do as a physical body in space, he created big, bombastic VFX-heavy scenes in which Ford could do little. I admire Mangold as a filmmaker, and I think he's typically ~ very ~ good at action. 3:10 to Yuma, Logan, and especially Ford V Ferrari show a real talent for using action to build character, thrills, and drama at once. I only wish we saw more of that in Indy V. This isn't a mean-spirited takedown of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny or Mangold. I actually think it works on a character and theme level and becomes a genuinely moving send-off.

That all being said…

I wrote all that before seeing the film a second time.

And man, did my experience ever improve! I really enjoyed Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny a whole lot more the second time around! I am truly so glad I gave this movie another chance because this time I was able to see the movie for what it was, instead of what I (maybe unfairly) expected it to be. Sure, I still have issues with it, but I came to understand and appreciate many of the choices made. It has a lot of great highs and some lows. Yeah, it’s no Spielberg film, but Mangold really did a great job with it overall and captured the Indy spirit numerous times with his own style. Not as great as the original trilogy, but I’m very happy with this ending!

I really came to love the story of an aging, lost Indy having to find himself again. The first time I saw the movie, I had fun with the prologue as it truly captured that classic, ”golden age” Indy feel (minus the good, but flawed CGI de-aging), but I never realized how much it helped contrast the Indy we know to the broken Indy we meet once the film cuts to 1969. It makes for really interesting character exploration, and like what Mangold did with Logan, it gives us a new perspective and understanding of the character we know and love. Plus, it makes it ever so satisfying when Indy starts to find his groove again! And of course, John Williams made the most of this progression with his score, playing the main theme lots during the prologue when we see classic Indy, then eliminating it completely with broken Indy, and then slowly bringing hints of it back as Indy finds himself again, and finally concluding the movie with the full Raiders’ March as if to say Indy is truly Indy again! The film almost ends up being a gigantic overture at the front and then a loss of that theme, and then a slow rebuilding towards the final reels when John Williams once again graces us with the majesty of the Indy theme!

There are some really good ideas and themes that the Dial of Destiny covers — this is an especially poignant entry in the franchise. It allows us to go on one final adventure with a very human, aging Indy while still having a blast! Not everything worked, and not every idea introduced was explored as much as I would have liked it to be, but overall I think it made for a good final product!

You can tell there were lots of drafts and different writers on the film, as it can be quite muddled at times and does have its flaws. For the most part, though, it works. They take a massive swing with the third act of the Indy V and I respect the hell out of them for it. I couldn’t believe that I actually bought into it too! If I heard this before I saw it in the movie I wouldn’t have believed they could have actually pulled it off and made it believable. And I genuinely love what it tried to accomplish for Indy’s character arc, even if it didn’t fully earn it by making Helena make a choice for Indy at the end instead of letting him make the choice for himself to complete his arc. It just made it feel a tad anticlimactic, but ultimately did not break the movie for me. Especially with the final scene that follows — that’s what really won me over in the film! Speaking of Helena, she is actually a character who really grew on me as the movie went on. Phoebe Waller-Bridge plays a great foil to Ford with her quips (and they had great chemistry) and I genuinely enjoyed the role she played.

This might be the longest I’ve ever taken to write a review. I spent days thinking about this film; conflicted on whether I loved, liked, tolerated, or didn’t like this film. I was initially disappointed, but I genuinely have come to appreciate this film and what James Mangold set out to accomplish. Sure, there is the missing Spielberg magic, but Dial of Destiny still had way more classic Indy vibes than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull did. It definitely feels tonally different from the rest as Temple of Doom did, and misses some minor (but iconic) details such as the classic fade-in from the Paramount logo, or the end credits typically rolling over the final shot instead of cutting to black. Plus, because of the use of CGI over practical effects which the films have been known for, this one has a slight artificial feel to it. But ultimately, while flawed, the movie worked for me. It won’t work for everyone, and the original films will always be masterpieces that this film doesn’t even touch. But I’ll never regret or question letting myself sit back and just enjoy Harrison Ford’s final time in the role — a great performance that finishes the character with touching emotion and sentimentality. And make sure you sit through the entire credits to enjoy the maestro John Williams’ masterful (and possibly final) score! Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has a lot going for it and made for a solid summer blockbuster and a fitting end to Harrison Ford’s iconic hero. I ended up really liking it!

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Trailer: