By Matthew Moorcroft

Solid Recommendation

• Directed by James Mangold
• Starring Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, Mads Mikkelsen
• PG-13

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a conundrum of a movie. It’s very existence is something I feel like will be discussed far more then the actual contents of the picture itself, as will the lack of Spielberg and Lucas involved in it’s production outside of executive producer credits. And that’s kind of a damn shame, as Dial of Destiny, for all of it’s faults, is actually one of the more interesting blockbusters thematically of the summer and it’s clear that the filmmakers, and Harrison Ford, genuinely believed this to be a story worth telling.

Make no mistake – no, this isn’t as good as the original trilogy. But what is? The original Indy trilogy, a touchstone of 80s pop culture and adventure movie cinema at large, is one of those immovable objects that you can’t really escape from. Even moreso then the Star Wars trilogy, which may have had a bigger impact but has managed to maintain a steady franchise with installments that match it’s prior output, the Indy trilogy has loomed large among it’s contemporaries in a way very few films have. So much so that even when Spielberg did return for a fourth installment, it was widely rejected by fans at the time for not living up those films in particular (for the record, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is good, actually).

So with that in mind, Dial of Destiny, as it stands on it’s own, is a really solid, if slightly overlong, blockbuster adventure film. It’s the kind of film that your dad will likely put on every once and a while, either as an actual watch or in the background, and chuckle at the lighthearted humor, find a single scene to focus his entire attention on, and end with a grunt of approval. There is a reason James Mangold, king of the “sad dad” movie, was hired for the job, and that was to give your dad’s favourite hero the sendoff he has so long deserved.

Indy is tired, both literally and figuratively. He’s old, he’s retiring, and he’s divorced after a family tragedy, but he’s also not putting up with crap anymore and knows bullshit when he sees it. And when his goddaughter Helena, with her “cash or nothing” attitude and her lack of morals that remind him of his earlier years, he immediately goes on the chase. This is a less of a treasure hunt movie as it is as a search for redemption, a chance for Indy to pass on his knowledge and not necessarily his legacy, and that only makes Dial of Destiny really interesting thematically. A lot of legacy sequels do confront their protagonist’s age – Top Gun: Maverick did this to great effect last year – but Dial of Destiny is really the only one that actually is bold enough to say “it’s ok to be old”. Harrison Ford is completely game for this as well, shining bright here in one of the best performances he’s had in a very long time. You can tell Indy is an important character to him, leaping from action scene to dialogue driven drama beat without missing a beat. It helps that he’s matched by an equally excellent Phoebe Waller-Bridge here, who nails a darker then expected character for this kind of story but manages to still have a strong heart.

And yeah, the action here is solid enough. Mangold opts to play it safe here, smartly not even trying to replicate Spielberg in this department. The stronger stuff comes from the last 30 minutes, which is in of itself where the movie completely goes bonkers nuts with itself. The reveal of what the titular dial actually does is already great, but seeing it in action will make you question why they didn’t do something like this sooner as it fits with the Indiana Jones mythos so well that you might as well think that this had to be done in the 90s or something. It just takes a bit to get there, as Dial of Destiny is a bit too long for it’s own good at points and definitely takes a little bit to truly get going. It’s probably the first time in a while I’ve really felt the length of a blockbuster, for better and for worse.

I don’t know if Dial of Destiny is ultimately necessary, but then again I don’t think think Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was really necessary either. In the end, I’m just glad we got two decent, solid Indy films past the fabulous original trilogy, and while this one lacks Spielberg’s directorial might, dare I say Dial of Destiny‘s script is stronger to the point where it justifies itself existing. It’s a rollicking good time at the movies, and while it’s likely to be the final hurrah for the titular character, it’s a hell of a way to go out.