Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Review

Theatrical Movie Review

I don’t think there are too many areas of consensus among movie nerds, but I’m pretty sure one is that “Raiders of the Lost Ark” is one of the all-time best action-adventure movies. I remember watching it as a young kid, and I was absolutely transfixed by the action and the amount of movie magic that went into creating so many iconic scenes. They have tried to create that same wonder with subsequent films, never quite reaching the heights of the original. Now, 42 years later, Indiana Jones is going for one last adventure in James Mangold’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.”

The year is 1969 and Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is living alone in a small apartment, about to retire from teaching. In one of his final lectures, Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), Indy’s goddaughter and daughter of his friend Basil Shaw (Toby Jones), arrives, asking Indy about Archimedes’ Antikythera, a relic that is rumored to be able to causes fissures in the fabric of space-time to allow for time travel. Indiana must, with the help of new and old friends, find a way to keep this dial out of the hands of Dr. Jurgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), a Nazi who wants to bring about Hitler’s vision.

While it feels strange to watch an Indiana Jones movie without Steven Spielberg at the helm, Mangold does an admirable job of keeping the overall feel of this movie well in line with the other films. 

The CGI elements are a bit mixed on this. I felt like the scenes that depicted a younger Indiana Jones looked solid, but some of the big action set pieces really left something to be desired. But a lot of the stunts looked great and I loved that there wasn’t much focus on Ford’s age in this movie. He just did what Indiana always does. 

The rapport between Waller-Bridge and Ford was great. Mikkelson was one of the best villains we’ve had in a while. The cameos in this were a lot of fun without feeling forced, something that can be tough to pull off in a legacy film like this. While this is definitely a final outing for Dr. Jones, this never felt overly sentimental, and a lot of that is owed to the cast.

At two and a half hours, this movie did feel its length to me. The second act had maybe one too many action set pieces that made it feel a little draggy, but beyond that, I felt like most of the pacing was good. The story is absurd, but that’s most Indiana Jones movies, and this one wasn’t nearly as nonsensical as 2008’s Crystal Skull.

This is by no means a perfect movie. The series already did that back in 1981, and if you’re looking for that, you’re likely to be disappointed, But if you’re a fan of Indiana Jones and watching him punch Nazi’s, you’ll probably have a good time with this.

This review originally appeared in The Dominion Post on July 2, 2023.