Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is the fifth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise that first kicked off over forty years ago with Raiders of the Lost Arc. Though it is missing some of the magic and technical mastery of the previous Indiana Jones films, this is a rousing and entertaining send-off to one of cinema’s greatest heroes.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny takes place in 1969 shortly after the moon landing. Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is a sad, lonely, grizzled drunk on the verge of retirement from his college professor job and struggling to find his place in the world. That is until the daughter of his former colleague and goddaughter Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) comes back into his life and informs him she might know where to locate the Dial of Destiny, a mechanism that Indy has been after for decades that can locate fissures in time. This brings Indy on another globe-trotting adventure where he encounters an old fo after the same Dial.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is the first Indiana Jones film not directed by Steven Spielberg (he acted as an executive producer on the film). The reigns were handed to James Mangold, director of movies like Walk the Line, Logan, and Ford v Ferrari. Mangold is a wonderful director and has shown his range in genre throughout his career. While he has never made a swashbuckling adventure film quite like Indiana Jones, he seemed like a good fit to take over for Spielberg.

Replacing Steven Spielberg on any project is an impossible task and Mangold knew that. He didn’t make Dial of Destiny trying to impersonate Spielberg or make his version of a Spielberg movie. The film does lack some of Spielberg’s visual flare, especially in the action scenes, and I just feel like Spielberg would have landed the emotional punch at the end of the film. Having been with the franchise since its incarnation, Spielberg would have added more heart and soul to the film, which would be difficult for a filmmaker to do on their first film of the franchise.

Still, Mangold did an excellent job with this movie. Using his style, a style that has never been flashy, but one that has always been efficient in telling the stories it wants to tell while also being exciting when the action kicks in, he made a movie about why we love Indiana Jones and the Indiana Jones franchise: the fun action, intriguing mystery, and Indiana Jone punching Nazi’s. It’s all in here and it’s an absolute blast to watch.

Despite not playing the role in fifteen years, Harrison Ford doesn’t miss a beat as Indy. This character runs in his blood. This version of Indy starts off broken, beaten, and defeated by life only to find purpose and meaning when he goes on the mission to find the Dial. Ford is always compelling and he has great chemistry with Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who is an absolute delight as his eccentric, street-smart god-daughter. I also enjoyed Mads Mikkelson’s performance as the villain of our villain of the film, Dr. Voller. Mikkelson proves once again that he is one of the best villain actors we have today.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny isn’t the best Indiana Jones film in the franchise, but it is an entertaining film and a worthy finale for Ford and Indy.

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