‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ review: Dir. James Mangold (2023)

For a lot of people in their late thirties and forties, the Indiana Jones movies defined their childhood and laid the groundwork for future filmgoing. Spielberg’s first three movies are among the holy trilogies of the ’80s that only a handful of blockbusters have managed to match. The original ‘Star Wars’ trilogy and the Back To The Future films can also be put in the same bracket in terms of their timelessness and nostalgic melancholy, as too can Peter Jackson’s much later ‘Lord of the Rings’ series, but their equals are certainly thinner on the ground. When a fourth movie was introduced to the Indy series, one might say that the Fedora-wearing adventurer’s stock was reduced somewhat – ‘Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ was widely panned and is still considered the weakest link in the series. So, sans Spielberg, can James Mangold recapture the magic of the earlier movies, and does Ford’s swan song as his perhaps most iconic character live up to those prestigious adventures of yesteryear?

Well, in a word, no. Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny is very drawn out, often confusing, convoluted, and ultimately hugely disappointing. The opening sequence, set during WWII, sees a de-aged Harrison Ford in a mildly entertaining extended set-piece – essentially an escape from a Nazi fortress – the archeologist in his ‘Raiders’ prime after an ancient artifact with Toby Jones’ Basil Shaw as sidekick which, despite its flaws – that anti-aging tech is still not there, folks – sets up proceedings for what’s to follow quite nicely.

Sadly, it’s all downhill from there. It’s now 1969 and man has just landed on the moon which is when we’re introduced to Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Hannah, a Flebag-esque character, daughter to the now-deceased Basil Shaw, and goddaughter to Indy. Our hero is now well into his seventies and on the verge of retirement from a New York university, a forced move due to his opposition to former Nazis being recruited to help with the US government’s space program. Helena comes to Indy with a want to go after an artifact called the Antikythera, an ancient device and ‘Dial of Destiny’ of the title that can change the world through time travel. So, after a brief chase scene where Mads Mikkelsen’s villainous Jürgen Voller, a former German officer now involved with NASA, comes after Indy and the one-half of the device that has been locked in an archive deep within the university, it’s off to Tangiers where the road to the other half of the Antikythera begins, and this, the fifth Indiana Jones adventure truly begins.

First the good stuff. It’s obviously great to see Harrison Ford back in one of his biggest and most popular roles and he really does get stuck in and still wears that Fedora well. He’s as good today as he was back in the early ’80s, a screen presence that still shines bright – every bit the movie. The most interesting moments are, as usual, the scenes away from all of the overblown CGI and action, specifically the early character work when we discover Indy in his small apartment near the start of the movie. Ford also has great chemistry with Waller-Bridge, and indeed earlu on with Toby Jones who once again proves himself of being one of the best character actors around. The music from John Williams is excellent, the new score is brilliant still managing to blend in a few familiar beats throughout. Mikkelson is a worthy villain, though the usually brilliant Boyd Holbrook has little to do as Voller’s right-hand-man, Klaber.

But. It all feels strangely empty. The tone seems way off in places and miles away from the matinee adventure spectaular that Lucas and Spielberg created all those years ago. Mangold and his team seem to have chosen to steer away from the nostalgic nods to the good old days, mostly, which, while welcome in terms of freshness compared to similar revived franchises, falls away from the mold too far. At over two and a half hours it is way too long, and I was often caught looking down at my watch and, dare I say, struggling to keep my eyes open at times. Its often borning, the plot meandering and drawn out and the action sequences fairly tame. There seems to be no real invention and the film lacks those magic moments those earlier films had in spades (eg. the opening sequence to Raiders; the pit of snakes from the same movie, though granted there are some subtle nods to both of those scenes here). There’s an ingredient seemingly always missing, and the finale, though preposterous and nowhere near the disaster that ‘Kingdom of the Crysal Skull’ presented, very much an anti-climax, as was Ford’s final moments on screen as this fantastic screen idol.

I had very low expectations going in, and sadly those were met. Its i a film that really disappoints in so many ways and I can only hope that I’m in the minority (there are many polarising opinions out there) because this franchise really does deserve more. Forget Fortune and Glory; more cheap thrills and utter failure in so many ways.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is released in UK cinemas on 28th June.