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Tripwire Reviews Indiana Jones and The Dial Of Destiny

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3 years ago

June 28, 2023

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Dialling It Up

Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows takes a look at Indiana Jones and The Dial Of Destiny out in UK cinemas from today and in the US from Friday…

Indiana Jones and The Dial Of Destiny
Director: James Mangold
Stars: Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Thomas Kretschmann, Toby Jones, Boyd Holbrook, Mads Mikkelsen

Fifteen years after Indiana Jones and The Crystal Skull, which brought the world the phrase ‘nuking the fridge’ and not much else, we have Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny, the fifth instalment in Lucas and Spielberg’s retro-adventure movie series. This time around, Spielberg sits things out with James Mangold in the director’s chair. Raiders of The Lost Ark debuted back in 1981 and so 42 years later, we have Indy’s final outing.

Over the years, we have lost much of the supporting cast, including Denholm Elliot as Dr Jones’ academic sidekick Dr Brody and his father, Dr Henry Jones Sr (Sean Connery). So the question here is how to stick to the dramatic DNA that has made Indiana Jones such a worldwide success without some of the ingredients that were responsible for its iconic cinematic status in the first place.

Harrison Ford is obviously a lot older now than when he was in Raiders, so the filmmakers have to address that. So enter Helena (Waller-Bridge), who is the daughter of Indy’s sidekick Basil Shaw in the Second World War flashback sequence. Shaw was obviously designed as a replacement for the late Denholm Elliott and he is a canny choice, although he doesn’t cut as suave a figure as Elliott. The de-aging of Ford is done with care and attention to detail too.

We jump forward to the 1960s where Jones is an ageing academic about to take retirement. He finds himself squaring off against former Nazi Jürgen Voller (Mikkelsen), who he first encountered during the war. Jones, with the help of his goddaughter Helena, is in a literal race against time to recover Archimedes’ Dial of Destiny of the film’s title. Along the way he encounters Sallah (Rhys Davies) and Spanish deep sea diver Renaldo (an almost unrecognisable Antonio Banderas).

So the question here is does Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny work as a swansong for the Doctor?

The Crystal Skull was a terrible effort, with a poor script and some very questionable CGI. The Dial of Destiny, despite the fact that the world doesn’t really need another Indiana Jones movie, is certainly an improvement. Mangold manages to bring the energy and warmth that Spielberg and Lucas used to evoke in their prime. Despite the fact that Ford is a man of a certain age, there is still that spark and cheekiness that brings the audience onside.

Waller-Bridge is obviously a more recent figure in pop culture, thanks to the success of Fleabag and the absence of a love interest here is one which serves the Dial of Destiny well. Waller-Bridge just about stays on the right side of annoying and there is chemistry between her and Ford. The film does take a little bit of a dive into hokey fantasy for the final reel, but if you look at the Indy films, they have largely erred in favour of the fantastical.

Mikkelsen’s turn is an essay in sinister understatement, as ever assisted by his henchman Klaber (Holbrook) and the steroidal Hauke played by Olivier Richters.

What is interesting here is that the last Indiana Jones film was released just as Marvel Studios were beginning their cultural dominance of modern cinema. Indiana Jones has always been an ironic throwback to a different kind of movie blockbuster, so the The Dial of Destiny could now be seen as a corrective to the dominance of the MCU.

The MacGuffin doesn’t feel quite as iconic as the Ark of the Covenant or The Holy Grail, but The Dial of Destiny is a plot device which adequately fits into the arcane world of Indiana Jones, and one which allows the character to explore past mistakes and regrets. We do get to see the welcome return of a familiar face at the film’s conclusion (no points for guessing who) and everything is wrapped up pretty neatly.

As a swansong for everyone’s favourite big screen archaeologist, Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny is a good natured and exciting ride with an actor who may not be in his first or even second flush, but he shows that he still has more charisma and personality than many of his much younger competitors. He has been in two huge cinema cash cows but it is Indiana Jones that he will be more closely affiliated with. After a constant diet of Marvel movies, it is refreshing to watch a summer film which harkens back to an earlier Hollywood. It’s not perfect by any means (Banderas’ cameo is pretty pointless and the story’s denouement is very silly) but there are more hit than miss moments here. The movie is a very likeable, well-crafted and nostalgic yarn which gives the diehards everything they’d want from an Indiana Jones film.

Here’s the film’s trailer