To say I have a history with the Indiana Jones franchise is an understatement. I grew up with this character like so many others such as Star Wars, Star Trek, GI Joe, and Transformers. Steven Spielberg created a character born out of the pulp cereals that came out in the early 30s and played in front of films of that era. He wanted to make an adventure series with a real-world aesthetic set in the backdrop of WWII. Nazis make great villains so they were perfect cannon fodder for these films. I love the film in the franchise Raiders of the Lost Arc. It had great action an amazing score by John Williams and the dialogue was witty and funny. This was my thing from an early age.

Fast forward to today where I’m reviewing the fifth film in the franchise The Dial of Destiny. And it’s a little bittersweet and nostalgic at the same time. My anticipation was through the roof but my experience wasn’t as good as I’d hoped it would be. As far as the story goes I was completely invested in the characters especially Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and his journey from the beginning where he is portrayed with deaging technology making him look younger. The beginning sequence starts the movie off on the right foot and gets the story rolling literally. Because there is a massive action scene on a train. This scene is right in line with other action sequences in the franchise.

The Indiana Jones franchise has always used Nazis as villains because they make perfect cannon fodder but there is always a leader-type character. In this case, doctor Jurgen Voller (Madz Micklesohn) has studied a device that has been around for hundreds of years called the Antikythera. As Roger Ebert coined the phrase MacGuffin is an item that keeps the plot of a film moving forward. That’s what this is. It’s what everybody wants and the entire story is based on this device. The title refers to it as the Dial of Destiny. I was all in on this story from the start but the ending didn’t quite stick the landing for me.

A lot of people were worried about Harrison Ford playing this character at an advanced age. I couldn’t tell if he lost a step or not but he did look his age most of the movie. A goddaughter character played by Pheobe Waller-Bridge “Wombat or rather Helena Shaw the daughter of an odd friend of Indies. She brings a rambunctious determined young woman who wants to prove her father is right. She is the female lead in the film which all the Indiana Jones have had. They represent a different side to this franchise which balances out the machismo of Indy and the villains, usually Nazis.  She is funny at times Andis a nice addition to this world Steven Speilberg and George Lucas created all those years ago.

James Mangold has been a director that has come on the scene in Hollywood in the last twenty years or so. He has had a vision quite unlike many other directors like him. He’s rescued franchises and or done his original films. Copland, Walk the Line, Logan, and Ford v Ferrari are a few of the better movies in his filmography. It was a big deal when he was announced as the director of a new Indiana Jones movie. People were pretty excited about this decision. Mangold took his style and infused it with the world of Indiana Jones. I can see the aesthetic of the world and how Mangold uses the period production design to set up the action and story aspects of the film. They all work great together.

The cinematography is quite beautiful in a rustic way. Phedon Papamichael uses sunlight and visual effects to create worn out looking place. Whether in the United States or Africa, the world around the main characters looks amazing. The buildings, streets, and various other locations look the part of the world Mangold and company are trying to create. It’s a rare thing that movies these days have such a rustic look to them. I felt I was brought right into the film and story right off the bat. I loved the look of the movie right from the beginning. 

With all Indiana Jones Films, there is a farfetched element to them. With mystical items or rare iniquities that are used for nefarious means. This film uses something I felt didn’t work so well at the end of the film. I feel it didn’t fit that well with the rest of the story. The fanciful elements don’t always fit in the more grounded moments or even the action scenes. These aspects, I won’t spoil, don’t feel like they fit with the rest of the film. This was a little bittersweet because it didn’t make for a good ending for me or it didn’t make my experience that great when I left the theater.

Even though it’s a bit nostalgic because I love the Indiana Jones franchise so much it’s also a bit bittersweet because the filmmakers didn’t land the plane. I was very happy with how Ford, Waller-Bridge, and Mickelson did. They all had their moments to shine while also playing into the overall story perfectly. Mangold created a great aesthetic and the cinematography played into that very well.  There was just one component I wasn’t a fan of toward the end of the movie which didn’t work for me. It’s a share because I hated to walk out of the movie disappointed but that’s what happened. It’s two-thirds of a good film. I wished it had been a complete film I could get behind and champion but it’s not.

4 stars 

Dan Skop Allen