Everyone remembers the first time they watched an Indiana Jones movie. Whether it was in the cinema back in 1981, on one of the M-Net Movies channels in the mid-2000s, or even in the cinema again in 2008, the franchise is a criterion that leaves its mark on a person regardless of their affinity to adventure films.
It’s become somewhat untouchable. Even by its later instalments. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny included.
Indiana Jones (played once again by Harrison Ford) seems to have his best days – hunting historical artefacts and punching Nazis – behind him as he counts down the days to his retirement from teaching. But that retirement is pushed back as Indy is confronted by his estranged goddaughter Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), who comes seeking Indy’s help with retrieving the titular Dial of Destiny, an ancient device that allegedly grants the power of time to whoever wields it. Complicating the search is, naturally, a Nazi in the form of Jurgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), hellbent on beating the duo to the dial and making up for lost time by changing it. Along the way, Indy and Helena meet new friends, catch up with some old ones, and try to reconcile with their lives both past and present, all in the shadow of an uncertain future.
In the wake of seeing Dial of Destiny, this reviewer was witness to arguments that Indiana Jones is less a character and more an archetype, capable of being played by any actor propelled along by cliché storytelling. No. That’s what people in show business would call a knock-off. And as for cliché storytelling, the beats that comprise an Indiana Jones film is a timeless tune, accentuated by one of the best actors still working today and composed by a filmmaking team that is practically above reproach. The actual composition is also above reproach. Picking a fight with John Williams is akin to looking inside the Ark of the Covenant.
While Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are offstage in the wings for this ride, director James Mangold proves to be worthy given the quality of the action. Most notably with a high-speed vehicle chase through the city of Tangiers, one of Dial of Destiny’s highlights. Mangold also has the impossible brief of balancing physical and virtual effects to compose his picture (I say impossible because even Spielberg failed it with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). The result is a double-edged rapier. While the film’s prologue – an extended sequence of Indy trying to recover a piece of the dial from the Nazis during WWII – features the finest in de-ageing technologies, one is distracted by the age of Harrison Ford’s voice clearly not matching his purported age on screen.
To its credit, following that prologue, the film doesn’t attempt to dial back the clock. Harrison Ford acts his age and that of an adventure hero that the world left behind. His appreciation of history, and the ideals that have sustained him for this long, appear archaic in the face of real-world circumstances. Helena’s motivations position her as someone Indy would have faced off against in one of his previous films, yet she is the product of his infatuation towards the life he leads. The two share excellent chemistry and act as perfect foils for each other. Mads Mikkelsen is most probably the most emotionally-driven Indiana Jones villain we’ve had yet, and he delivers the goods with intense suaveness.
But there is a major stumbling block to this whole enterprise. For all Ford’s doing and overall polished production, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny fails to stick the landing at the end. The final act feels simply incomplete. It lacks critical emotional and narrative moments. Two hours worth of momemtum is brought to a grinding halt. The characters’ conclusions in this saga cannot compensate. Indiana Jones has always skirted around the absurdity of its stories (fortunately, this movie never goes to the previous level of “nuking the fridge”) thanks to delivering the goods in a fun and thrilling way. But the absurdity here is disposed of in such a dismissive way.
All’s not well when it doesn’t end well. As the fifth entry in the greatest adventure film franchise ever made, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny makes ill use of its time. Great performances, chemistry, and thrilling action spoiled by a botched finale. The journey may always be more important than the destination, but you always need to know where you’re going.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is now playing in South African cinemas.
Photos: ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
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