Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

Review: written July 2023

Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones is back.. older, slower and not as lean and muscular as he used to be. And much the same could be said for the movie.

This is an easy film to like. It’s got a great cast, some nice callbacks to the previous movies, some engaging set pieces, that John Williams score. It’s definitely likeable. But it’s harder to feel at the end of the movie that you truly loved it. I certainly felt like I’d watched something admirable and well put together, rather than feeling the rush of coming off a well designed rollercoaster.

James Mangold isn’t Steven Spielberg, and there is something undefinably less thrilling or unexpected in the action set pieces – but that’s not to say they aren’t engaging and entertaining. From the opening train set piece facing off against Mads Mikkelson and dozens of Nazis, to the bottom of the ocean with a game Antonio Banderas, from a chase in New York subways to an aerial set piece with a twist, there’s a lot of fun up on the screen. The plot (which hardly matters) centres around the titular object, Archimedes lost Antikythera. Rediscovered by Nazis in the opening scene, it is then put to rest until the late 60’s. There we find Jones on the cusp of retirement, looking more than a little weary and defeated.. (especially after the cgi-rejuvenated version we just saw). We learn of his separation from his wife, their relationship fractured due to loss. It’s actually here that the heart and success of the movie lies, with Harrison Ford putting in a performance which may be the most nuanced and affecting of the series. This is not just picking up the check, he’s putting real meaning into it.

Where Jones has become more serious, Phoebe Waller-Bridge picks up the baton of levity and mischievousness – proving an inspired choice to act alongside Ford. Add to that a little of Toby Jones sidekick and some welcome cameos from Jones past, we have a movie which really ‘dials’ up the nostalgia – for Indiana Jones, and perhaps by extension a whole genre of movies.

The movies Achilles Heel is the ending. Of course, in the world of Indiana Jones we’ve had some off the wall endings, we are used to a little outlandishness. And this ending is outlandish enough to work, objectively speaking. The problems is that the ending doesn’t feel earned. There are too few signposts to what might be coming. When the final act kicks in, instead of a smile and going with it – I will confess to slumping in despair, and thinking.. “Really..?”.

That said, the true emotional ending of the movie is in the postscript, and that works. This might not be Indiana Jones at his best, but it’s a worthy final chapter, embraces some of the best qualities of the series, and probably has the strongest emotional arc for the character. As such, it’s a success, if not a triumph.