Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) Review

 "Yesterday belongs to us, Dr. Jones."
-Jürgen Voller





Spoilers below!



As Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is about to retire from teaching and about to divorce Marion (Karen Allen), both his goddaughter, Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), and a Nazi scientist reappear in Jones' life as they seek the Dial of Archimedes.  Jones is forced into one final adventure to stop the Nazis from traveling through time.


What Works:

I love the character of Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford has always been fantastic in the role.  He loves the character and it's obvious.  That definitely comes through in this film and he's really the only interesting character in the movie.

There's also a few fun action set pieces.  I enjoyed the keep-away chase through Tangier and the eel sequence.  There isn't a whole lot that's super memorable compared to the original trilogy, but there are some fun moments.

I'm also very relieved that Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) isn't in this movie.  He's my least favorite part of the last movie and I really didn't want to see him again.  Luckily, they killed him off in between movies and it was some interesting development form Indy and Marion.

I also appreciate watching Indy punch Nazis.  There are way too many of them around these days and it's nice to have a protagonist so bluntly taking out Nazis.  It's refreshing and needed.

Finally, I loved the 3rd act of this movie.  Specifically the time travelling fight between the Nazis and the Romans.  It was completely ridiculous and over-the-top.  I'd watch a whole movie with this premise.  This was such a fun sequence and easily the best part of the film.  It leads to a great character moment with Indy and was the most emotionally interesting moment in the film.


What Sucks:

The biggest problem with the movie is all of the new characters.  Indy works best when he has other interesting character to interact with.  They can be sidekicks, love interests, or villains.  Dial of Destiny has none of that.  All of the new characters are bland.  None of the new sidekicks are very interesting and they definitely wasted Antonio Banderas.

Less forgivable are the villains.  Mads Mikkelsen plays the main antagonist and he gets nothing interesting to do with his screen-time.  Boyd Holbrook plays his right-hand man, who somehow gets even less to do.  They're both talented actors and they were simply wasted here.

I think that's my overall feeling of the film.  It's a missed opportunity to do something great.  I just felt apathetic for far too much of the movie.  I was never fully engaged until the time-travel.

Finally, I've seen a lot of praise for the opening sequence, and while it has fun moments, I was too distracted by the de-aged Harrison Ford.  Can we stop doing this?  No matter how advanced technology gets, it doesn't look right.  It ends up being distracting and I couldn't enjoy the sequence.  There are times when it looks really bad.  Just stop.


Verdict:

Dial of Destiny has fun moments, a good performance from Ford, and an excellent 3rd act.  It's just that the new characters are forgettable, the story is dull, and the de-aged Indy looks bad.  I think the movie as a whole is harmless, but mostly forgettable and is definitely my least-favorite of the series.

 6/10: Okay 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Argylle (2024) Review

Image
 "The human skull is shockingly brittle." -Aidan Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) is a very successful spy novelist.  She draws attention from the espionage community when plot points in her books come true.  When Elly is attacked on a train by a group of spies, she is rescued by another spy, Aidan (Sam Rockwell), who needs her help with his mission and to do that, she needs to write another chapter of her latest book. Spoilers Below.  Go ahead and read on because I don't recommend this movie, but either way, you've been warned. What Works: Argylle has a really fun premise that really works in the first half of the movie.  It's a fish-out-of-water, buddy-cop, spy movie, and it's a blast.  Watching Ellie predict where to go based on what the characters in her books would do is a lot of fun.  It's what the whole movie should have been. The opening sequence follows Agent Argylle (Henry Cavill) on another dangerous mission as he pursues the villainous LaGrang
Read more

Top 10 Movies of 2023

Image
2023 is finally over and it's time for me to put my Top 10 list together.  2023 was definitely a weaker year for movies.  There were definitely some great movies, but there were also plenty of disappointing and bad movies as well.  I still managed to put together a great Top 10 with a couple of worthy contenders that just missed the cut.  Let's take a look! #10. They Cloned Tyrone They Cloned Tyrone is a wild and fun sci-fi tale that takes place in the hood.  A drug dealer, a pimp, and a prostitute discover a cloning conspiracy and the results are intelligent and hilarious.  This is a really smart and funny movie with some amazing performances across the board.  This was a movie that kept me guessing the whole way through.  What an absolute blast. #9. Renfield I'm guessing Renfield will be the most controversial entry on my list as I feel like I'm the only person who liked this movie.  I love the old Universal monster movies and the fact that we get a direct sequel, whi
Read more

Madame Web (2024) Review

Image
 "When you take on the responsibility, great power will come." -Santiago Cassie Webb (Dakota Johnson), a New York paramedic, hits her head in an accident, which unlocks the ability to see glimpses of the future.  When she sees Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim) attempting to murder three teenage girls, Cassie intervenes to save them.  As Cassie learns to understand her power, she also discovers the connection between her, the girls, and Ezekiel. What Works: I think the core idea at the center of this movie is a good one and has the potential to be interesting.  Cassie's superpowers are kinda lame.  It's not like they're going to help in a combat situation.  Ezekiel is basically evil Spider-Man.  He has legitimate powers and is a massive threat.  That's an interesting conflict.  How does someone with lackluster superpowers take on a supervillain.  It's a fun idea that I would like to see tried again with greater success.  What Sucks: This movie was embarrassing to
Read more