Raiders of the Lost Ark is close to masterpiece level. The subsequent films of the original trilogy are also very good and are staples of my childhood. Then the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull came out and I felt similarly towards that as I do with the Star Wars prequels and sequels. On one hand, it felt unnecessary after the fact but when going through it I was excited to have another adventure with my on-screen buddies. After the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I wasn't champing at the bit to go on another adventure with Indiana Jones but I was willing to give it another go around.
With all that said, the Dial of Destiny is a better film than the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The story is better. The adventure is more fun. It is not better than the original trilogy.
Positives: I thought the story was pretty good, Harrison Ford was really good when he was able to play his age, I found Phoebe Waller-Bridge a lot of fun and she injected some whimsy that I liked, and I'm always Mad about Mads Mikkelsen.
Negatives: The runtime is 2.5 hours, the de-aged Harrison Ford was very off-putting, the treatment of Antonio Banderas's character was uneven and a little disrespectful when I think about it, and the seemingly over-reliance on CGI.
I feel I have to mention the beginning. I really hated the de-aged Harrison Ford. It felt like I was seeing an Indiana Jones on a video game. It looked good, but it's not perfect and until it could be perfect I'll always argue that it's creepy. I loved watching the old Indiana Jones, so I wonder if they could have set up the story without having to actually see the events that happen with the train that set up Archimedes' Dial. The filmmakers didn't go that way, so we'll never know for sure.
Overall I give this a Fair rating. I wouldn't recommend rushing out to watch it, but if you have 2.5 hours and want an easy watch then, sure, go ahead and check out Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Review by RyanVIP 5BlockedParent2023-09-11T20:46:25Z
Raiders of the Lost Ark is close to masterpiece level. The subsequent films of the original trilogy are also very good and are staples of my childhood. Then the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull came out and I felt similarly towards that as I do with the Star Wars prequels and sequels. On one hand, it felt unnecessary after the fact but when going through it I was excited to have another adventure with my on-screen buddies. After the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I wasn't champing at the bit to go on another adventure with Indiana Jones but I was willing to give it another go around.
With all that said, the Dial of Destiny is a better film than the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The story is better. The adventure is more fun. It is not better than the original trilogy.
Positives: I thought the story was pretty good, Harrison Ford was really good when he was able to play his age, I found Phoebe Waller-Bridge a lot of fun and she injected some whimsy that I liked, and I'm always Mad about Mads Mikkelsen.
Negatives: The runtime is 2.5 hours, the de-aged Harrison Ford was very off-putting, the treatment of Antonio Banderas's character was uneven and a little disrespectful when I think about it, and the seemingly over-reliance on CGI.
I feel I have to mention the beginning. I really hated the de-aged Harrison Ford. It felt like I was seeing an Indiana Jones on a video game. It looked good, but it's not perfect and until it could be perfect I'll always argue that it's creepy. I loved watching the old Indiana Jones, so I wonder if they could have set up the story without having to actually see the events that happen with the train that set up Archimedes' Dial. The filmmakers didn't go that way, so we'll never know for sure.
Overall I give this a Fair rating. I wouldn't recommend rushing out to watch it, but if you have 2.5 hours and want an easy watch then, sure, go ahead and check out Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.