When I first heard they were making another one of these, I groaned. When I saw the title, I buried my head in my hands. Indy’s last adventure, 2008’s Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, didn’t leave me with much hope for the franchise, and that first impression - an abrasive, clunky moniker - stunk with precisely the same odor. Man, do I really want to put myself through this again? The first three Indiana Jones films are an indelible part of my cinematic childhood. What’s the point in dragging their names back through the mud? I don’t really need to see an eighty-year-old Harrison Ford don the fedora and try to move like a younger man. Do I?
Well, curiosity sometimes makes us do funny things. Nostalgic fondness, too. And, despite my better judgment, I did indeed take the time to breathe deep, hold my nose and sit through the ’23 model. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s not half as bad as I’d feared. Several important lessons have been learned from that preceding misfire, and while I wouldn’t go so far as to put this on the same pedestal as the first three (not even Temple of Doom), it’s still a great relief. Good enough that I felt no embarrassment about watching, at any rate, though I remain unconvinced about the need for its existence.
Like most of the other Indies, even the good ones, the plot involves an international MacGuffin hunt. Our hero has, and then loses, possession of an ancient mathematical artifact that can somehow transport skilled users through time and space. Something of an analog flux capacitor, in other words. Indy thinks it belongs in a museum, but a small pack of Nazi leftovers (including ringleader Mads Mikkelsen) sees it as a means to revive their evil empire. During the pursuit, we catch up with several recurring members of the broader Jones family (many offscreen), cross paths with the Apollo 11 astronauts, endure a thrilling tuk-tuk chase in Tangier (easily the film’s best scene) and meet a feisty prodigal goddaughter. Who, for what it’s worth, represents one of the more valuable items learned from Crystal Skull. She’s no force-fed Shia Labeouf. The stakes aren’t so artificially high, either, with less supernatural mumbo jumbo and (thank goodness for this) more practical effects. The CG in Dial of Destiny is a crutch, an enhancement, not the constant center of attention like it was in Crystal Skull.
So, yeah, Indiana Jones 5 is better than the abomination that came before. I might even say it’s a mildly above-average old-timers' action movie. It doesn’t feel so much like a classic adventure serial, though, lacking the magic that made the first trilogy sing, and I think the dial itself is partially to blame. There’s just no romance in chasing a wholly-invented artifact; not like there is for an ark of the covenant or holy grail. Those probably never existed either, but generations of treasure-hunters clearly felt otherwise and their documented, accumulated conviction lends a certain, tangible sense of history and authenticity that’s missing here. Archimedes’ dial may be shiny and bright, but in comparison to the genuine article(s) it’s just fool’s gold.
Review by drqshadowBlockedParent2023-11-10T20:52:02Z
When I first heard they were making another one of these, I groaned. When I saw the title, I buried my head in my hands. Indy’s last adventure, 2008’s Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, didn’t leave me with much hope for the franchise, and that first impression - an abrasive, clunky moniker - stunk with precisely the same odor. Man, do I really want to put myself through this again? The first three Indiana Jones films are an indelible part of my cinematic childhood. What’s the point in dragging their names back through the mud? I don’t really need to see an eighty-year-old Harrison Ford don the fedora and try to move like a younger man. Do I?
Well, curiosity sometimes makes us do funny things. Nostalgic fondness, too. And, despite my better judgment, I did indeed take the time to breathe deep, hold my nose and sit through the ’23 model. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s not half as bad as I’d feared. Several important lessons have been learned from that preceding misfire, and while I wouldn’t go so far as to put this on the same pedestal as the first three (not even Temple of Doom), it’s still a great relief. Good enough that I felt no embarrassment about watching, at any rate, though I remain unconvinced about the need for its existence.
Like most of the other Indies, even the good ones, the plot involves an international MacGuffin hunt. Our hero has, and then loses, possession of an ancient mathematical artifact that can somehow transport skilled users through time and space. Something of an analog flux capacitor, in other words. Indy thinks it belongs in a museum, but a small pack of Nazi leftovers (including ringleader Mads Mikkelsen) sees it as a means to revive their evil empire. During the pursuit, we catch up with several recurring members of the broader Jones family (many offscreen), cross paths with the Apollo 11 astronauts, endure a thrilling tuk-tuk chase in Tangier (easily the film’s best scene) and meet a feisty prodigal goddaughter. Who, for what it’s worth, represents one of the more valuable items learned from Crystal Skull. She’s no force-fed Shia Labeouf. The stakes aren’t so artificially high, either, with less supernatural mumbo jumbo and (thank goodness for this) more practical effects. The CG in Dial of Destiny is a crutch, an enhancement, not the constant center of attention like it was in Crystal Skull.
So, yeah, Indiana Jones 5 is better than the abomination that came before. I might even say it’s a mildly above-average old-timers' action movie. It doesn’t feel so much like a classic adventure serial, though, lacking the magic that made the first trilogy sing, and I think the dial itself is partially to blame. There’s just no romance in chasing a wholly-invented artifact; not like there is for an ark of the covenant or holy grail. Those probably never existed either, but generations of treasure-hunters clearly felt otherwise and their documented, accumulated conviction lends a certain, tangible sense of history and authenticity that’s missing here. Archimedes’ dial may be shiny and bright, but in comparison to the genuine article(s) it’s just fool’s gold.