Review: ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ marks the end of an era
Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) has become even crustier with the years but returns to the field one last time in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” Photo: Lucasfilm Ltd. Photo: Lucasfilm Ltd.
If you want to see an Indiana Jones movie, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” will satisfy you. Even if you’re not sure you want to see an Indiana Jones movie, this fifth and reportedly last installment will not disappoint. It’s a sturdy action thriller that starts big, coasts for a while and then ends even bigger.
Compared to most action movies, it’s a blast, and it has lots of non-action elements to recommend it as well. It brings Harrison Ford back at 80 years old and then, in a jaw-dropping example of movie magic, erases four decades from his face in a long opening set during World War II. Thus we get present-day Ford doing the acting and speaking the dialogue, while his voice comes out of his 40-year-old face.
It’s a rousing opening, with Indiana Jones battling Nazis who are trying to get their hands on the Dial of Destiny, an ancient artifact with profound powers. The sequence is a great example of a director successfully imitating the style of another. “Dial of Destiny” isn’t a Steven Spielberg movie, but director James Mangold evokes his tone and aura with such fidelity that I assumed this was Spielberg’s work and felt happy to be back in his universe.
The movie skips ahead to 1969, and we find Indiana Jones living in New York City and looking like an old man. A quarter-century has come and gone, but Indiana looks more like 40 years have passed. There’s something not quite touching in that — Harrison Ford is not exactly a cuddly screen presence — yet vaguely moving. We’ve all come a long way with this guy.
Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) comes to Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) for help in one last quest in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” Photo: Jonathan Olley/Lucasfilm Ltd. Photo: Jonathan Olley/Lucasfilm Ltd.
Indiana Jones is separated from his wife (Karen Allen) and has become even crustier with the years, an archaeology professor going through the motions before classes of uninterested students. And then one day, the daughter of an old friend, Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) shows up, hoping to enlist him in a quest for the Dial of Destiny — the obsession of her late father.
“Why are you chasing the thing that drove your father crazy?” he asks. But it turns out that everybody is looking for the dial, most notably Dr. Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), a former Nazi turned rocket scientist. Much of the action shows the various characters obtaining and losing the dial, either searching for it or struggling to keep it.
But there’s a problem: Indiana Jones is our focus, but he has the least intense interest in possessing the dial. Everybody else wants to do something with it. He just wants to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. That’s not that interesting
About an hour into the film, another thought starts to form and solidify: Hold on. Wait. Spielberg could not have directed this, because if he had, the audience would know why it was crucial that the villain never get possession of the dial. Spielberg would have hammered home the consequences in apocalyptic terms. He also would not have failed to milk the emotions surrounding Indiana’s age and about this being the last film in the series.
Mads Mikkelsen plays Dr. Voller, a former Nazi turned rocket scientist, in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” Photo: Jonathan Olley/Lucasfilm Ltd. Photo: Jonathan Olley/Lucasfilm Ltd.
So, “Dial of Destiny” isn’t great, but it’s still a lot of fun — even compared to some previous “Indiana Jones” movies. True, it’s not remotely in the same league with “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981) and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1988), but it’s definitely better than “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” (2008) and, depending on your preferences, you might even like it better than “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” (1984).
What’s more, now that the series is complete, it can safely be said that the “Indiana Jones” series has been one of cinema’s most consistent in terms of quality. After all, there are bad “Rocky” movies, bad “Death Wish” movies, bad “Fast and Furious” movies, bad “Star Wars” movies. And we’re still waiting for a decent “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie.
But about the worst thing you can say about Indiana Jones is that he once survived an atomic blast by hiding inside a lead-lined refrigerator — and even that was entertaining.
Point being, take time to appreciate this one, because we’re not getting another.
More Information “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”: Action thriller. Starring Harrison Ford, Mads Mikkelsen and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Directed by James Mangold. (PG-13. 154 minutes.) In theaters, Friday, June 30.
Source: SF Chronicle Datebook
