Review by C.J. Bunce
After a film as epic as Raiders of the Lost Ark, you wouldn’t think you’d need to decide whether to see a sequel. The switch to gross-outs and addition of goofy slapstick scenes in the abysmal Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom changed that. But then there was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which was in some ways even better than the original. And that was the end. Only it wasn’t. Fool me once? Yep, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull took Indy off the cliff again. So many episodes of “In Search Of” to swipe mysterious places and things from, and even comic books that did it better, but getting an Indy story right isn’t a sure thing. It seems like the rule with Star Trek movies: even-numbered movies tend to be better. Here, it’s the odd-numbered movies that are the good ones. That proved true this year for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and that’s thanks in large part to an opening act that is worthy of the original Raiders movie. De-aging technology isn’t perfect yet, but it’s getting there. The old Indy is back once more–but so is the young.
This weekend everyone that didn’t gamble and go to the theater can see Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny streaming for the first time. It’s now streaming on Disney+.
Dial of Destiny takes off like a rollercoaster–like Raiders did. Toby Jones plays an archaeologist sidekick to Indy back during World War II when they both try to retrieve the Spear of Longinus, a follow-up on the Holy Grail pursuit from Last Crusade. But it turns out a more intriguing object is in the hands of this episode’s Nazi villain (played on the nose by Mads Mikkelsen): an ancient, historical mechanism found off the coast of Greek isle Antikythera in 1902–a fractional, broken orrery and dial of unknown function or purpose mounted in stone by time and elements in real life–but shown as parts of a functioning whole in the movie. The movie stretches science and history to call out the item as being designed by Greek mathematician Archimedes and its purpose to “find fissures in time.” This translates to “time machine”–a good hook for an Indy adventure on paper, and one Mangold translated well to the film.
Why does this installment work? It’s not just that Disney/Lucasfilm handed the reins to somebody new to the franchise, it’s the choice they made. Logan and Cop Land director James Mangold, stepping in for Steven Spielberg, meant that those times Spielberg leaned a little too far into “self-indulgent” territory in past installments didn’t have a chance to happen this time. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a little tough for a 65-year-old Harrison Ford, yet Ford acted as well as he ever has in this movie at 80. John Rhys-Davies got something more than a cameo returning as friend Sallah. And John Williams’s recycled themes and the way he edited them this time resulted in yet another Oscar-worthy score.
In the days after the Moonshot in July 1969, we find Dr. Jones as a tired, ineffective professor ready to retire. The daughter of Toby Jones’ character has resurfaced to continue her father’s quest for all the parts of the Antikythera device. That’s Helena Shaw, played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Solo: A Star Wars Story), who holds her own with Ford and almost seems flirtatious at times, despite being his “god-daughter.” Her character, the movie’s lead woman, is better written than Cate Blanchett’s lead in the last installment, and more on par with Alison Doody in Last Crusade.
One story issue–if you even want to call it that–was needing to address Indy’s kid with Marion, which amounts to cleaning up a bad idea from an even-numbered installment. What’s with Disney/Lucasfilm thinking Harrison Ford characters need marital problems? Karen Allen as Indy’s former flame is a factor in Indy’s character arc again. At two-and-a-half hours, the film is about 40 minutes too long, thanks in part to an overly long subplot involving CIA operatives, which includes some good but brief performances by Shaunette Renée Wilson (Black Panther) and Boyd Holbrook (Logan, Predator). Almost hidden in the film is a boat captain played by Antonio Banderas, which is part of an over-long attempt at a callback to the first movie. In this kind of nostalgia-driven tale, this and the many other callbacks are probably necessary and they mostly work. What’s an extra half hour anyway?
Yes, the de-aging technology utilized to make Harrison Ford look like he was in his 50s or thereabouts really works–mostly. But that “uncanny valley” of not-quite-perfection errors does make its way to the screen more than a few times–and it probably will pull you out of the movie–which is why those scenes may be better on the small screen instead of viewed 30 feet tall, as viewers found with the Peter Cushing de-aging in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
For those that loved Temple of Doom? They get plenty of bugs and lizards scurrying out of corpses’ eye sockets to be happy about, and even an update of sorts to the character Short Round, played by Ethann Isidore, who looks like he was intentionally cast because of his similarity to the lead character in the adventure anime One Piece.
When the ability to use computer technology to change faces and characters in movies arrived back in the early 1990s, one of the first ideas was a version of Raiders of the Lost Ark starring John Wayne. The tech still isn’t perfect, but probably good enough for most Indiana Jones fans. And fans have gone through the “final Indy film” so many times now it seems John Williams can play his Indy march louder for each new action sequence, but he’s the king of film scores so he of course does much more here. It’s interesting one long chase sequence is accompanied by a chopped and staggered version of his “Escape from Venice” theme from Last Crusade–a piece that is one of Williams’ finest compositions. The new soundtrack is on Amazon here.
Put this entry with the top of the Lucasfilm movies like the two “Star Wars Story” films created in the era post-George Lucas management and oversight. Kudos to the stunt doubles and special effects for all the high adventure action and fun. This is an easy choice for the weekend for Disney+ subscribers. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is now streaming on Disney+. Or get it here at Amazon in other home formats.
