Film Review: INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY (2023): James Mangold’s Sequel Starts to Feel Long-Winded After a Wonderful First Hour

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Review

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) Film Review, a movie directed by James Mangold, written by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth and David Koepp and starring Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, Mads Mikkelsen, John Rhys-Davies, Ethann Isidore, Karen Allen, Shaunette Renee Wilson, Olivier Richters, Thomas Kretschmann, Toby Jones, Boyd Holbrook, Martin McDougall, Alaa Safi, Francis Chapman, Chase Brown and Nasser Memarzia.

The fifth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, starts with a bang and maintains its momentum for a good hour before sinking into familiar adventure film territory. There have been a lot of Indiana Jones rip-offs like Jungle Cruise these days and the director of the new Indy picture, James Mangold, doesn’t explore too much uncharted territory in the second half of the movie and although the material is new, it feels a bit stale– almost like it has been done before. That shouldn’t stop fans of the series from reveling in seeing our hero (played by Harrison Ford) have a great time in the role Ford is known for most.

This movie opens in the early 1940s with Indiana Jones hanging by his neck against his will as the ground falls from below him. He’s got a noose around his neck but you know our hero is bound to escape this unfortunate predicament. The finely choreographed action kicks into gear with a great sequence set on top of and inside a train as some Nazis set out to steal something precious (an artifact) from Indy (Ford, having a blast) who is running alongside his pal, Basil Shaw (the ever terrific Toby Jones). When Indy instructs Basil to fire a gun at the bad guys, Basil accidentally shoots poor Indy who has enough on his plate dealing with a slew of baddies that include the nasty Dr. Voller (Mads Mikkelsen).

After our heroes make a daring escape, we fast forward 25 years to 1969. Indiana is trying to get some young folks to lower the noise in their apartment on an early morning. Indy is soon giving a lecture at a New York City college and in the classroom is none other than his own goddaughter, Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge). Indy is also soon retiring and a party is thrown for him in the early part of the picture as well.

Soon, the characters of Indy and Helena are talking shop and, eventually, the CIA becomes involved as the goons from earlier in the picture return to get their hands on half of the Dial of Destiny referred to in the film’s title. The Dial of Destiny has special powers when you put the two halves together and though that concept of putting two pieces together feels familiar (F9: The Fast Saga particularly comes to mind), it plays well early on in Mangold’s movie.

So, the action is never better than when Indiana steals a horse from a parade where the bad guys are in hot pursuit of our hero. Indy rides the horse down the 59th Street subway station in an inspired scene that could inspire applause from viewers. As Indy rides the horse against a moving train, the film gets more and more exciting. The plot revolves around Indy’s attempts to get his hands on what Helena takes from him and auctions off at another location that our hero tracks her down at. Indiana and Helena bicker and argue a bit and Indy reminds Helena that her dad, Basil, shot him once for good measure.

A few supporting characters here could have played better than they actually do in the movie. Antonio Banderas plays a boat captain named Renaldo who appears briefly in a role that feels like it mostly ended up on the cutting room floor. Banderas  is OK but not up to the level he should be working at during this point in his career. A young character named Teddy (the adequate Ethann Isidore) appears in the movie but he is just here to get kidnapped to help advance the plot as Indy goes looking for him after our baddies get their hands on Teddy. Finally, the other role that feels a bit disappointing is that of John Rhys-Davies’ Sallah who saves Indy at a key point in the film by showing up in a cab. Rhys-Davies is excellent but Sallah gets lost in the shuffle here in a film that is way too long with not enough substance to justify its bloated length.

That being said, there are some signature showstoppers such as when Indy and Helena get immersed in a cave with scorpion-type creatures that will certainly bring back memories of the snakes in the original Raiders of the Lost Ark. Even Teddy gets his moment to stand out in a scene set under water that is enough to keep the audience invested in the action. The magical Dial of Destiny is, maybe, the most disappointing aspect of the movie but it’s not fair to reveal what exactly this key plot point has in store for audiences. There are some surprises but they are not as entertaining as one would have hoped for them to be.

The picture uses de-aging digital technology to make Harrison Ford look younger. It works wonders. In retrospect, the actor doesn’t look anywhere as old as Ford actually is. This makes the movie more believable. Ford is compelling as Indy and hasn’t lost his charm at all. But, the movie suffers from too many cliffhangers and unnecessary characters such as Karen Allen’s Marion who was thought to be at a distance from this material in the earlier scenes of this film but pops up later on.

Mads Mikkelsen is appropriately menacing and creates a multi-faceted villain. He gets some moments in the picture that work keeping the movie from lacking a bad guy we love to hate. This film’s problem isn’t the lack of compelling villains, it’s the lack of appropriate pacing to keep the latter material in the movie from becoming monotonous and boring. Jungle Cruise and other Indy movies came to mind in the last half hour or so of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Indiana Jones may be hanging up his hat in this last hurrah of a film for Harrison Ford. Maybe that’s a good thing being that screenplays can only be so-so for this character, judging from this recent effort. With a stronger script, the fifth installment could have gotten through some of its slumps. As is, the movie is certainly not bad but lacks the punch of its predecessors as well as those films’ originality. The first hour makes the movie worth it, though. Phoebe Waller-Bridge also has a good rapport with Ford and their scenes together, to Mangold’s credit, never feel trite. In the end, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny could have been better but it could have been a lot worse too.

Rating: 7/10

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