“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”
By Lucas Battista
“Indiana Jones” has always been a comic book movie. A pulpy adventure with the romanticism of Rudyard Kipling, populated by over-the-top Nazis, dull British antiquarians, and antiquities that will surely melt your face off. “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” (streaming on Disney+, starring Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, Toby Jones, Mads Mikkelsen) is a fantastic coda to a great series, and it doesn’t fail to deliver to fans of the franchise (unlike the giant let-down that was “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”).
In its two-and-a-half-hour runtime, there is not a moment of boredom, sometimes seemingly to a fault. It is by no means perfect — the characters are a bit cheated by the constant action, as we get very little insight into Indiana Jones’ goddaughter (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) and a nefarious Wernher von Braun type ex-Nazi scientist (Mads Mikkelsen), but they all have the vivace and caricatured nature one might expect, among a decrepit, sore-jointed and elderly Dr. Jones. Harrison Ford zaps him back to life, bringing the same dry humor and bravado even in his old age. Plus, there is this awesome introduction in the first act, where we are given a still young Jones created with new AI technology.
Once more, there is a powerful MacGuffin, plenty of gallivanting across the world to exotic destinations, and even the brief appearance of some of the original characters. Fortunately, Shia Labeouf doesn’t make an appearance, much to our relief. All in all, it is by no means perfect, and doesn’t weigh up to the originals, but accomplishes exactly what it set out to do. If you’re a fan, go see it, and if you’re not a fan, go see the others because you’re missing out.
