The adventure movie, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, has finally been released after some years in production. Directed by James Mangold and starring Harrison Ford in the title role, it is, like its predecessors, a rip-roaring travelogue adventure, although this time mainly set in 1969 rather than in the 1930s or 1950s.
Movie poster for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023). Courtesy: Disney via Wikipedia
Unlike earlier movies in the series, this film harbours an underlying sadness. Our hero, Indiana Jones, is a world-weary, about-to-retire university lecturer, grieving for his son and his marriage. Rolling his eyes at the modern world, the Vietnam War and even human lunar spaceflight (heresy!), the old curmudgeon is finding life difficult. And yet, there is still time for one more adventure before our Indy (real name Henry Jones Jr) hangs up his hat.
Harrison Ford is surprisingly spritely for an elderly gent and was 79 when he was pulling off these stunts. CGI is not over-used in this gig, although some is plainly there – especially to make Ford’s face young enough for a flashback scene set in April 1945 during World War II. Other CGI modifications include a Heinkel He111 bomber sporting a Dornier-style twin tail (there was no need to change the original). However, thankfully CGI is limited to those action sequences where it is really needed and many of the stunts are real. The prop department has also kept the faith – there are none of the stupidly anachronistic digital clock timers that beset the last film. Some nice unmodified 1960s cars are on display – watch out for a very real 1960s Mark II Jag.
For the weapons experts among you, modernity has sadly arrived. The sometimes cold-hearted violence does not appear to include Indiana’s venerable and reliable six-shot revolvers – whether from Webley, Smith & Wesson or Colt. The one that just might have been present is soon replaced by Luger, Walther and Colt automatics, especially in the later scenes set just after the Apollo 11 Moon landings.
The 1969 setting provides a clue to what the one-time German Nazi bad guy is doing. Yep (minor spoiler alert), the venomous villain called Jürgen Voller, played by Mads Mikkelsen, is now working at NASA via the post-war German boffin recruitment plan as a naturalised rocket scientist in Huntsville, Alabama. But once a Nazi, always a Nazi, and he is intent on making right their failure to win World War II.
As for the rest of the cast, there is a strong performance by Phoebe Waller-Bridge in the female lead role as Indy’s feisty but unscrupulous goddaughter and expert archaeologist. Helena’s dad, also an archaeologist, is played by Toby Jones, Indy’s old buddy.
This movie’s ancient artefact – one always turns up – looks a lot less corroded than the real archaeological find: a gearing mechanism for a clockwork orrery/mechanical timing computer raised from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, off the Greek island of Antikythera in 1902. It made archaeologists realise just how advanced the ancient Greeks were and it literally becomes a key piece of the plot. No wonder Antonio Banderas makes a brief appearance as a diving expert trying to do a similar retrieval.
So is this movie any good, especially as it has been partially panned by some critics? Yes, there are some memorable and amusing scenes, as well as some bittersweet ones. John Rhys-Davies is now Indy’s middle eastern and aged friend Sallah, who acts as a reminder of the passage of time.
What is not so good? The ancient/supernatural mystery adventure genre has been overused, not least in the Indian Jones series itself. It goes back to all the versions of H. Rider Haggard’s King Solomon’s Mines, or She (1965), or in later stories/movies such as Tomb Raider (2001) and the Da Vinci Code (2006). It’s even in some science fiction. Thus, you have an ever-present feeling that you have seen parts of this plot before.
For me, this adventure makes it into the top three of the Indiana Jones series. The first and third movies – Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) – were always rated more highly than the second and fourth episodes – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). So, I would say it is a return to form for our Indy. While his old school heavy calibre revolver is no more, his whip is cracked enough to keep his fans happy for just one more time.
Seradata Rating: 7.5/10. Nearly back to the good old days of Indiana Jones. If only he had got one of his trusty revolvers back into use, our happiness would be complete.
