Rating: 2 hours, 34 minutes
Runtime: PG-13
Director: James Mangold
Quick Impressions:
My mother would have liked this movie, especially the ending. She was thrilled to see one particular character return for The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and I’m sure she’d be delighted by Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, too.
To be honest, even though I’m a huge fan of the franchise (and watched the first three movies millions of times as a kid), I wasn’t too excited for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. I don’t know why. I love Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones and was deeply relieved when he didn’t pass the torch (or the hat) to Shia LaBeouf back in 2008. I also like Phoebe Waller-Bridge and thought the pairing of the two seemed promising. I was happy to see John Rhys-Davies returning. And I love Mads Mikkelsen. (I always like him best in non-American films like The Hunt, Arctic, Another Round. But he makes a reliably good villain in popcorn movies.)
So I’ve been vaguely excited for this movie in theory for a while. But for some reason, the trailers for it left me cold. My visceral response was, “Hmm. That looks mediocre.” I’m not sure why. The trailers just seemed—slow or something, like the action wouldn’t be intense, the story would be a rehash, the whole thing was unnecessary.
But it’s our sixteenth anniversary! We had to see something. Besides, I’m trying to force myself to do pleasurable activities on a regular basis, so I don’t exhaust myself working on my book and gutting my house. (I’ve donated about forty bags of stuff so far! You can almost see the floor!) (As I fill these bags, I always think, “Marge! It’s 3 a.m. Shouldn’t you be baking?”)
I was thinking, “Watching Indiana Jones is self-care. You won’t have the mental clarity to get your writing done if you abuse yourself by working constantly. Now go eat some popcorn in the dark and focus on how much you love your husband. Who cares if the movie is terrible?”
But the movie wasn’t terrible! It was so good. I liked it a lot. It was so pleasant. Phoebe Waller-Bridge makes an excellent addition to the cast. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say she’s playing his goddaughter, Helena. (That’s revealed in trailers.) They have pretty good chemistry, and her character is someone the audience can enjoy watching. She’d be compelling in this story even if she didn’t drag Indiana Jones into it, which is refreshing. She doesn’t feel shoe-horned into the movie. Instead, she brings something to it. In fact, I would probably watch another movie about Helena Shaw (though if Harrison Ford doesn’t return to join her, she’ll need some other complement to counterbalance her energy. She’s a strong personality).
The Good:
There’s a fun, meta quality to this story. Ostensibly the moral is, “You can’t go back in time and change history.” But that’s exactly what the movie does. Immediately.
You didn’t know Indiana Jones had a goddaughter? Well, he does now! She’s the daughter of his dear old friend…um…Basil Shaw? (Toby Jones). When I first learned months ago that Helena was his goddaughter, I thought maybe her father was Marcus Brody or even, perhaps, Sallah. But it’s good ol’ Basil Shaw.
You don’t remember him? Well, no problem. This movie opens in the past, in 1940s Germany. CGI de-aging of actors has gotten remarkably good. I was astonished when young Luke Skywalker showed up in The Mandalorian. But this is just as good.
Apparently, Ford’s playing the part of younger Indiana Jones himself, but they’re using archive footage of his own face to digitally de-age him. (Clearly, this is the proper use for AI. Why not make some device that projects anybody’s younger features onto their face? We could all put some kind of silicon bag over our heads and have composites of our younger features projected onto our faces, a digital face. How could that go wrong? I also think AI should be used to clean my house, perhaps by the same method.)
Through this method, the movie opens by giving us all the backstory we need to get invested in Basil Shaw and his young daughter Helena. If you haven’t seen the first four Indiana Jones movies, no problem. The backstory in this is all self-contained, created specifically for this film and dramatized in this film.
Another old friend that we meet for the first time is Renaldo (Antonio Banderas). I was quite surprised to see Banderas show up. It’s a pretty small part, practically a cameo until it gets a bit of a final flourish. In surprise (because I didn’t notice him in the trailers), I thought, Is that Antonio Banderas? Then I realized, No, Sarah, it’s that guy from Pain and Glory. Then I realized, Sarah, the guy from Pain and Glory is Antonio Banderas! By the time I got this all sorted out, his part in the movie was almost over. (Pain and Glory is such a good movie!)
Mads Mikkelsen is so great as the villain. He’s so evil. He’s a Nazi, but he’s not just any Nazi. He’s the very worst one. He’s like a Chuck Norris joke crossed with a Nazi. His ultimate solution is just…something else. I was very slow to anticipate his actual scheme. But then as soon as Indiana Jones starts guessing what he’s trying to do, I thought, “Oh my God!” (If you’re slow like me, you anticipate this right before it’s revealed.) (I don’t know why it’s so funny to me.) This guy is a cool villain because, actually, he’s quite realistic, and he’s pragmatic in achieving his goals and very good at science, so U.S. government is helping him.
I really like what happens in the last act of the movie. It’s pretty bonkers but no more supernatural or surprising than what happens at the ends of all the other Indiana Jones movies. Near the very end, we get some legitimate suspense, and a real possibility is dangled before us. I love the way this is resolved.
John Williams does score the film. (I tried to figure that out all through the movie, whether it was him, or just someone imitating his style, incorporating all of his character themes.) But it is him. I like the score.
This also looks like an Indiana Jones film. Even though it’s directed by James Mangold, not Steven Spielberg, it looks quite similar to the first three movies in visual style. (Phedon Papamichael is the director of photography.)
One thing I appreciated about this film is the way it gives Indiana Jones the ability to play the hero relying on realistic strengths that he would have at this point in his life. He’s not trying to pretend he’s a young man—in fact, he reminds me so much of my dad—and he succeeds in his adventures through wits, experience, and grit. He’s clever enough to maneuver himself into positions in which he can win a fight. He doesn’t have the strength or the stamina of a young man, but he still succeeds as a hero in (reasonably) realistic ways. (Anybody who can look up at a Nazi with a gun and say, “No,” is pretty dominant.)
I like the way the moon landing is incorporated into the plot.
Best Scene:
Perhaps my favorite scene is the one on the boat in the cabin because we get such energetic interplay among Harrison Ford, Mads Mikkelsen, Antonio Banderas, Ethann Isidore, and, especially, Phoebe Waller-Bridge. This is a fun scene because everyone is involved.
Best Scene Visually:
It’s hard to beat the surprise arrival in the film’s final act.
Best Action Sequence:
Helena’s initial escape is genuinely a bit surprising and quite intriguing.
The Negatives:
This movie has a bit of “Poochie died on the way back to his home planet” energy that’s almost funny but not exactly nice.
I feel kind of bad for Shia LaBeouf. He is a good actor. He’s a pretty good actor. He’s talented. I keep thinking of the line from Honey Boy, “The only thing my father gave me that was of any value is pain…and you want to take that away?” That was a very earnest film. He seems so tormented.
Was Mutt Williams that bad? I mean…well, never mind, I guess. I just remember back in 2008, everyone was complaining about that monkey scene, swinging on the vines. (And the refrigerator. He isn’t even in that part!) I remember being excited because Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was getting pretty good reviews. And then it turned out to be pretty well done. We liked it in the theater. Then I remember after watching it, my mom was like, “Was that good?” We were a little confused. We were relieved it wasn’t terrible, but we weren’t sure it was as good as Rotten Tomatoes seemed to indicate. We talked about this a lot, wondering if the good reviews were an “Emperor’s New Clothes” kind of phenomenon. I remember my mom not liking the vine-swinging part and complaining that Shia LaBeouf was just in it because Steven Spielberg liked him and put him in everything. But to me, “He’s just in it because the director wants him to be,” doesn’t seem all that problematic. (And the problem with the vine-swinging part is bad CGI.)
I still don’t think it’s quite as bad as everyone says. Well, maybe everyone doesn’t say so, but at the time, many people were complaining about it a lot, not just Shia LaBeouf. I like Cate Blanchett as the villain. I thought the “they weren’t you,” line to Marion seemed really rushed. That moment was rushed, and they rushed to get to it. But it’s still an entertaining movie. (And I think the refrigerator part has a kooky charm, kind of like Bryce Dallas Howard running around in her high heels in Jurassic World. It’s memorable. You’re like, “What???” The movie is clearly enjoying the flourish of its silly 50s movie themed joke.)
What was my point here? Ah yes. I just feel bad for Shia LaBeouf, and also for Indiana Jones…and Marion. I’m not a particular fan of the Mutt Williams character either, but what this movie chooses to do is so pointed (and kind of unnecessary). It’s like mistakes were made, so Indiana Jones and Marion are punished for it. But then again, I suppose writing like this leaves room for Mutt Williams to reappear in the future (though no one’s asking for that). There could be some Perkin Warbeck-like move if necessary.
I think the scene in the tomb is rushed and kind of hokey. We get too many “this ought to happen in an Indiana Jones movie” moments, and there’s a kidnapping thrown in there that seems kind of pointless. More could happen with that. The movie feels a bit off in this section to me.
And, of course, though Phoebe Waller-Bridge could hardly be better, it’s hard not to wish that Ke Huy Quan was back as an adult Short Round. I’m pretty sure this is supposed to be the last Indiana Jones movie starring Harrison Ford, but after last Oscar season, it’s hard not to want that reunion. I personally would be thrilled to watch a film in which both Quan and Waller-Bridge returned.
That’s the last thing I’ll say since I’m up too late as it is. I need to finish getting everything ready for my son’s birthday party, so hopefully I’ll be able to wake up at a decent hour.
Overall:
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was much more fun to watch than I expected and one of the most genuinely relaxing, enjoyable movies I’ve seen in a long time.