that belongs in a museum
The Early Reactions And Reviews Of 'Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny' Are All Over The Place
After three classic films in the '80s (let's avoid the problematic elements of "Temple of Doom"), the Walt Disney Company dipped back into the honey pot for 2008's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Nobody liked it and it everyone agrees it's the worst one — and that it was unnecessary to make a fourth film in the series.
So here we are again, in 2023, with a fifth and final(?) Indy movie starring Harrison Ford. "The Dial of Destiny" is the first film not directed by Steven Spielberg, this time it's being helmed by director James Mangold ("Ford v Ferrari," "Logan" and others).
The tweets coming out from the film's world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival were very mixed. Did Harrison Ford really have to make yet another installment motion picture, or was he better off taking an extended holiday?
Early buzz
Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny is a great summer blockbuster. Though it could have been tighter in places & feels far less final than expected, I had so much fun seeing Harrison Ford reprise his role as one of the greatest cinematic heroes of all time #Cannes2023 pic.twitter.com/WXkUHHzahc
— yasmine kandil (@filmwithyas) May 19, 2023
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny: at long last I know what became of Mutt Williams. I can finally be at peace.
— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) May 18, 2023
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has some amazing moments and some really touching scenes. The action pieces are Tintin for the most part and the pacing is too liking sprinting a marathon. Ford and Waller Bridge are great. Be warned. I enjoyed Crystal Skull at the cinema
— John Bleasdale (@drjonty) May 19, 2023
INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY retains the action, humor & spirit of the franchise even if James Mangold can’t measure up to Spielberg’s cinematic brilliance. Harrison Ford gets the dignified ending his iconic character deserves but Phoebe Waller-Bridge steals the show! pic.twitter.com/Dd264igQGS
— Matt Neglia @Cannes (@NextBestPicture) May 19, 2023
Redemption! James Mangold redeems #IndianaJones with #DialOfDestiny. A farewell to one of the greatest movie characters in cinema history. Action, laughs, charm...just everything that makes him great. Thanks Harrison Ford (and Phoebe Waller Bridge) for the ride. #Cannes2023 pic.twitter.com/oVKKSiVCFW
— Clayton Davis (@ByClaytonDavis) May 18, 2023
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a romping fun time that covers the greatest hits and paves a potential new path for the franchise. The film will likely disappoint some with its nostalgia heavy slant. Indy’s final ride is action-packed w/ an absolutely bonkers third act. pic.twitter.com/6cYsdW6X58
— therese lacson • 宋蕾蕾 @ cannes (@bamfpire) May 19, 2023
Well I really liked Indiana Jones… #indianajones
— Alex Ritman @ Cannes (@alexritman) May 18, 2023
Reviews
The premise
The artifact in question is Archimedes' Dial, a mathematical tool believed capable of opening fissures in time. Nazi scientist Jürger Voller — a too-obvious Mads Mikkelsen, playing a Wernher von Braun type who's easily the most boring villain Indy has ever had to face — certainly believes in the device's power, and when the story picks up in 1969, he's still desperate to find the missing piece that might allow the jumpstart to fulfill its mysterious purpose. Indy, meanwhile, has no such motivation. His marriage to Marion Ravenwood in shambles and his son out of the picture (feel free to breathe a sigh of relief), Indy is trudging towards retirement as a professor at Hunter College, and the "get off my lawn" vibes have never been stronger. Nor has his relevance ever been in greater doubt; his students used to blink love notes at him with their eyelids, and now they sleep through class.
"Dial of Destiny" is the first installment in the swashbuckling archaeology franchise since Indiana Jones ventured to the "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" in 2008 and, given Indy's and Harrison Ford's ages, surely the last. "Crystal Skull" was generally regarded as an attempt to drive the old-school comic-book aesthetic of the Indiana Jones concept into the new world of action spectaculars. The lackluster result got the thumbs-down from critics and a lot of fans. It lacked that appealing aroma of cheap seats at the Saturday matinee.
TL;DR
Nobody with a brain in their heads will compare "Dial of Destiny" favorably to the first three films.
Indiana Jones still has a certain old-school class.
It ultimately feels like a counterfeit of priceless treasure: the shape and the gleam of it might be superficially convincing for a bit, but the shabbier craftsmanship gets all the more glaring the longer you look.
If you join him for the ride, it feels like a fitting goodbye to cinema's favourite grave-robber.
