Against a $185 million budget, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull grossed over $790 million worldwide. While the film received decent critical reviews, audiences weren’t as kind to it, with many longtime fans feeling disappointed. Since Spielberg and Lucas’ original deal with Paramount was for five films, they started brainstorming potential ideas in 2008. Harrison Ford was entirely on board to return to the iconic role, feeling the last movie wasn’t a definitive conclusion. Unfortunately, the project languished in development hell until Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012, acquiring Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Spielberg was initially set to direct but stepped down in 2020 and was replaced by James Mongold. The movie was shot in the UK, Italy, and Morocco from June 2021 to February 2022 for $295 million. After premiering at Cannes, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny hit worldwide theaters in June 2023.
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Synopsis
Set in 1969, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) lives in New York City and has recently retired from teaching. He’s visited by his goddaughter Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), who wants him to help her find Archimedes’ Dial. Her father, Basil (Toby Jones), had been studying it since he and Indy took it from the Nazis in 1944. Unfortunately, his obsession drove him mad, so he wanted Indy to destroy it, but Indy instead kept it hidden. It turns out that a former Nazi scientist named Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) is after the Dial. Since Indy and Basil only found half of it, Voller and his men are hunting for the other half. Through some mishaps, Indy and Helena team up to search for the second half of the Dial. It’s a race against time to retrieve the Dial before the Nazis can use it to rewrite history.
Review
Compared to his previous adventure, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is better but not without flaws. For one, this film is unnecessarily long at over two and a half hours, longer than the other installments. Several chase sequences dragged out too long and could’ve been trimmed considerably, and not much would’ve been missed. Also, while she has her moments, Phoebe Waller-Bridge comes off as smug and egotistical in an annoying way. Willie Scott was annoying in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, but that was played for laughs. The filmmakers wanted something similar to Marion Ravenwood from Raiders of the Lost Ark, but it didn’t quite work. Speaking of characters, several side characters are introduced only to be quickly tossed aside, such as Antonio Banderas’ Renaldo. Plus, without going into spoilers, some plot elements don’t mesh as well as the filmmakers may have intended.
While this installment doesn’t match the quality of Raiders or Last Crusade, it’s still a fun ride. Right from the opening sequence, you can tell that James Mangold understands what makes Indiana Jones work. Aside from some distracting de-aging effects, the first 20 minutes perfectly set up what to expect from the movie. Like before, Harrison Ford still delivers a solid performance as the aging, globe-trotting archaeologist, adding some humanity to the character. Mads Mikkelsen is an excellent villain, with Boyd Holbrook and Olivier Richters giving similarly solid performances as his henchmen. Unlike the last film, which had an artificial sheen, this one has a more cinematic look. Even if this doesn’t live up to earlier installments, this is a fun adventure film that shouldn’t be missed. Overall, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny isn’t groundbreaking, but it’ll provide plenty of thrills for fans.
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