Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Apparently there are contracts which go way back stating there would always be five films but you could certainly colour me surprised when the trailers for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny came out. As much as I have enjoyed the trilogy, that fourth film felt like a misfire but a well intentioned one which left things on a nice enough note. Indiana had reunited with a former lover, discovered he was a father and by the end, they were a happy family. I did not feel the need for more from this franchise but that contracted final film meant we weren't finished yet. 

With Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull set in the 1950s during the Cold War, Dial of Destiny sees a much older Dr. Jones in the late 1960s still working as a teacher but now in New York where his son has died in the Vietnam War and his wife has left him. So much for that cheery ending in the last film, eh? However, just on the day of his retirement as he feels all the adventure has left his life, his goddaughter bursts into the scene, and who is hoping to finish her deceased father's work locating the mysterious Dial of Destiny. Jones is reluctant to join but a Nazi officer from his past is on the hunt for this too and so the adventure begins.

Steven Spielberg had directed all four films until this point but decided to step away to a producing role as he wanted to give the franchise a fresh perspective so the experienced James Mangold came to direct Dial of Destiny. I've enjoyed many of Mangold's films and covered most of them here but if ever we wanted to see a familiar, almost nostalgic, style then it would be in the final film of a franchise. The time to have shaken things up was well passed but thankfully the legendary composer, John Williams, returned with a fantastic score. I just wish the final product was as great as the music...

The film begins with a rollicking flashback at the end of WW2 as the Nazis are scrambling to gather their ill-gotten gains of precious historic artefacts during an escape and a digitally de-aged Harrison Ford is caught in the action of it all as he goes from being captured, to a bike chase, to sneaking onto a train before it all kicks-off again. It's without a doubt the best part of the film with the exciting visuals, music and direction. Sure, the CGI on Ford isn't 100% but it doesn't detract from a thrilling opening sequence that gets the film off to a very strong start. 

It's just unfortunate though that this is where the film peaked and all the care and attention to detail gradually unravels as the film progresses. This is also a much darker film than I expected, missing that joyous Spielberg style, and feels rather misjudged. We get a fun little appearance from John Rhys-Davies but the rest of Jones' friends and associates are used as cannon fodder for the villains making for an unusually high body-count here. Making matters worse; Jones's companions seem totally unsympathetic to the death and destruction they have caused leaving our once great explorer left to grieve alone. It all feels off and left me with a bitter aftertaste, making me wonder how a better film could have been made. 

Despite that, Harrison Ford gives just a great performance in the leading role and does everything he can and more with the material laid before him. The story is still functional but lacks any urgency and suffers for it towards the end. We do also get a great performance from Mads Mikkelsen as the villain, channelling Laurence Olivier in a way from Marathon Man, who seeks to rewrite history and who could very well be my favourite villain of the franchise. Raider of the Lost Ark is a brilliant film without a doubt but the franchise has never struck gold when it comes a truly great antagonist; Mikkelsen brings a dark kind of charisma which works perfectly here. Give this film a couple more drafts and Mangold really could be on to something.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is still a fun enough action adventure that certainly looks part when it comes to the visuals and has clearly learned from the mistakes of Crystal Skull which went way too hard on the CGI. I just wish we had Spielberg back once more as this needed a story that wasn't all so downbeat to conclude the franchise on. Instead, what we have is still quite good but needed to be great when this was the last contracted film as Harrison Ford has said this was his last film as Indiana Jones, and I'm afraid they kind of squandered this. Hopefully that video game does a better job...