Spoiler-free review (unless you’re one of those purists who won’t even watch movie trailers and previews, in which case, there will be a few spoilers but come on
In 1989, Indiana Jones rode off into the sunset with his father Henry, his ride-or-die friend Sallah, and Marcus Brodey. The Last Crusade was the perfect end to a near-perfect trilogy, a somewhat corny cliché that just worked, darn it. Because it was Indiana Jones, and making cinematic cliché cool is something of a superpower of the franchise.
Then in 2008, nothing happened. We don’t know why we brought it up.
Then finally, in 2023, we got a sequel to the original trilogy since no other Indiana Jones movies had been made. The trailers show us two Joneses, one the grizzled veteran hero we’d expect and one a shockingly young Indy that Gen X (and on) grew up with. Plus, there were Nazis. Now we’re talking Indiana Jones.
When I announced that we were going to go to the movie theater to see Dial of Destiny, my 13-year old son pointed out that “it will probably be streaming in just a few weeks.”
Ha ha! What a scamp! He’s been grounded, of course. But not after I explained to him that, as a Gen X parent, I am morally and legally bound to see Harrison Ford’s final Indiana Jones in a movie theater with $1 worth of stale popcorn crammed in a $15 paper bucket.
The story deftly fulfills the fundamental obligation of an Indy movie: there’s an ancient relic of immense power that nefarious forces are trying to acquire. Indiana Jones, the intrepid archeologist who has seen irrefutable proof that God, Jesus, and demons exist, is still somehow skeptical of the powers of this device. However, he is nonetheless drawn into an extremely satisfying globe-spanning race to get to it first.
The movie does an admirable job delivering what Indiana Jones should always deliver. Action? Check. Witty banter? Check. Many, many instances where a normal human would have died but Indy survives? Check. And we still get the gruff admonition of where the artifacts that archeologists find belong and dotted lines on maps where the boring parts are. Dial of Destiny takes its responsibility seriously to provide a faithful ambiance that fans will enjoy, and avoids moronic attempts at humor, like swinging through trees while yelling like Tarzan.
Sorry. Not sure where that came from. Someplace dark, to be sure.
There’s no question that there’s a different vibe to Dial of Destiny than to the original trilogy. And to be frank, this is essential to making any sequel work. Harrison Ford is very much advanced in years, and any story has to embrace this and account for it. But considering the sheer amount of face punching testosterone needed for an Indy movie, the cast, director, and writers had a lot of work to deliver a worthy story. And they did.
Is it perfect? No. But we definitely give it 4.5 whips out of 5. Rotten Tomatoes shows a 69% for professional reviews, but 88% for audience score. We’re with the fans on this one.
Oh! And Brody coming back from the dead was awesome!
