Harrison Ford’s final Indiana Jones is a lackluster, emotional conclusion to the campy, adventure franchise that it might be better to skip the film and just go on the ride in Anaheim to relive the magic of the Indiana Jones films.

The Indiana Jones franchise explores ideas of time and mortality throughout Indy’s adventures. His adventures normally begin with someone in his life or a relationship dying. We are constantly reminded of death as it surrounds Indy on his adventures in the forms of dusty skeletons lining the places he dares to go into to protect his one true love; history. There is nothing special about him in physical ability, he is just lucky to make it through. Dial of Destiny continues to play around with these ideas with quiet moments of Indy reflecting on the past while feeling lost in the present. Its overall message is to leave the past and move into the future.

Before following up with Indiana post the events of Crystal Skull, the film opens with a younger Indy infiltrating the Nazis once again courtesy of de-aging technology. Aboard a train of Nazis, Jones and a colleague, Basil Shaw, discover the artifact that will be the center of the story, Archimedes’s Antikythera. It has the ability to travel through time. Jones and Shaw escape Nazi mathematician Jurgen Voller with the Antikythera.

After a lengthy prologue, the film returns to 1969 with Jones in New York City. Now an older age, he is alone mourning his deceased son, Mutt, and his broken marriage with Marion. On top of that, he is about to retire from Hunter College. The mundane, isolating life of Dr. Jones is halted when Helena Shaw, his goddaughter, enters his life in search of the Antikythera. The reappearance of Antikythera sets Indy into a new thrilling adventure against an older Jurgen Voller who is set to return the Nazis to power.

James Mangold’s Indy is not the same one audiences have fallen in love with during the 80s. He is a lot older with lines on his face to show his life experience of searching for artifacts and combatting Nazis. With Jones in this place of life bringing on James Mangold to complete his story sounds perfect due to his work on Logan where he concluded an aging Wolverine. Sadly, this past experience is somehow forgotten as Mangold has no clear vision for this iconic character.

Although many complain about Harrison Ford being ‘too old’ to take back on one of his most notable roles, it seems that his age works in his favor to live this character to its fullest potential. Through his one-liners and simple soulful facial reactions, it is evident that this guy has been through some stuff and Ford is able to naturally deliver here. His weathered face depicts loss and pain from a life of adventure. Ford reminds us of the humanity behind Jones and that he is not an invincible being. His emotional side shines through in this part of his story as he vulnerably recounts the history and those he has lost along the way. Every emotion he displays throughout the course of the film is rightfully earned. He is a man out of time who is here to protect history.

Dial of Destiny is unsure of what it wants to be. The film is interesting when it grasps the silent moments to reflect on Ford’s decades-long relationship with this character, but it prioritizes clunky action sequences in favor. There are a few major set pieces for the action from the ocean, a parade, and a neverending car chase around Tangiers. Mangold paces out the action sequences to hit full acceleration, but they lack precision and clarity for what is actually happening. At times it feels distracting and like the point has overrun its course. The action does a good job of building the stakes on this dangerous journey taken by Indy and Helena to keep the audience on edge. Even the villain feels wasted, Mads Mikkelsen does what he can with limited screen time to make an impact but this character feels so recycled from other blockbusters. Over the years Phoebe Waller-Bridge, known for her comedy, has been collecting franchises where she is able to inflict her saucy humor into a masculine space. Waller-Bridge expands her signature acting style as Helena has everchanging loyalties that keep you guessing what her role in this story is.

Indy’s age plays a major factor to invoke these feelings because of the constant reminder that he is not immortal. Jones works well as a character because of how human he is and it’s refreshing in a time where action movies show superhuman beings with nothing that could take them down. It doesn’t build on any past action seen in the original trilogy to feel innovative, instead, it stays in a safe space.

Dial of Destiny pulls from the blockbusters that came before it, but its modern aesthetics don’t possess the same warm nature of its predecessors. For $300 million dollars, it should not have looked like that. The beauty of the original was the cheapness to make the film and the overall passion of the people putting it together. There was a coldness to its cinematography and production design that brought an artificial overall tone to the film. The new technology employed to create this film work negatively by being more of a distraction instead of an enhancement. This is where Ford and Waller-Bridge working overtime to inject any humanity into this sterile setting made it watchable. It sprinkles in some familiar nostalgia to instill trust in its dedicated fanbase, but it doesn’t even utilize it in a meaningful way, more like a checkbox.

With this being Indy’s farewell to course correct where we previously left him, it feels like the filmmakers had trouble figuring out what is left to explore for this character. This is the third time Ford has reprised one of his iconic roles in the past 10 years and each time he brings new dimensions to characters whose journeys ended decades ago. Maybe that is his acting specialty, but you can tell how much these characters truly mean to him and it’s sweet to see onscreen and in his press tours.

As long as Harrison Ford is okay with this film, then that is all that matters.

Grade: C

Oscars Prospects:
Likely: None
Should be Considered: Best Original Score

Where to Watch: In Theaters