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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

This fifth Indiana Jones installment is a fun adventure 'legacyquel' with Harrison Ford showing that while he might lack his old youthful vigour, he certainly hasn't lost his film star aura, or his acting prowess. It picks up the life of our hero in New York in 1969, at the time of the moon landings. He's a relic himself by now and it's a nice touch to bring the moon landings and the astronauts into Indy's orbit, showing the chasm between that whole period as representing the future and Indy's yearning for the past.

A few more plot devices get sucked into this point in time - Phoebe Waller-Bridge, as Helena, daughter of Indy's old chum, Basil (played in flashbacks by Toby Jones); Mads Mikklesen's buttoned-up physicist villain, Schmidt (or Voller); said villain's goons; U.S. agent Mason, played by Shaunette Renee Wilson (in an unnecessary role); and 'real' device, ~~the Alethiometer~~, no ~~the Archaeopteryx~~, no, wait the Antikythera, a mechanism made by Archimedes, that old Italian inventor of the bucket bong. Indy has half of it, the baddies want the other half, and so begins a world jaunt.

Story-wise, James Mangold and writers Jezz Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth and David Koepp don't inject a lot of originality, but that's not really the point, I'd argue. Perhaps to counter the retreaded plot outline, they've sketched in a bit of fanciful guff relating to the powers of that aforementioned unpronounceable. Some folk were bummed with the introduction of aliens in the last one (Crystal Skull), so I wonder how they'll deal with time travel here. I mean, look, if you're happy with supernatural religious waffle, voodoo and zombie knights, then why not push the boat out? It's not like these films have ever been realistic.

There are one or two emotional moments where Ford shines - telling Helena about his son (no room for LaBeouf in this one), and a bit at the end that I won't talk about here. With all the Han Solo and even Indy stuff, I don't think we really appreciate what a great, charismatic actor this bloke is. Just quietly, I reckon he sneaks close to McQueen, especially with regards to his more subdued performances.

We get a couple of slow spots - an overly lengthy chase scene in Tangier, for example - but in general, the pacing is fine. That John Williams refrain kicks in quite often, and honestly, it's a warm welcome every time (bloody nostalgia). There are knowing nods all over the shop - eels, not snakes (though the kid says they look like snakes, much to Indy's horror), whip, hat, returning cameos, the familiar red dotted travel line on a brown map, even one famous half-repeated scene from Raiders. The cave sequence recalls some of the best bits of the first three films - fine underground blocking that gives a solid reading of the environs, and the requisite scrapes and japes, of course. I saw Waller-Bridge referring to the cave stuff as one of her highlights in making this.

Look, I'm not sure if this is the kind of film that will bring in the kids these days, and I don't consider myself and huge Indy fan, but it hit the spot for me, the action and performances balanced the nostalgia and naffness.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is showing in many cinemas now.

Assorted thoughts.....

Oh, Witchiepoo! H.R. PufnStuf was playing on Indy's TV at the start!!

The de-aging CGI was pretty good but I think they still used current day Ford's body - he was moving like an 80 year old. There were a few nice references to his creaky body.

Helena had a degree of agency - 'I'm rescuing you!' She even got to punch out Indy! What?!

A ludicrous climax but again, it's par for the course here.

That valid online theory about Raiders, where if Indy did NOTHING for the whole film, the result would have been the same (Nazis still opened the ark, all died), could apply here too - Indiana Inconsequential?

See also:

Well, obviously, go back to where it all began with one of Steven Spielberg's two great films, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Ford prime is in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982).

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