Movie Reviews

Indiana Jones The Dial Of Destiny Movie Review: A swashbuckling sign off for Harrison Ford

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By Dipali Patel: Dust off your fedora and get ready to join Indiana Jones aka Harrison Ford, the swashbuckling archaeologist, for one last time on his journey as Indy in the fifth and probably the last instalment of the franchise.

What makes Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny a special watch is the fact that it is the first new Indiana Jones movie since 2008 and the first one without director Steven Spielberg wearing the directors’ hat. So has filmmaker James Mangold done justice to this last adventure? Let’s find out.

The film starts with a flashback to a younger, more self-assured Indy battling the Nazis in an attempt to retrieve the dial, the so-called Antikythera, the importance of which is known to all, courtesy of its godlike powers. While Indy of course, comes out on top at the climax of this sequence, the timeline of this film jumps ahead to 1969 and we find him waking up in his New York apartment. He is still a professor but on the verge of retirement.

While the film struggles to hold attention in the beginning, what comes as a breath of fresh air later on is Indy’s goddaughter Helena essayed by Fleabag fame, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who also sets Indy off on a quest to find the other half of the dial, and maybe to even find the spark of adventure he once had. While Indy is that cranky, hot-tempered hero, she is the witty, sharp-tongued cynic and this on-screen camaraderie between the two is what works in the film’s favour.

Mangold may not have Spielberg’s dynamic flare, but as a director his efforts do kind of pay off. He gets Harrison Ford to pull off some crazy action sequences, like the one on horseback or the sequence where he gets onto the tuk tuk to chase his pursuers.

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The downside of it ? The film was filled with CGI and those of us who remember just how exciting and dangerous the stunts were in those first few movies will look at those sequences with disdain.

The fifth instalment, however, does bring a sense of nostalgia for those who have watched all four or even one or two films in the franchise.

It has been a long wait, over a decade now, and perhaps this is what will probably bring fans to experience the new adventure Indy will be on this time along. If you want to watch it for the pure nostalgia of it then this won’t be a disappointment.

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