Lucasfilm’s Indiana Jones franchise celebrates its 42nd anniversary in 2023, as well as the release of its fifth entry, Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny. 2008’s Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull was widely criticized for being the worst in the franchise. Well, the latest movie isn’t as bad as that much-maligned movie but it’s not exactly the triumphant return of Indy either.

Read on to find out more.

Old Man Indiana

Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny can feel dull and depressing, but that’s probably due to the miserable state of Indiana Jones at the beginning of this movie (it feels very similar to how Luke Skywalker turned out in the Sequel Trilogy). Overall, Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny has all the ingredients to be a better movie, but perhaps the recipe is at fault here. I know that Indiana Jones is an old man (Harrison Ford is already pushing 80 years old), so it’s impressive to see him still have the energy for one last adventure, but it feels like something is missing from the movie.

It just doesn’t feel as magical and exciting as the original Indiana Jones trilogy. As I previously mentioned, Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny has all the ingredients for a good Indy flick. The Nazis return as the villains (with the always-great Mads Mikkelsen playing the main antagonist, Jürgen Voller), and there’s a decent MacGuffin (I noticed that many reviewers like to reveal what this is but I won’t for the sake of not spoiling anything), there’s a strong and feisty woman who can go toe-to-toe with Indiana Jones both physically and verbally via banter (Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Helena Shaw, Indy’s god-daughter), there are multiple international locations and there’s even a sidekick a la Ke Huy Quan’s Short Round in the form of Ethann Isidore as Teddy Kumar. All of those elements should have made for a great movie but unfortunately, the end result just lacks that spark.

Perhaps that’s intentional and it probably is. Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny is about an ageing Indiana Jones who has pretty much lost the will the continue living, let alone go on the adventures he used to have. But when Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Helena Shaw suddenly comes back into his life and thrusts him back into another adventure, it gradually revitalizes him and reinvigorates his life. I liked how the movie explores a more forlorn Indiana Jones who feels like he doesn’t have anything to live for, but slowly rediscovers that throughout the movie. Maybe the movie would have been a lot better if that had been the main focus, instead of an almost two-hour movie that concerns itself mostly with chasing the MacGuffin and a lot of mediocre action scenes.

There’s a lot of CGI used in Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, especially during the scenes involving a de-aged Indiana Jones, but thankfully, that’s only relegated to a flashback sequence that starts out the movie. However, that sequence alone is more than 20 minutes long because the entire movie is a whopping two hours and 34 minutes in duration, making it the longest movie in the franchise to date. This is the biggest reason why the movie feels draggy, especially in the middle when it’s simply action setpiece after action setpiece. Look, I’m all for good action setpieces but it’s not enough to just bombard viewers with a barrage of them (look at the recent Fast X and Transformers Rise Of The Beasts). The action scenes in Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny just feel less kinetic and less exciting than the ones in the older movies, with the exception of perhaps Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. But yeah, if you’re looking for relentless globe-trotting action, Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny does deliver in that regard.

The best part of Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny is undoubtedly the third act and the climax of the movie. It’s the most bonkers and insane one in the franchise yet, but unlike the aliens in Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, this feels more of a fit with the character of Indiana Jones. This will likely be the most talked-about part of the movie once it releases, so it might prove to be the most divisive part of the whole movie. But again, it fits Indiana Jones more than aliens, and it’s not like the original trilogy didn’t have black magic (Temple Of Doom) and astral spirits (Raiders Of The Lost Ark) and immortal men (The Last Crusade) and all that, so the franchise was never that much grounded or realistic in the first place.

To be clear, fans who grew up watching Indiana Jones movies as kids might enjoy Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny more because I only watched them when I was older. That said, being a fan doesn’t automatically make a movie better. I can definitely see why the movie currently has a 56 percent critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes (at the time of writing) but perhaps if you come in just wanting more Indiana Jones in action or if you’re a longtime fan, you’ll likely enjoy the movie more than I did.

Time To Rest, Indy

Ultimately, Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny is not a horrible movie, but it lacks the spark and magic of the classic movies. Harrison Ford is a legendary actor, but perhaps the original Indiana Jones should retire at this point. Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny proves that Disney should really let the franchise rest for good, or wait a while before eventually and inevitably rebooting it for a new generation.

But if you wanted one last adventure with Indy, go ahead and enjoy this one.

FINAL SCORE: 50/100

We attended an early screener of Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny courtesy of The Walt Disney Company Malaysia. Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny is slated to premiere in Malaysian cinemas on 29 June 2023.