The character of the intrepid archaeologist Indiana Jones, as personified by Harrison Ford onscreen, and conceived by George Lucas, is clearly an ultimate Hollywood icon. Whether it was going after lost arks, the Holy Grail, or ancient alien crystal skulls, Indy and his trusty bullwhip were always on the case. And with INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY, Ford and Indy can finally hang it up, both having cemented their places in cinematic lore. But they do so with an extreme bang.
Pre-occupied as he was with both WEST SIDE STORY and THE FABELMANS, director Steven Spielberg, who helmed the first four, only stays on as co-executive producer with Lucas for THE DIAL OF DESTINY; and in his place in the director's chair is James Mangold, whose filmography includes such decidedly "non-cliffhanger: films as 1999's GIRL, INTERREPUTED; 2005's WALK THE LINE; and 2019's FORD VS. FERRARI. Beginning with a battle between Ford and the Nazis onboard a train in the Swiss Alps near the end of World War II involving an extremely valuable ancient dial from two millennia ago that could change history and even the existence of the human race, the film then moves forward to 1969, where, in the weeks following the Apollo 11 moon landing, that mysterious dial (or part of it anyway) enters Indy's life again, despite him being retired from "active" archaeology, via his long-lost goddaughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge). What ensues, of course, is not only transcontinental mayhem of the kind that one expects from the Indiana Jones series (given that it's always been essentially a high-tech version of the old 1930's and 1940's short adventure serials that Lucas and Spielberg watched as kids), but also, given that the artifact can alter time and history, and not in a good way if it's in the wrong hands, trans-temporal mayhem, as Ford and Bridge leap from one place to another.
Given that Ford has crossed his own real life eight-decade threshold, we might as well consider DIAL OF DESTINY the final Indiana Jones film we are likely to get; and however weird, bizarre, or credibility-stretching the series has been, even under Spielberg's direction, it has been a great thrill ride. Much of the credit for this should go to Ford, who has always been a hugely credible and at the same time recognizable human action hero as such. In terms of THE DIAL OF DESTINY itself, it is not a mark against Mangold to say that he is not Steven Spielberg (because let's face it, who else is?). As director and co-writer, he is still able to get a lot of mileage out of this entry. John Rhys Davies returns as Indy's long-time friend Sallah, and also gives us Antonio Banderas as Ford's Spanish deep-sea diving friend Renaldo. There is also a nefarious CIA agent working for Ford'a Nazi foe, played by Shaunette Renee Wilson, who is almost a dead-ringer for the legendary and real-life radical African-American activist Angela Davis (a richly ironic twist if ever there was one). We also can't forget Karen Allen returning at the end; nor should we forget that John Williams provides yet another astonishingly great music score, as his seemingly endless ability to do with film after film.
As crazy as this fifth and final Indiana Jones film entry is, I am more than willing to dial up an '8' rating for THE DIAL OF DESTINY.
Pre-occupied as he was with both WEST SIDE STORY and THE FABELMANS, director Steven Spielberg, who helmed the first four, only stays on as co-executive producer with Lucas for THE DIAL OF DESTINY; and in his place in the director's chair is James Mangold, whose filmography includes such decidedly "non-cliffhanger: films as 1999's GIRL, INTERREPUTED; 2005's WALK THE LINE; and 2019's FORD VS. FERRARI. Beginning with a battle between Ford and the Nazis onboard a train in the Swiss Alps near the end of World War II involving an extremely valuable ancient dial from two millennia ago that could change history and even the existence of the human race, the film then moves forward to 1969, where, in the weeks following the Apollo 11 moon landing, that mysterious dial (or part of it anyway) enters Indy's life again, despite him being retired from "active" archaeology, via his long-lost goddaughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge). What ensues, of course, is not only transcontinental mayhem of the kind that one expects from the Indiana Jones series (given that it's always been essentially a high-tech version of the old 1930's and 1940's short adventure serials that Lucas and Spielberg watched as kids), but also, given that the artifact can alter time and history, and not in a good way if it's in the wrong hands, trans-temporal mayhem, as Ford and Bridge leap from one place to another.
Given that Ford has crossed his own real life eight-decade threshold, we might as well consider DIAL OF DESTINY the final Indiana Jones film we are likely to get; and however weird, bizarre, or credibility-stretching the series has been, even under Spielberg's direction, it has been a great thrill ride. Much of the credit for this should go to Ford, who has always been a hugely credible and at the same time recognizable human action hero as such. In terms of THE DIAL OF DESTINY itself, it is not a mark against Mangold to say that he is not Steven Spielberg (because let's face it, who else is?). As director and co-writer, he is still able to get a lot of mileage out of this entry. John Rhys Davies returns as Indy's long-time friend Sallah, and also gives us Antonio Banderas as Ford's Spanish deep-sea diving friend Renaldo. There is also a nefarious CIA agent working for Ford'a Nazi foe, played by Shaunette Renee Wilson, who is almost a dead-ringer for the legendary and real-life radical African-American activist Angela Davis (a richly ironic twist if ever there was one). We also can't forget Karen Allen returning at the end; nor should we forget that John Williams provides yet another astonishingly great music score, as his seemingly endless ability to do with film after film.
As crazy as this fifth and final Indiana Jones film entry is, I am more than willing to dial up an '8' rating for THE DIAL OF DESTINY.