Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

I watched all the previous four movies to truly understand this film and it was worth it. I really liked the flashbacks and the fact that they accepted that Harrison Ford is old. But they should stop continuing the series, it was amazing and portentous and this is a worthy final.

Kinda an odd send off to an iconic series…

What’s not to love about Harrison Ford?

7/10

This is very Indiana jones. The de-aging cgi isn’t bad, but it’s not great either, something about looking at Indy’s face is very off putting. The light just seems off. The action sequences are a tad long, but the story has its fun moments. Phoebe is a fun cast addition.

A lovely, fitting end to my Indiana Jones rewatch. I saw this, of course, back in 2023 when it released and was in the minority who really enjoyed - happy to say it was recency bias, as I still really like it.

Dial of Destiny is by no means the strongest entry, but I think it comfortably takes the middle spot. I know it’s become a bit of a trope to revisit a “legacy character” after an extended amount of time - weather them, make them depressive with a grittier story - but I dig ‘em! Indiana Jones is a character who’s had more than his fair share of sheer luck and a maintained optimism, it’s interesting to flip that on it’s side and see what, not only time does to that kind of person, but also a huge amount of loss.

This is my favourite Jones performance from Ford, after 15 years, slipping back with ease into the role with a fresh take on it - it’s genuinely wonderful to see. Loved Waller-Bridge here, going against what many seem to think. I liked the character and I appreciated what she did with it - was a really strong dynamic that was played with. Of course Mads was nuts, even if he didn’t have much to work with and I continually appreciate James Mangold for seemingly being the only person to understand Boyd Holdbrook’s talent as an actor.

Kinda funny to do the same ”old man Indiana Jones” story twice, 15 years apart, but it works well in brining a fitting end to the legacy of one of the most iconic characters in cinema history. It was a wonky road in enjoyment for a lot of people clearly, but for me it’s the ultimate fulfilment of my second favourite character of all time, and I’m immensely grateful for Harrison Ford and the work he’s done across these films, and all across his entire life.