Well, after a long wait, it’s finally here. The latest and final Indiana Jones film has been released. As expected, the reactions are pretty varied with some viewing it as a welcome return to form and others calling it yet another misfire for the series. As for me? I had an absolute blast with this film and remained engrossed long after the credits started rolling. Indy’s final outing is a fascinating one filled with numerous twists and turns, all of which serve the film’s larger themes of aging.
Dial of Destiny is about a man who feels out of place in his own time, which is why the artifact in this film, the Antikythera created by the great mathematician Archimedes, deals with time travel. This inevitably leads to a trip back in time that, while it may be controversial, is in service of a larger story.
Another important element of the film is actually the events of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It’s revealed Marion filed for separation from Jones, leaving him isolated and lonely in his run-down New York apartment. The reason for this separation is their son Mutt, played by Shia LaBeouf, was killed in Vietnam, sinking Indy into a deep depression and rendering him unable to help Marion with her grief. He even lost his job at Marshall University, now working at the far less prestigious Hunter College in New York.
Harrison Ford delivers a stunning performance in the film. He very clearly was invested in the character and this depiction of an aged Indy. Despite his age, he carries the role with a real energy and passion that we haven’t seen from Ford in some time. While the action scenes are still effective and exciting, the best moments are the quieter, character-focused ones. A scene where newcomer Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) asks him what he’d do if the Antikythera worked, and he reveals he’d prevent his son’s death is especially potent and honest. This is the same man we met in the original from 1981, but he’s got a lot more miles on him. Ford is able to play the character as gentle and wise, while still being able to get down and dirty when the action starts. It’s also interesting to see the contract between who Indy is in the opening WWII teaser and who he becomes at 80. Oddly enough, he seems more invested in this film than he was in the now 15-year-old Crystal Skull. It shows that when Ford is invested in the material, he can still deliver the goods.
Voller, the villain of the film, desires to use the Antikythera in order to travel back in time and help the Nazis win the war. The film reveals he is contemptuous of Hitler, viewing him as an incompetent leader and blaming him for the Third Reich’s fall. His plan is to travel back in time and kill Hitler in 1939, positioning himself as the leader of the Nazis to help them win the war. This puts him on a collision course not only with Indy, who fought him for one-half of the Antikythera in the opening sequence but also with Helena Shaw, Indy’s goddaughter and the daughter of Indy’s late friend Basil from the Antikythera adventure. Mads Mikkelsen plays the role with appropriate menace, while also showing that Voller is a very weak and vain man. He’ll talk himself up, but the moment his plans fall apart he becomes a sniveling mess, as is the case in the finale.
Helena is much like Indiana Jones was in Temple of Doom. She’s a ruthless mercenary who is in it only for the money, and even outright manipulates Indy into giving her the Antikythera only so she can sell it in the black market for a quick buck. Like Indy, she also has a young sidekick named Teddy. As with Short Round, Helena met Teddy while he was trying to pick her pocket. Despite her ruthless attitude, Helen does gradually change over the course of the adventure and is clearly impacted when Indy tells her how his son was killed and ended his marriage to Marion. The two have great chemistry, the strongest since Ford and Connery in The Last Crusade, and it’s interesting to see Indy working with someone so much like he used to be when the series began.
Indy relates to Helen on another level, as her father’s obsession with the Antikythera is reflective of his own father’s quest for the Holy Grail. A moment when he asks her why she’d chase after something her father obsessed over is punctuated when she asks ‘wouldn’t you?’ recalls the events of Crusade and is an especially powerful moment.
Teddy was underplayed in the trailers, but Ethann Isidore does a wonderful job in the part. Teddy is never obnoxious or overbearing, mostly staying quiet and observing what’s happening, but his quietness hides a scheming, clever personality. One of the film’s highlights is when Teddy kills Hauke (Oliver Richters), the heavy of the film who many assumed would get into a fistfight with Jones. Handcuffed to Hauke, Teddy manages to steal the keys, resulting in the pair falling into a river. Teddy manages to unlock himself, before handcuffing Hauke to a grate and leaving him to drown. Teddy also proves very useful in the finale of the film, and his presence, though I was skeptical at first, was a welcome one.
Most of the film follows the characters searching for the missing half of the Antikythera since Indy and Basil only recovered one half from Voller. Indy only goes off on the adventure to save the first part of the artifact from being sold by Helena, and to clear his name for the murders of several colleagues who were killed by Voller in New York. Pursued by Voller, Indy, and Helena set out to find the device’s second half, not believing it to possess any supernatural qualities. But this is an Indiana Jones film, and the artifact they seek will obviously have some surprises in store. More on that later.
If you don’t have good action, you don’t have a good Indy movie, and Dial has some great action. Right from the start the film had me hooked. We open with an impressive teaser showing Indy and his friend Basil at the end of WWII, trying to save an artifact from a Nazi-run train. This shows us young Indy doing what we remember. It’s also very different from the action that comes later. Once in the late 60s, we don’t get any fist fights. Indiana Jones is 80 and not as physically fit as he was before. The film makes up for this by setting most of the action on vehicles. Indiana Jones rides a horse down a working subway tunnel, has an exciting car chase through a city, and even goes diving to a sunken ship with Helena, where the two encounter some very snake-like eels much to Indy’s annoyance. The eel scene was especially fun, adding an interesting chapter to the gross creature sequences often seen in Indy flicks. The action isn’t as physical as Skull, but it is grittier. It feels less polished, dirtier, and more improvised, and feels a lot more authentic to the original trilogy.
Some of the action is also playful, a trait often missing from the genre. Indy’s first action scene in the modern day takes place on August 13th, 1969, the day the Apollo 11 Astronauts had their ticker tape parade in New York. Seeing Indy crisscross with history is nothing new, but this is a rare example of him witnessing one of the most important events for all of mankind, and there’s even a fun cameo by the astronauts as Indy rides by on a horse. It’s a fun example of the character getting up to his old antics while the world changes around him. His lack of interest in the moon landing is also telling, showing he’s become so enamored with the past that he fails to see the astounding history taking place all around him.
There are also action beats that enhance character. One particularly inventive scene is when the group is taken hostage by Voller. Helena distracts them with information on where to find the artifact while showing Indy she has a stick of dynamite, leading to a fun sequence where Indy attempts to light it while Voller and his goons are distracted. Scenes like this not only recall the serial-style adventures that inspired Indy but also showcase the amazing chemistry these two characters have.
Another interesting element is how much the world has changed since the first three movies. No longer are the temples undiscovered and untouched by time. Now they’re major tourist attractions. The final temple of the film has a tour guide booth right outside. It removes a lot of the mystery of these once unexplored places, adding further to the movie’s themes of aging. Indy used to find sacred places and unearth great mysteries to share with the world. Now those places have all been found, leaving him feeling useless.
The film features several familiar faces, such as Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) who moved to New York and became a cab driver after the Nazis invaded Africa. Though his role is small, Sallah still longs for the adventures of the past, and his conversations with Jones reflect their shared feelings of grief in old age. One of my favorite parts is a scene where Sallah is excitedly telling his grandchildren tales of Indy’s and Marion’s adventures in the original film, much to their delight. Antonio Banderas also makes an appearance as Renaldo, another friend of Jones who aided him on several sea-based adventures in the past. His role is brief, getting murdered by Voller and his men before Indy and the others escape. Indy’s reaction to Renaldo’s death is another turning point for Helena, who grows more invested in Jones as the film goes on.
Of course, every Indiana Jones film ends with a supernatural set piece, and since the Antikythera is a time travel device, so Dial of Destiny concludes. This is foreshadowed when Indy and Helena uncover Archimedes’ tomb and find the other half of the Antikythera, as well as a modern wristwatch and a depiction of a modern plane. It’s here that Voller gets the upper hand, abducting Indy and taking him aboard a WWII-era German plane to go back in time and change history. The film does not end with a return to WWII though. It turns out Archimedes only intended the dial to bring help during the Siege of Syracuse in 212 B.C. Indy and Voller discover this only after going through a time rift and winding up in the middle of the battle. It’s perhaps the most epic and outlandish scene in any Indy film, and yet it feels right for the story. Indy lays out the battle earlier in the film during one of his classes, and his enthusiasm for that event is in contrast to his students’ apathy. This is in contrast to Indy’s general disinterest in the historic moon landing, while he’s mesmerized by the battle he sees over Syracuse.
Helena meanwhile has chased the plane right to take off, stowing away in hopes of rescuing Jones while Teddy, having stolen a plane, is flying behind. Indy and Helena escape the plane before it is brought down, killing Voller and his cronies, and the two meet Archimedes when the mathematician comes to investigate. Indy, overcome with depression and feeling useless in a changing world, opts to stay in the past. Helena attempts to dissuade him, saying he’ll die of his wounds. Indy’s apathetic attitude towards his own death helps her realize how truly depressed he is from his son’s death, and rather than letting him stay in the past to die, she knocks him out and brings him back to 1969 with Teddy. It’s a poignant moment that while outlandish, reflects Indy’s state of mind about his age and his son’s death.
This leads to an especially poignant moment where Indy reunites with Marion. It’s implied Helena told Marion about Indy’s suicidal wish to remain in the past, helping her understand Indy was grieving just as hard as she was. Along with the others, she visits Indy in his apartment, and the two recall a moment from the original Raiders, sharing a kiss and reconciling. And this is where Indiana Jones is left, back with Marion and the two remembering the adventures that brought them together.
To me this is more than a cameo, but the heart of the film. Marion’s appearance is heralded by a question from Indy. Throughout the film, Indy dismisses himself and his adventures, seeming almost as apathetic as those around him. When Helena tells him he’s still needed in this world, he asks ‘by who?’ which Marion answers with her own arrival. The film does have a certain longing for the past, which is a normal part of aging, but it ends with Indy learning that he still has a place in the world and that he and Marion still love each other despite their loss. The final shot of the film is simple but triumphant. Indy’s iconic fedora is seen hanging from a clothesline outside his apartment. As the film irises out, focusing on the hat, Indy snatches it off the line to put it back on. Despite his age and despite the mileage, he’s still Indiana Jones.
Dial of Destiny is about a hero past his prime, and the more cynical amongst us will dismiss Indy the same way he dismisses himself. People want their heroes to be young, tough, and full of energy. But the fact of life is we do grow older. Indy doesn’t get a chance to escape that any more than we do, but learns there is a place for him and people who will always care, and always remember those grand old adventures. I, for one, will never forget the adventures of Indiana Jones.
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I loved the movie. It is really a great watch.
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