When thinking about films that had the biggest impact on me this year, I honestly wasn’t expecting Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny to make the list. Still, this latest and supposedly final adventure for the hapless archeologist won me over very quickly, and even after three viewings there’s always something new to enjoy. Though not without its flaws, the film is rich with lively interplay between its characters and themes. In an odd way, these themes seem to reflect criticisms of the film in how most seem to focus on the Indiana Jones that was. This is not the Indiana Jones we grew up with. This is an older, depressed take on the character who is past his prime and without rigor. In this article, we’re going to take a look at how the film uses this idea, and builds a uniquely emotional portrayal of the iconic hero.

Spoilers Ahead.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny follows an aged Jones (Harrison Ford) in 1969, right around the time of the moon landing. He’s contacted by his goddaughter Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), who cons him out of an artifact known as the Antikythera, an artifact created by Archimedes that supposedly can predict fissures in time. Indy sets out to reconnect with his goddaughter and retrieve the artifact, all while an old enemy, a Nazi scientist named Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), plans to use the artifact to change the outcome of the war. On paper, this may seem like any other Indy adventure. It’s the state we find Indy in that helps set it apart. The opening teaser feels most like a classic Indy adventure because that’s what it is, a glimpse into the character in his prime. Once we get to the late 60s, we find Jones past his prime, depressed, and struggling to recover from the loss of his son and the collapse of his marriage to Marion (Karen Allen).

One need only look at how Indy teaches to see how much he’s changed. Indy perfectly encapsulates the archetype of the dashing, danger-loving professor during Raiders of the Lost Ark’s classroom scenes. He’s viewed with reverence by his students then. Flash forward thirty years and Indy is now viewed as more archaic than the subject he teaches. When his class shows more interest in the moon landing than his lecture, he doesn’t bother trying to engage them. Later on, when old friend Sallah offers to join Indy on this latest adventure, Indy dismisses him saying their adventure days have ‘come and gone.’

The first action sequence set in the 60s further drives home how much the world has changed around Indy. After escaping from Voller’s goons at his college, Indy escapes on horseback, riding through a parade honoring the Apollo astronauts in modern New York. This chase eventually leads underground, where Jones is forced to dodge several subway trains. This is a far cry from the rides through the desert we’re familiar with. The world has exploded around Indy, leaving his kind of adventure sorely out of place in a modern metropolis. Even the places he used to seek out on his adventures have already been found, reduced to common tourist attractions. It’s at one such tourist attraction where the final act of the film begins. Yet despite Indy’s feeling that he’s out of place in the modern world, he is still the smartest character in the film.

Jones navigates this new adventure less with his physical prowess and more on knowledge accumulated over a lifetime of adventure. Scenes of him using a character’s bubble gum to fix a broken-down cart are but a few examples of his intellect. Repeatedly he’s shown to be able to think his way out of bad situations to guide the characters around him through ancient tombs and other set pieces. In Tangier, it’s he who helps Helena escape her former fiancé and nearly reclaims the Antikythera from Voller through his working knowledge of the city. It’s also he who guides Helena through an ancient temple where they find Archimedes’ tomb, showing her how to follow an echo, spotting the crescent moon-shaped light illuminating a passageway, and showing her how water displacement could save them from a deadly trap. Despite Helena’s early disdain for Indy, it’s he who guides her through most of the adventure and points out her weak spots.

It would be unfair to call Helena Shaw blind though. She notices things, though not in the same way Indy does. While Indy shows great skill at observation and problem-solving, Helena notices things that are out of place or otherwise more than they appear. When the pair retrieve a tablet that reveals the location of the rest of the Antikythera, it’s Helena who points out that the wax and wood object is too heavy, prompting Indy to burn it and reveal the golden map inside. Later on, when the two are in Archimedes’ tomb, she’s the one who points out that the ‘phoenix’ on his resting place has propellers. But she also notices things about Indy, and it’s these things that help endear her to him over the rest of the movie.

Indiana Jones recognizes in Helena Shaw the mercenary-type character he used to be. As Indy was in Temple of Doom, Helena is a ruthless soldier of fortune who’s in it for the money, and like Indy in Temple, has a pint-sized sidekick named Teddy she cares about more than she lets on. But like Indy, Helena still has humanity, which he calls her on. She memorizes her father’s notebooks which help them on the quest and comments that she couldn’t let go of Teddy after their first meeting. Indy comments that no one does anything like that ‘for the money.’ It’s a strange contrast in that Indy is shown to still be very smart and capable, and yet can’t seem to recognize it in himself. The irony is it’s Helena, the one who is most cynical and mistrusting of him, who does.

When it comes to how Helena perceives Indy, it’s his vulnerable moments that she responds to. She dismisses his frequent criticisms of her greed and recklessness but becomes more invested in him when he’s willing to let his guard down. The first instance of this is when Teddy steals Indy’s watch. When Indy says it has sentimental value to him, Helena makes Teddy return it. Later on in a much more pivotal scene, Indy reveals his son was killed in Vietnam, and the grief of his loss caused the marriage between him and Marion Ravenwood to collapse. The normally brash Helena is clearly moved by the story and comments that Indy is still wearing the wedding ring. It’s also her that notices Indy forgot his hat in a crucial flashback scene, where she rushes out to return it to him.

Indy’s costume has always been a big part of his character and is used, particularly with the hat, in very interesting ways. Now some may think this is a stretch, but hear me out. Did you notice that Indy never retrieves the classic costume himself? Apart from the opening teaser, it’s always brought to him. It’s Sallah for instance who brings it to him at the airport before he leaves the country. His not receiving it himself is echoed when Sallah offers to come so they may go on another great adventure, which Indy dismisses. A more interesting moment is when Voller kidnaps Indy to take with him to the past, and it’s his men who make sure Indy doesn’t lose his costume, putting Indy’s hat back on him as they board an old WWII-style bomber. Like Sallah, Voller wants Indy to be his old self again. Unlike Sallah, Voller doesn’t want a friend back. He wants an enemy.

The time travel story in Dial is without a doubt the most controversial element of the film, but it serves the themes of aging very well. Time itself is a big theme of the story, shown by the recurring motif of clocks and watches. As mentioned before, it’s Teddy stealing a watch that leads to Helena’s first concession to Indy. At his retirement party, it’s an antique clock that Indy’s co-workers give him, a reminder of his age that he quickly gets rid of. It’s also the presence of a modern watch in Archimedes’ tomb that proves the Antikythera works. And of course, the Antikythera itself is a time-tracking device used to forecast the time fissures that Voller seeks.

Voller is one of the more complicated but also pitiful villains in the series. He promises what Indy longs for, a return to youth and vitality where his future still held promise. He’s also a figure out of Indy’s past, the villain from his last adventure of the war calling him back to the battlefield. It’s interesting to note how Voller speaks to Indy, talking about how the world no longer cares about men like them. In sharp contrast to those around Indy, he only mentions Indy’s losses. Both Helena and Sallah mention Marion to Indy to remind him there is still a place for him, but Indy dismisses both conversations. Voller only reminds Indy of his son’s death, blinding him to anything but what he’s lost. Voller is a character who is ruthless when everything is going his way but quickly panics when things go wrong. This is shown especially well in the finale of the film when Voller’s quest to change history leads to his destruction.

Voller’s plan is to travel to 1939 when both were in their prime. This is of course where Indy was at his most active (the original trilogy takes place between 1935 and 1938) and would have promised a return to what was familiar to Indy and the audience both. We want to see Indy go back to the 30s and have an adventure like those of his youth again. Voller even secures an era-appropriate plane, really feeling like he’s taking Indy and himself both back to where the two ‘belong.’ But this promised return ends in failure. As Indy is ever observant and good at problem-solving, it’s he who points out to Voller that Archimedes didn’t factor continental drift into his calculations, which Voller didn’t either. He knows they’re off-target before they even pass through the rift. Even after they cross through, Voller still insists that everything is going to plan. It’s Indy who first notices the world below isn’t the one from 1939. They’ve landed 2000 years too early.

The entire final sequence over Syracuse is ridiculous, but it shows how out of place Indy and Voller both are. A World War II bomber doesn’t belong over a fleet of invading Roman ships any more than Voller and Indy belong in the 1930s. They were never destined to return to the 30s because, as Helena points out, the Antikythera is a forced deck, only taking the traveler back to the siege to offer aid to Archimedes. As is customary in Indy movies, Voller is killed by not by Indy but by the artifact itself, destroyed by a time he doesn’t belong in. Yet while Voller panicked and wanted to leave the past, Indy wishes to stay. This could be read in a number of ways, even as a potential suicide attempt. Indy grows more insistent on staying only after Helena tells him he needs immediate medical attention. Suicide attempt or not, the most important thing about this scene is that Indy doesn’t feel a sense of belonging in the modern world anymore. Yet it’s Helena, who is gifted at finding things that are out of place or more than they seem, who insists he does belong.

Helena’s words to Archimedes, describing him as a hero to his people, could easily be inferred as a plea to Indy himself, reminding him of his accomplishments and why he still matters. When he still refuses to come, Helena resorts to more drastic measures (to the jaw) to bring him home. It’s not exactly a crowd-pleasing moment, but it makes sense for the character at this point in his life. The Indy of the past hadn’t lost his father, son, a prestigious job at a celebrated university, and had more life ahead than he did behind. This moment is Indy at his most despairing and, in some ways, most human. This final act by Helena forces him to finally reunite with the person he’s spent the entire movie avoiding.

Marion’s return is hinted at throughout the entire film. Other characters constantly suggest Indy reach out to her, a suggestion he repeatedly brushes off. It’s not until Helena forces the two together that Indy finally has a long overdue conversation where he, in not so many words, confesses his own grief to Marion. In no uncertain terms, Marion reveals she still cares about him, leading the two to share a moment recalling the original Raiders. Helena and Sallah opt to leave the two alone. As they leave the apartment the camera pans to the balcony where Indy’s famous hat is hanging out to dry. As an iris closes around it, it’s here, for the first time since the opening, that Indy himself retrieves it.

The film’s disappointing box office and lukewarm reception in many ways only further illustrate the point the film is trying to make. The world has moved on from Indiana Jones both in and out of the movies. It would be easy to say it’s because the film isn’t very good, but I beg to differ. Dial is not as energetic or exciting as the original trilogy, but is instead more interested in Indy as a person, showing him at his most human since Crusade. Consider this. The Antikythera is the only main artifact that ends the story with Indy. All the others either wind up in someone else’s hands or are lost entirely. It begins the story as only half a device, with the movie centered around rebuilding it. That’s Indy’s story. He’s no longer the character we grew up with. He’s broken, grappling with grief, and coming to terms with the fact that his youth has passed him by, but through this adventure, he learns there are still reasons to go on. I do think, despite their losses, Indy and Marion will find happiness in their twilight years.

Indiana Jones may have been forgotten, but there is a scene in the film that helped me realize that didn’t really matter. It’s towards the end, when Sallah enters Indy’s apartment, excitedly telling his grandchildren of their first adventure. Sallah’s grandkids were loving the story. That’s where Indy will always have a home, not only with those first fans but any who are willing to listen to try and understand what made the character so special. Maybe it’s something you can never quite put your finger on, but for some of us, this is an adventure that will last forever.

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