Indiana Jones swings (back) into theaters
Indy is back! Does 'Dial of Destiny' swing across the bottomless pit of fans' concerns or is the great adventurer history?
"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" is the fifth and last movie in the Indiana Jones franchise. It stars Harrison Ford as the famous, fedora-wearing archeologist in an exciting conclusion with new faces, new foes, and a new artifact that could change the course of history.
Does he swing across the bottomless pit of concerns from fans, or is he history? The answer ... kinda?
Let me explain.
The movie plot involves an-almost retired Indiana Jones being swept into an adventure with his goddaughter Helena Shaw, played by Phoebe Waller Bridge ("Fleabag"). The catalyst of the movie is the Archemides Dial: a device inspired by the discovery of the Antikythera Mechanism but its purpose is unknown to us. In the movie, Archimedes Dial is used as an introduction to time travel and its possibilities.
On their tail is a group of Nazis that helped the U.S. during the space race and who now want the dial for their own desires. Thus, the adventure is set, and the fun begins!
Harrison Ford is great as always, 'nuff said. Even after all these years he's still got it!
I like Helena Shaw: She was a fun and unpredictable character I enjoyed seeing develop throughout the movie. Bridge is great as the character and has a bubbly but mischievous tone to her character that I also appreciated.
Mads Mikkelson ("Hannibal") was great as the evil Dr. Voller, a Nazi scientist looking for a way to change history for betterment of the Nazi Empire. My only complaint about the character is that he's not in the movie much and has limited dialogue, but everything I saw from him was excellent!
For the faults of the movie, I actually found the third act to be way too long and the whole film sort of stalls until the lesson of the film comes to fruition and the movie just sorta ends. It's hard to describe, but I feel the ending was off even though the cameo and the scene that follows were heart touching.
James Mangold ("Logan"), does a fantastic job taking up the heavy mantle left by Steven Spielberg, and does the character the justice he deserves.
Some of the editing was off, just because it wasn't Speilberg's editing. It was good but didn't fit the "Indy" style. For example, some opt the sound effects in the early movies are not used in this one, like when Indy punches someone, the audio is different from the previous movies.
Overall the movie is good and gives a satisfying conclusion to Indy's story. I'd give the movie an 8/10.
Carter Salley is a broadcast & cinematic arts major and host of the Central Michigan Life podcast "Raving Geeks."
