Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Review
Archaeologist Indiana Jones races against time to retrieve a legendary artifact that can change the course of history.
Why did I come to this movie again?
I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t super excited to see this film. I love the first and the third movies in the series. The second one is okay. I’ve only seen the fourth one once, and that’s because I thought it was awful. A friend of mine invited me to see this one for free, so I figured, why not?
4 of 5
Characters
The movie starts out as a downer. Indiana is not only old, but somehow empty. His journey is subtle, but good. And it’s something the other characters notice more than I did. The more I think about it, the more I liked it.
Helena, Indiana’s goddaughter, is pretty transparent. She thinks she’s all about the money, but it was easy to see that there was more to it than that. While I liked her, I found her character just a bit flat.
The bad guy was interesting. His final plan wasn’t as cliché as I’d expected, so kudos there.
4 of 5
Did I care what happened?
Yes, but to be honest I got confused as to where we were going and why a few times.
4 of 5
Plot Holes
The actual plot was fine. This is an Indiana Jones movie, after all.
I think my biggest complaint was that they had Indiana’s character doing physical stuff that should have been hard for a 60-ish year-old man. If he had grumbled about the running or the jumping or something it would have been fine, but as far as I remember, it wasn’t mentioned. He didn’t even shake his fist after punching one of the myriad of bad guys he knocked out.
A bunch of little things pulled me out of the story, like how could they sink so fast in the ocean and then be weightless to swim around so easily? Also, that scene took more than 3 minutes. Just how big (or small) is the Mediterranean Sea and now much fuel does a boat that size hold? Stuff like that kept distracting me. Maybe I’m stuck in editing mode for writing, or maybe their writers needed to be a bit more diligent.
3 of 5
How many times did I yawn?
Twice.
Okay, maybe I didn’t yawn, but I got bored during not one but two chase scenes. I realize that these are iconic to the Indiana Jones brand, but I actually rolled my eyes once.
4 of 5
Cool Factor
Having a younger Indiana on screen, courtesy of CGI I assume, was fun. I could barely tell it wasn’t actually a young Harrison Ford, and mostly it was the eyes that gave it away. If they’d kept him farther from the camera, it would have been practically seamless.
I enjoyed the archaeological information, and I thought they did a good job putting this film into 1969.
I thought they went a little overboard with the nostalgia baited snakes and bugs.
3 of 5
The End
I actually loved that Helena, the goddaughter, thwarted Indie’s wishes. She’s smart.
I also liked the very end when Marion asked if he was back.
4 of 5
Overall Enjoyment
My friend told me that a website called this the most okay of the Indiana Jones films. I’d have to agree. There wasn’t as much humor as I expected. The script wasn’t anything special. I felt they sacrificed character development for action.
If I had to rank the entire franchise this would be my order:
Last Crusade
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Dial of Destiny
Temple of Doom
Crystal Skull
So, yeah, this movie was okay. Fun to see in the theaters and a great excuse for popcorn!
4 of 5
Total: 30
That’s a Green Belt!
(Almost a Brown Belt)
White Belt: 1-10
Yellow Belt: 11-19
Purple Belt: 20-25
Green Belt: 26-30
Brown Belt: 31-35
Black Belt: 36-40
