RATING- 5/10
The iconic archaeologist and adventurer returns to the big screen once again after a long gap of 15 years and with this supposedly being the final outing for the character, expectations were high of providing a memorable cinematic experience one last time. This is the first film of the franchise that has not been directed by Steven Spielberg with Logan and Ford v Ferrari fame James Mangold taking over the helm of affairs. The association of Mangold with Logan, which was an excellent sendoff to another iconic character raises the expectations for this film. The film revolves around Indy going on one last adventure to retrieve a device that could change history from the Nazis, his longtime despised group of people. With the film being one of the most expensive ones of all time, with a production budget clocking at $295 million, a cinematic experience one will remember for ages is a must but keeping your expectations low for this one will be better as this is probably the blandest and most soulless a conclusion can get.
As a big fan of the original trilogy today I've seen #IndianaJonesAndTheDialOfDestiny on opening day.. what a disappointment , this is how you treat one of the most iconic characters of Hollywood @DisneyStudios ?? What a waste of the franchise. Fans deserve better.. 5/10 👎 poor pic.twitter.com/G95QWz5Jop
— Marwin Singh (@MarwinSingh) June 29, 2023
The storyline is formulaic and one-note, with not many exciting twists and reveals to make it more compelling. The screenplay also is inconsistent with a marathon runtime of 2.5 hours which was highly unnecessary for a franchise that usually clocks the action under 2 hours and the film could have been easily trimmed by 20 minutes. The film starts off very well with its prologue featuring a de-aged Indiana Jones fighting off Nazis in the World War II era with riveting action and rich-looking cinematography and that portion is certainly the best part of the film despite the discrepancy in the de-aging process but as the film shifts to 1969, it keeps on getting worse as the story progresses with the introduction of Indy's goddaughter Helena Shaw, who is probably the most unlikeable sidekick Indy has had in history. The villains, played by uber-talented actors like Mads Mikkelsen and Boyd Holbrook, the latter who collaborated with the director in his other and the better swansong Logan, also pose no threat and lack the charisma an Indiana Jones antagonist needs despite both the actors doing their best to salvage this mess. What irked me the most however about the film is the third act which featured something so silly that was beyond imagination and it was the weirdest the franchise got albeit in a negative way.
It starts off okay, but #IndianaJonesandtheDialofDestiny slowly turns into a joyless slog totally devoid of imagination, visibly straining to recapture the magic of the original trilogy. My review: https://t.co/Ok3PLa1JgP pic.twitter.com/QIm5PfbhsO
— James Hancock (@colebrax) June 30, 2023
Indiana Jones 5: Films you need to watch before the finale
The action blocks are brilliant as always with the tuk-tuk chase sequence and the prologue standing out but they also lack the style of the earlier films due to the hero who has now aged considerably. John William's iconic background score acts as a saving grace among all the other technical aspects in which the film fumbles. The cinematography is lukewarm at best and lacks the vibrant nature of the franchise. The art direction is done well thanks to the exorbitant budget. The performances are acceptable from the entire cast but with the characters and their situations feeling so underdeveloped and underwritten, they fail to make up for the weak writing.
Overall, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is another big-budget box office bomb for Hollywood in the making and the industry has already had three of them this month itself, which shows that the audience is also abstaining from low-effort corporate stuff as they want something real and authentic to grace the screens, as seen from the massive success of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. This should have been left in the drafts as the film lacks complete direction and purpose to be made in the first place. Recommended only if you want to see Harrison Ford as the character for the last time! This is easily the weakest and most forgettable film of the franchise for me to date, 5/10!