The Sad Mediocrity of Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny 

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I just can't get past the premise that he had a happy ending in Crystal Skull, and then this movie decided that he didn't deserve it and took everything from him for a mediocre rehash. Feels like utter disrespect.

The scene of him being a professor and just in absolute love with his subject was really nice to watch.

I was thinking about it, and I think it would have been better if they had told a Temple of Doom type story. A geographically confined adventure where the end of the world isn't at stake. Would have been more enjoyable and easier to make I think.

They ended the movie without resolving the fact that Indy was a wanted fugitive for the murder of 2 coworkers.

Interesting point, contrasting the Dial of Destiny scene with the “Indiana. Let it go.” scene from Last Crusade. That moment from the third film is, to me, the greatest moment of the franchise and is a huge reason why Last Crusade is my favorite Indy film. It gets me emotional just thinking about it.

You’re totally right. The uncanny valley of the opening sequence carried through to the whole movie. This movie cost as much as ALL THREE ORIGINAL MOVIES PUT TOGETHER! Even adjusting for inflation. That’s just insane to me. Movies these days are going to age so horribly.

Instead of killing off Indy's son Mutt (which felt really disrespectful to me), they should've had him go off on his own adventure, joining a new archeology organization, and have him come in at the end telling Indy that he's preparing for a new expedition in search of a new fabled artifact, something that would be right up his alley; Indy and Marion take interest and prepare to set off on a new adventure with their son. That would've been better than killing him offscreen/throwing Shias character under the bus.

The thing about these studios' heavy reliance on CGI is that it removes of mystery of how they pulled it off, making it harder to further suspended my disbelief, and putting more weight on the actual story being good.

At least Crystal Skull had that wonderful fully practical college chase scene.

How incredibly meta that the character is literally begging to be allowed to die in the past and the story punches him in the face and forces him to return to the present so that even more nostalgia can be forced upon us so that we'll buy more tickets. I think Mangold was trying to slip something in there.

I didn't think John Williams would be around to score this film because of the many delays and when he had that health problem a few years ago I thought that was it. So happy that he lived to see it. If he retired now I wouldn't mind because he went out with a bang and because he's defiantly earned it.

You know what also kind of sad about this last Indy movie, in the Latin American Spanish dub this is the last work that Rubén Moya, who voiced Sallah, did before his passing. He voiced the same character in the re-dubs for Raiders and Crusade back in the 2000s and he managed to record his lines before his unexpected passing. Rubén was well known for voicing He-Man in the 80s show and Amidamaru in Shaman King 2001 and 2021, among others. At least it's kind of nice that he managed to reprise one of his roles

This movie is like if instead of making Rocky Balboa, Stallone decided to try to recapture the over the top craziness of Rocky 3 and 4 with a 60 year old Rocky.

It hurts to see Indy get the "Spiderman" treatment wherein the writers/executives never let the poor guy have some respite from his constant misery.

I feel like the biggest issue I had with this film as a concept is that it doesn't feel like it tries to justify why it needs to exist and as a result will struggle to stand out as time passes. Years later, would you feel any reason to re-watch this movie? With Crystal Skull, you might watch it ironically for the laughs, but I'm not sure how much this film will keep you entertained in future re-watches.

As for the ending. I love how everbody just forget he was wanted for murder. Great writing Disney.

I think the biggest thing missing from this movie is actually Spielberg. I can't exactly explain what it is, but Spielberg's films always have this is sense of wonder to them that is completely lacking in Dial of Destiny. Although it has the basic recognizable elements of an Indiana Jones film, I felt like it was just going through the motions sometimes. "Ok, we need a scene with dangerous animals, so we'll have Indy get attacked by eels underwater. We'll have Archimedes's tomb be the set piece with all the booby traps. Oh, and of course also need some creepy bugs in there too." I like the fan suggestion of a finale with Indiana Jones and Short Round. Just two well-beloved characters going on one last, final adventure together. It feels more right.

This franchise is just like toy story. It had an original trilogy that had a perfect ending. It was then revived and ended in a way far worse then the previous movie, and just when you think it's finally put to rest a fifth movie is made to destroy the ending of the movie that destroyed the end the trilogy.

They should have replaced Helena with "Short Round" all grown up. Short Round was a surrogate son to Indiana Jones and would have been more poinant especially with the loss of Mutt. Also it would been more interesting to have Karen Allen be involved in the adventure instead of the cameo.

Counterpoint to the Casablanca comparison: It is established very early on in Casablanca that Rick actually does care about people and ideals, he just tries to hide it because it’s bad for his image. Shaw in Dial genuinely seems to be a selfish lady though, and isn’t really given much of a logical reason for the change of heart. It just seems to happen because she’s one of the protagonists so it’s expected to happen.

It's incredible Hollywood's ability now to take series' that we watched to death as kids, and churn out high budget stuff with so little value that they're never worth a second watch

I also felt like the punch in the face at the end had some age-ist undertones to it. When Indy was a young man, he was viewed as being fully autonomous and capable of making his own decisions (like the Last Crusade clip you used), but now that he's elderly, the story treats him like he's incapable of making his own choices, and its incumbent upon the younger characters in his life to force the decisions that will bring him the truest happiness (in getting rewarded with a fixed marriage at the end of the film). Throughout the movie, Indy demonstrates that, while his physical abilities may be weakening, his mental acuity is still fully in tact. So if, mentally, he is still the old Indy, what has changed? Well...nothing really, except he's an old man now, which obviously means he needs a young person to make the ultimate decisions for him.

Mangold has this problem where he just doesn't know when to end a scene--they go on for way longer than they should. It works for slower paced neo-noir like Logan, but for something like Indy? Nah.

The thing about Indy is that He’s based on Pulp heroes and those guys were to represent the “Do not go gentle into that good night.” Mentality, so seeing Indy like that is just disappointing.

This movie made the impossible, it made people appreciate Crystal Skull a little bit more, especially because that one tried to give him a happy ending, just to forget all about it because they thought a spinster Indy was more interesting, even though what we got is a sad and broken senior citizen whose hand was forced into this adventure, and the ending literally shows that, Indy stolen of his agency to choose his final fate.

I’m glad you talked about the score, because it isn’t something I thought about consciously a lot. I remember watching through the trailer and being completely stone faced and unimpressed and then when the original score hit my eyes welled up in tears out of nowhere haha

1981 Indiana Jones creators: "Let's make a practical effects action movie where the main character is an everyman!" 2007 Uncharted creators: "Let's make Indiana Jones, but as an interactive CGI video game!" 2022 Uncharted movie creators: "Let's make Uncharted, but as a movie!" 2023 Indiana Jones creators: "Let's make Indiana Jones, but with CGI effects!" The entertainment industry is stuck in a loop

It definitely isn't as offensive as Crystal Skull was but when the credits came and you see there are 4 different people who all had a hand in this script things start to make a lot more sense. ***** SPOILERS ***** Also having Mutt die offscreen was just unnecessary and cruel, just have him be an estranged son who grew tired of his father's attitude as he grew himself or something, it was probably so that they wouldn't get Shia in which I get but a small line from Marion like 'I called him, he's coming to see you, he's bringing his family' would've worked better no?

Flash: "Bruce, I wanna run so fast that I time e travel, so I can save my mom" Batman: KNOCKS HIM TF OUT!!!

John Williams is proof that music is the key to staying young. Look at him go! I wish he had another 100 years to make more masterpieces.

I was under the impression that it was "Implied" That Indy and Marion were going to go back in time to get mutt, Given Indy's lack of care for changing the present, Him mentioning saving mutt earlier in the film (If given the opportunity), The Dial being left behind at his house, Him grabbing his hat at the end(?). I could be thinking too much into this though.

This is a wonderfully insightful look at the film's flaws, rather than most of one-note reviews and reception to this movie. Personally, I think if they'd just: a) not had Mutt dead but simply grown up and moved away, therefore leaving Indy a bit unsure about what to do in his old age now. He feels unneeded suddenly, especially now he's retired. It gets him thinking nostalgically about his old adventures. b) Have a conversation near the start between him and Marion where he talks about missing the old adventure life where she thinks he's too obsessed with the past. There fulfilling things to live for in the present, he doesn't need to escape from it. c) Helena doesn't knock him out. Make that scene more clearly draw a paralell between Helena's father destorying himself over his obsession with relics, and Indy nearly doing something similar, only for her to talk him out of it. d) A slightly longer final scene where Marion helps to demonstrate that Indy is still needed, just in slightly different ways.

“I didn’t hate this movie” is one hell of a glowing endorsement… 😂

I felt like the time travel element could have been more thematic. Lean more into his regret about Mutt dying and Marion leaving him, and him being an old man with nothing left. It fits in with the whole time travel element. I feel like they brought up ideas for a much better movie with the "what would you do if you had time travel" conversation. That kind of retrospection would be especially appropriate since this is the last Indie movie.

They should have pulled a Creed and focused on Shaw's character and had Indy fulfill the Rocky role to send him off. He can even end up in the same place. Or, you know, The Last Crusade but with Ford in the Connery role. That way the movie can have the action it wants to have.

The Dial of Destiny was definitely one of those "I'm just doing this for the paycheck" type of movies.

10:04 agreed, Indiana The Last Crusade is the true beautiful ending to this saga

It's a pleasure to hear an actual nuanced review for once. Nuance is something that practically disappeared from the net...

Exactly my idea. When they announced Crystal Skull, I said that they should have given Indy a cane or a wheelchair and made a mystery or spy movie. Indy isn't just a swashbuckler, he's a smart professor. They could have played up his frustration with his physical limits as he got deeper in this. Of course after downplaying this, at the end the bad guy would underestimate him and he'd whack him with his cane to save the day. Spielberg could have made this an amazing movie.

5:50 Exactly!! You get it! Hollywood needs to remember the 3 key ingredients to great practical action! 1. Minimal CGI 2. A dedicated and well managed crew 3. A narcissist with little-man syndrome and a lot to prove

The de-aging was not doing it for me. You just can't have an Indiana Jones adventure with a fake looking CGI video game character. I was actually begging for it to be over, and then they brought the de-aged Harrison Ford back AGAIN later. Why?

As much as I enjoyed my time with Dial, it’s pretty fair to say that neither it nor Crystal Skull will hold a candle to the magic those first 3 movies have. I still liked it tho, and I think the hate is a little bit unwarranted

Maybe Helena could’ve told Indie that she needs him, that would’ve been more satisfying but the punch at the end really does suck

I'm a 90's kid. I never saw any Indiana Jones films until I was in my early 20's. I bought the Bluray set of Indy 1-4 for my dad and we had a marathon watch party. I loved all 4. And understanding that CGI was more prominent really didn't bother me.

This movie doesnt exist in my world, its a happier world

Great video! You've been an inspiration for my channel so I'm happy to see our opinions align so closely on this one!

I like 'Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls', always do, despite all its flaws. That makes 'Dials of Destiny' the only Indiana Jones movie I don't like. I think Spielberg's directing and eye for visuals compensate the weak CGI on 'Crystal Skulls', whereas 'Dials of Destiny' looked and feel like any other blockbusters coming out this decade. And creatively, this movie took the safest route it could. As you suggested, I don't think it should be afraid of slowing down the actions and give more character moments, given the lead star's age. It makes sense. It could make for much better story. I never warmed up to Phoebe Waller-Bridge's character. I don't think the femme fatale works when she's paired with her own eighty years old godfather. When the maligned fourth movie ended, I wanted a fifth one. It was always going to be the last one. Ford and Williams delivered, but that wasn't enough. When the fifth movie ended, I'm actually bitter.

I rewatched Crystal Skull the other day and honestly, the action sequences were way better and the CGI was less distracting than I remembered. It’s really not that bad of a movie and at least feels like an Indy film due to Spielberg’s involvement. Dial of Destiny just feels like an imitation of an Indy film written by a Disney AI algorithm. At least until the last 20 minutes which was the only truly unique and inspired part of the entire film

There are so many moments in both Crystal Skull and Dial of Destiny that read as vintage Indy on the page, but in execution with an elderly Ford mumbling through his lines and limping through a CGI cartoon version of every set piece, it's just not the same... and it's sad to think the filmmakers behind Indy don't realise that themselves.

Helena does not even remotely hold a candle to Willie Scott.

The bridge that breaks and throws off the goon and Teddy into the water is magically repaired 5 mins later when they leave. That particular bungle stuck with me.

They should've rebooted The Young Indiana Jones show and have Harrison Ford narrate his stories to his grandkids.

I definitely need to see the movie again. I had fun and enjoyed it. The one thing that didn’t sit right with me was that they undid his happy ending. I think they could have told the same story without making him miserable.

Ultimately Indy feels pointless in his own movie as Helena knows just as much as he does, so all Indy is really there for is as the moral compass. It would have worked better if his journey mirrored that of his dads in Last Crusade; Henry Senior was the brains, and Indy was the brawn. It would have been a good comparison as he states that he has been looking for the dial "all his life", much as his farther devoted his life to finding the grail.

The only reason we dont have new Back to The Future movies is Bob Zemekis has repeatedly stated he will not allow it.

You are extremely generous to this film

I agree with the kind words about John Williams, not everyone has heard Mozart and all the other composers, but everyone has heard John Williams.

It was horrible. I wanted to watch it with my Dad because we had seen the whole series together. That was time that I can't get back. Oh well.💔😕

Helana Shaw knocks senior man into next week...literally. Man wakes up from coma to a new wife, a happy ending....and brain damage. 🤪

Retire? At 91??? Nah bro...this dudes riding it out til the end. Legend!

The note on John Williams still being able to make great music kinda reasure me. I always had that thought that, because at some point your brain stops generating new cells, your creativity would slowly dwindle with time. Williams here shows that even at his very venerable age, its still possible to create something new and exciting. On a similar note, I kinda wish we had more memorable or touching soundtracks. I can't say I've remembered a lot of actually good scores in a good while. Maybe I'm being biaised.

My biggest problem is that all chase scenes are just extremily loud and difficult to follow.

I totally agree, my mine gripe was that nothing in this movie felt tactile, real, or tangible whereas in the originals everything was very physical. The medium to close up shots with an actor and motion blur CGI soup behind them did not invoke anything in me the old action set pieces do.

They should have learnt from Top Gun 2 how to do an older franchise sequel correctly

No, Helena Shaw is not a better co-lead than Willie Scott.

I enjoyed this flick. I left the theater satisfied and entertained. I call that a success.

Are you now giving new episodes out on Monday for the foreseeable future?

Love your insights Always! This one you really nailed, much better than crystal skull, but maybe that’s partly because of expectations? And the comment about things not coming easy for Indy! Harrison Ford was the king of ugly fights, which made them so much more believable as Everyman character fights!

It's funny to contrast this with Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning (and the rest of that series) which truly feels like it's picked up the reigns where the Jones series left them back in the late eighties. Everything feels HARD for Ethan even as he manages to pull off the impossible - that Cruise is willing to express that in his performance choices (and in the stuntwork) is a big part of it. Ford does seem very committed here which was nice, but I could feel time and time again how Mangold was unable (due to constraints on the deaging thing or his own style etc) to move the camera like Speilberg does. It only contributed to things feeling less than memorable. I left a viewing of Mission Impossible last night being like...that was far more like an Indiana Jones film in many respects than I expected. Williams score is definitely the deep standout in Dial of Destiny for sure but I think it's ok to say goodbye to this series...

I don’t know Indiana Jones hits different for me. I’m in college right now learning to be an adventure guide. I’ve always had a passion for history and he inspired me to travel to some places I would probably never end up in. So the series hits for me in a different way it’s kind of affected like what my interests, and who I am as a person in a strange way.

The most amusing part of the movie was when you had the Nazi scientist try to go back in time to kill Hitler (not to prevent Nazism, but to perfect it). I thought that was a funny twist of the "go back in time to kick hitler" cliche.

Why can’t nostalgia bait movies have the returning lead be happy? Why not write a movie similar to the plot of Uncharted 4 where Indy has the perfect life, yet he’s bored and longs for the adventure once more until eventually nearly ruining all that he’s gained over his career (Marion and his son). Give our main character something to lose and something to live for instead of dragging their depressed body around the world for “one last adventure” that they don’t want to be on.

“There’s the first three movies, and then there’s everything else.” That’s exactly how I feel about Star Wars.

At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, I actually found myself preferring Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to Dial of Destiny. I mean Crystal Skull is not a great film by any means, and certainly doesn't even come close to matching the original trilogy, but at least it had a sense of pulpy energy and fun, and I at least commend it for going all out and being totally bonkers. Plus, there were plenty of entertainingly silly action scenes, Cate Blanchett hamming it up and generally being a total blast, and Marion making a wonderful return to the series. By contrast, Dial of Destiny felt so dreary, monotonous and lacking in that fun and energetic tone that characterised the first three films. The story is a slow and tedious mess full of contrivances (like the villains just spontaneously showing up wherever the plot needs them to be), characters coming on board and acting like total dead weights to the narrative, and a generally depressing and unadventurous tone. It also looked visually unappealing, the green screen and production design looks alarmingly cheap for a film of this budget, and it results in the action looking very bland and washed-out. Considering how ill-fitting Janusz Kaminski's cinematography was for Crystal Skull, I think we should declare that Douglas Slocombe was every bit as important to the series' success as Spielberg, Lucas, Williams and Ford. And speaking as someone who didn't particularly care for the character, I really didn't like the way they just poochied Mutt here. I get Shia LaBeouf is a prick that no one wants to work with anymore, but this felt really underwhelming and honestly kind of mean-spirited. For better or for worse, Crystal Skull gave Indy a complete and satisfying happy ending, and having it get taken away like that just so we can make this film felt hollow and unsatisfying. I admit it was nice to have Indy and Marion reconnect at the end, but it felt like it was too short and quick a scene (Karen Allen really should've had more screentime), and it generally lacks the same sense of finality that Crystal Skull had, hell I'd argue Last Crusade had more sense of closure than this film did. I didn't hate Dial of Destiny, and I don't think it's really deserving of the total evisceration it's been getting from certain corners of the Internet. I went in expecting the worst after reading the reviews from Cannes, and while it's my least favourite film in the series, it's by no means a trainwreck. There's some decent enough action scenes like the traintop battle and the parade chase, John Williams' score is lovely as ever, and Harrison Ford is as reliably great as always. I even admit to liking some of the supporting cast, the character is somewhat unlikable but Phoebe Waller-Bridge has a nice sense of rhythm and charisma to her performance, and it was nice to see Antonio Banderas show up for five minutes. Overall though, I found this to be an aggressively mediocre film, yet another tired uninspired legacy sequel and a disappointing conclusion for the Indiana Jones series. With Spielberg and Lucas having successfully closed the book on his series in 1989, and then again somewhat less successfully in 2008, there needed to be a really good reason to dig up this old relic in 2023, and sadly I don't think anyone involved in this film had a good enough reason to make this film

9:19 "better co-lad than say willie Scott..." thats the problem Indiana Jones has no co-lead, he is the main character, the rest are secondary characters. And Willie is a perfect secondary character

You make a good point about the end of the movie. I hadn't thought about it, but Helena Shaw does take the decision to stay away from him. And that torpedoes the arc Indy has been on. I was so glad to see Marion at the end it never occurred to me the ending hadn't been earned, but you're right.

This movie is just so utterly forgettable. I'm just so apathetic to the Indy franchise at this point. Thank god Tom Cruise is back this week to save cinema and finally give us something great this blockbuster season.

I still think Skull is over hated

They shouldn't have tried to give us an old Indy movie. Give us a LOGAN Indy and complete subvert all the tropes of the old Indies... end it with a big set piece or something.

Indeed, they should've taken the 'Mission Impossible: Fallout' and 'No Time to Die' approach of shooting on-location with an actual stunt crew on 35mm to ensure the set pieces looked real and therefore thrilling to watch. Wade Eastwood and Chris Corbould could definitely have added so much more excitement to the action and I totally agree with you about the scene where Helena Shaw's character is on the motorcycle chasing the plane along the runway, you could tell it wasn't real. I appreciate the actress can't necessarily do all the stunts herself but then use a double like Van Damme did for the motorcyle flip over the car in 'Hard Target,' doing the stunt for real will at least give you that thrill factor.

I don’t know if it was just the audio at my theater, because the sound was peaking, but o couldn’t hear the score over the sound effects. It wasn’t until the end credits when I heard Helena’s theme and thought it was very pretty. I don’t know why I didn’t pick up on it while watching the film.

5:00 in. The issue is that original Indy movies don't have crazy big stunts that aren't grounded in any reality. (Minus the mine car). The rest of it feels like a real person in real life could do it. These movies make him a super hero.

What better words can be said!!!! When I told my friends the ending was not great I gave the same points you brought out!!! And they weren’t getting me this movie was ok (way better than Crystal Skull) but it still wasn’t a good Indy movie.

I guess I am in the minority that. That Shia LaBeouf should have never been killed off in this installment. His character of Mutt didn't seem entirely disliked by the audience they just didn't want him to take the mantle of Indiana Jones. The idea that he joins the military was an interesting idea so to have him in this installment be perhaps an air pilot would have complimented the film much more.

Excellent analysis and I agree with every word.....and I was 15 when Raiders came out so the series has been a huge part of my life. I liked this film better that Crusades and Kingdom.

Awesome review! Thank you very muchly, your content often helps me keep smiling during some very rough time with major medical issues. And I feel much the same as you about the new Indy movie - I don’t passionately hate it, but I don’t love it the way I was hoping to, having grown up with the character as one of my favorite fictional heroes and looking forward to him being given a proper send-off. I wish they’d ended the series with Last Crusade and left us all wanting more, but Hollywood very rarely remembers how powerful that kind of ending is thanks to their obsession with the almighty dollar. (Oof the full time writer in me cringes at all my run-on sentences! But on the bright side, and as proof that some flavor of light ALWAYS comes from even the worst of dark times, having the big, scary C and being in and out of hospital constantly is why I had to leave my old job and start writing full time. That was always my dream but I’d never have just quit my job to go do what makes my weird, hedgie mama heart the happiest so odd as it probably sounds, I wouldn’t change my circumstances. Also yikes! Sorry if all that is TMI and thanks again for all your awesome content. Three out of three adorable, odd little rescue hedgehogs agree - you rock!) 👍🏻😁🦔🦔🦔

I was 6 when Raiders came out and my grandfather took me to the Saturday matinee and the place was packed. He snuck in McDonald's burgers under his flannel shirt like a G 😂 and it was the best time ever, even though I ducked behind the seat in front when the nazis faces melted off. He was like, get up it's not even that scary but it was to me. Big Time. Because of Indiana Jones and also getting to see the King Tut exhibit in person, I fell in love with history and archeology and I now have a double bachelor's history & anthro and a master's in cultural anthro.

Dude.. you are a good man

That’s two franchises now where Shia LaBeouf’s character dies off screen

I didn’t hate it at all I just felt like it didn’t go anywhere and just sort of ended. The first 35 minutes were perfect…then it drags A LOT in the middle and during the climax it feels like there are no stakes or no one to care about Except Indie and then it ends. Which really sucks tbh :(

The true ending was Last Crusade.

Is it ever explained Why or How Marion is back at the end?

I can wholeheartedly recommend FilmSpeak‘s breakdown video of Dial of Destiny, really great analysis of the films themes and the choices that were made.

I thought it was a blast! I'm a casual enjoyer of Indiana Jones though but it was never boring or lacklustre for me!

I didn’t see Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and I had no plans to see this one. I thought the Last Crusade was the most perfect ending to a trilogy that I didn’t want to spoil it.

Decent review of a movie I'll only ever see in reviews on RU-vid

I actually think it’s on brand for a guy like Indy to not be able to hold onto that happiness. He spent his entire life going on adventures and just wasn’t cut out for a normal life after that

I've read through about 200 comments now, and I think only one has made any reference to Helena, Phoebe Waller Bridge or PWB. This is very unusual compared to many other reviews where she is front and center in the comments. Helena comes across like a cold-blooded narcissist, and her action scenes at a minimum were very unconvincing. She treated Indy with disrespect. Thank you for the video!

I have several mixed opinions on this. It sucks that we've been given yet another just okay Indiana Jones movie, and the fact that this really was the last chance to knock it out of the park with a great finale kind of hurts. That being said, I won't lie and act like I didn't laugh when I heard that Nimona, a movie Disney scrapped for being just a little too gay for them, is pulling in much bigger numbers than their blatant nostalgia pandering.