Bullet Points: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
My Indiana Jones fandom goes all the way back to the beginning. The commercials for Raiders of the Lost Ark alone had me hyped beyond belief. Once I actually saw the movie, I went to see it again and again with whatever relative I could convince to take me.
I have to admit, even 40 years later when I saw the trailer for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, I could feel a little of that youthful spark burning inside me… Indiana Jones was coming back for one last hurrah and I knew I was going to be in the theater to witness it as soon as possible…
- Off to a Good Start: Having Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) battle the Nazis as World War II was all but over was a sure fire way to get Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny off to a good start. As the movie begins Indy is behind enemy lines with Basil Shaw (Toby Jones), Indy’s archeological colleague from Oxford. The two are there to save and preserve the Lance of Longinus from being in Nazi hands… but after a wild train ride, Indy and Basil end up with half of the Antikythera, a dial created by Archimedes and a dial that was of extreme interest to Nazi scientist, Dr. Voller (Mads Mikkelsen).
- August 13, 1969: Seeing Indiana Jones battle Nazis was nothing new, seeing an old, crotchety Professor Jones yelling at his neighbor’s loud music in 1969 certainly was. Indy’s neighbors like most of New York City and the country were celebrating “Moon Day”. The celebration included a ticker tape parade welcoming the crew of the Apollo 11 home. Indy is “celebrating” something else however… his retirement from Hunter College. Indy goes to a nearby bar to have a drink and that’s when he is approached by Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), the daughter of his old friend Basil, who he hadn’t seen since she was 12 years old. Indy finds out that Helena followed in her father’s archeological footsteps and wants to continue his Antikythera quest. Indy decides to help her and gives her the half of the Antikythera that he and Basil procured from Dr. Voller decades earlier and that’s when business picks up especially when we find out Dr. Voller is interested in unlocking the power of a fully functional Antikythera.
- If It Ain’t Broke: Much like the start of the movie leaned on Indiana Jones’ long standing rivalry with the Nazis, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny tapped into what has worked in the past. There’s the race between the good guys and the bad guys. Who will find the missing piece of the Antikythera and who will put the pieces together? …There is a bit of a twist thrown in since Helena has a wild side, she does not necessarily share the Indiana Jones philosophy that rare artifacts belong in museums. Helena is in it for the money… of course that may be due to necessity as she has racked up some debts with some powerful and dangerous people over the course of her globetrotting adventures. We also find out that Helena has her own answer to Short Round in the form of Teddy (Ethann Isidore). In fact the two met the exact same way that Indy and Shorty did… Mads Mikkelsen also makes one hell of a Nazi bad guy. Dr. Voller at times resembles Ronald Lacey’s Toht from Raiders (easily one of the most hated characters of my childhood)… Then there’s the action you’d expect from your Indiana Jones movies… bullets flying, fisticuffs, narrow escapes, bullwhipping and multiple chase scenes (one involving tuc tucs).
With everything I just talked about and plenty of callbacks to its predecessors, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a great final chapter for Harrison Ford and the franchise. The James Mangold directed movie is one that any Indy fanatic will want to experience on the big screen.
Any Bonus Bullet Points fanatics will want to keep reading…
- Familiar Faces: If you saw the trailer you know that John Rhys-Davies reprises the role of Sallah, Indy’s longtime friend… We also get to meet another old friend of Indy, Renaldo the best frogman in all of Greece. Renaldo was played by Antonio Banderas of Desperado and The Mask of Zorro fame.
- Least Favorite Scene: My biggest complaint about the movie was probably the underwater action scene. With everyone in scuba gear, I found it tough to follow… plus eels, why did it have to be eels?
- John Williams: As always John Williams’ score is a major part of the enjoyment of any film he is composing for. Williams’ Dial of Destiny score borrows from his past Indiana Jones scores, which goes back to the “if it ain’t broke” theory and ties in with the callbacks featured through out the film.
