 As an 'Indiana Jones' fan, the two most significant considerations I had going into 'Dial of Destiny' the first time around were between preparing myself to see some time travel (which felt just about as out of place for Indy as Aliens did) and being frank; I didn't think it could be worse than 'Crystal Skull.' Still, my expectations were low, and I figured, at the very least, I could have fun with it as long as I didn't take it too seriously. To my surprise, however, I met this with a more positive attitude than expected.
Most fans I've spoken to about this chapter of the 'Indy' series have as many negative things to say about it as they did for 'Crystal Skull.' But speaking for myself, I'd call 'Dial' better. That may not shock any readers, but what will is that I find this on par with, if not better than, 'Temple of Doom.' Unpopular opinion, maybe, but at least this didn't have a screaming damsel in distress the whole way through it so much as a strong female supporting character played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Plot-wise, we open in 1944, when Nazis are in search of another ancient artifact of Christian symbolism in the French Alps. There, the Nazis capture Indy (Harrison Ford) and his accomplice, Basil Shaw (Toby Jones), while they attempt to intercept the relic from them. It all leads to some true Indiana Jones-style action adventure involving a lengthy chase on a train, which eventually leads to Indy getting his hands on this movie's central artifact: half of Archimedes' Dial, aka the "Antikythera," a device that supposedly finds fissures in time, allowing for possible time travel. We then fast-forward to 1969, when an elderly Indy lives a lonely life in New York City. He has since separated from Marion (Karen Allen) for reasons involving their son, Mutt (Shia LaBeouf from 'Crystal Skull'), which are eventually explained. One day, while teaching, he runs into his goddaughter, Helena Shaw (Waller-Bridge), Basil's daughter. She comes to study the dial, which Indy has in his possession after being given it by Basil, promising to destroy it, which he never does. Her plan is to sell the thing on the black market to help support herself and her own Short Round character, Teddy (Ethann Isidore). Of course, Indy won't have any of that because something like this "belongs in a museum!" Before the trio (including Teddy) know it, however, they come face to face with Indy's old kidnapper, the Nazi Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), who looks way too young. Anyway, this guy now works for NASA under the guise of "Dr. Schmidt" and is also after the dial. The whole thing ends up being a classic 'Indiana Jones' execution as it involves Indy (and company) keeping evil from getting its hands on something with great power. Along the way, we learn a thing or two, have some fun, and embrace a bit of true adventure. The film isn't even close to being on par with 'Raiders' (which can be considered "classic" Indy) or 'Crusade' (which I consider "perfect" Indy). But I might place it slightly above 'Temple,' which is "classic" Indy in its unique way to many, and I'm not here to undermine that. But the lead female character is much better here, and that's just enough for me to like 'Dial' better overall, even though 'Temple' still has that twisted nostalgic tie to it. It's almost a coin flip for me. Both films top 'Crystal Skull,' but neither comes close to 'Raiders' or 'Last Crusade.' I also appreciate some fan service here, as I didn't feel it went overboard. It was remarkable that you get a lot of that "classic" Indy through a lot of the movie. The chase scenes are fun, the dialogue is pretty humorous, and it's not a bad way for Indiana Jones to part ways with us once and for all (or so it is said), potentially passing the torch to Helena, who quite honestly would work well as a female replacement for Indy once he hangs up his hat. I can't say I came out of it altogether "impressed," but this is a satisfying step up from 'Crystal Skull.' 3/5
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 There was a time when most 'Indiana Jones' fans considered 'Last Crusade' to be Indy's final outing. It was everything it needed to be for an 'Indy' flick, it was about the search for the ultimate treasure, and it even ended with our heroes riding off into the sunset to that epic theme music from John Williams. It would have been a glowing film to leave the franchise on, and between that and this, there was nearly a twenty-year gap! However, for better or worse, the nostalgia bug caught Indy and brought him back for another film.
I really can't deny that at the time, I was psyched as all hell. I always understood that Harrison Ford felt like he was in his element when it came to playing Indiana Jones, and I looked forward to seeing him have fun with the role again. The poster looked traditional, and the teaser trailer looked right. I was excited that after so long, I would be able to watch an 'Indiana Jones' movie on the big screen. Unfortunately, however, for me and most other 'Indy' fans, it didn't quite deliver what we expected and went places that didn't feel right for an 'Indiana Jones' movie. The film opens immediately by jarring its audience with the song "You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog" and a CG gopher, immediately telling us that some practical effects and stunts we've all grown to love will be replaced by CG effects, almost dated for the time, as well as rock & roll over the traditional orchestra of John Williams. When I first saw this, I second-guessed what movie I was in for a split second. But hey, maybe the film picks up after that. After all, that was an opening scene, and to be perfectly fair to the music, it does take place in the 50s, so we can call that a nitpick, even though I'm not alone on how irksome I find it. Taking place in 1957, 19 years after 'Last Crusade,' Indy (Harrison Ford) is kidnapped by KGB agents, along with his partner, George "Mac" McHale (Ray Winstone). The Russians, with these two in their trunk, infiltrate a secret government base in Nevada, labelled "Hangar 51", an obvious nod to Area 51. I will give the film a certain amount of creative credit in that it holds onto the supernatural element, and considering the "Roswell Incident" that occurred ten years earlier, I understand why (spoiler alert) they went with alien hubbub. But it was a swing and a miss. None of us fans got it, and most still don't. Getting back to the plot, however, the Russians, led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), make Indy retrieve what seems to be an alien corpse from Hangar 51, which he was once forced to help recover from the Roswell crash. After the opening scene sets up how sci-fi the movie will probably be, we eventually meet a kid named Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) who finds Indy and informs him that his former colleague, Harold Oxley (John Hurt), has gone missing, possibly on account of a crystal skull he dug up. It's reminiscent of the idea in 'Last Crusade' when Indy's father goes missing, as Indy and Mutt go looking for Ox, but also pick up his archaeological trail where he left off. The other thing that gets Indy in gear to help Mutt out is that Mutt's mother, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), of 'Raiders' fame, is also missing. Now, it's up to Indy and Mutt to find and rescue Marion and Ox from their Russian captors and figure out the mysterious crystal skull's purpose. I would say that everything that happens here is more unrealistic than anything we've seen yet, but in all fairness, it's relatively parallel to 'Temple of Doom' for unbelievability. That said, the CG ruins a LOT of what this movie could have been, so 'Temple' is still better on an effects level. Aside from effects, the film fed me other pet peeves, like having Indy and Marion be the bickering couple "for laughs," or how obvious it is to any Indiana Jones fan just who Mutt is, considering a closing joke in 'Last Crusade' along with who his mother happens to be. This chapter, for me, is the biggest letdown of all the 'Indiana Jones' films made over the years. I'll credit them for attempting something new and different, even if it failed. But before this movie happened, some ideas included searching for Atlantis or King Arthur's sword, Excalibur. This movie just went too far outside the box. 2/5  For many, 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' is still the pinnacle of 'Indiana Jones.' And who can argue? 'Raiders' is an incredible adventure and IS the all-around classic of the series, setting the bar for adventure movies. But for me, 'Last Crusade' is everything an 'Indiana Jones film should be: taking everything good about 'Raiders' and just adding to it by bringing in new characters, bringing back old characters, and making it about the search for the Holy Grail - the ultimate find for any archaeologist.
I was introduced to this one through my brother, and it's one of the few movies that, to this day, we can both watch and have an equal amount of fun with. I consider this title a bonding experience for us, much like it was for my Dad and him when they caught it in theatres. I stayed home with Mom because, at age 6, it probably would have been a terrible idea. Regardless, when I finally saw it on the now stone-aged tech that is VHS, I had a lot of fun with it (save for the "rapid aging" scene), and eventually, it became MY 'Indiana Jones' film. The film opens with a flashback, seeing everything that created the Indiana Jones character as we know him. One could almost consider it a fun pre-film short in which a young Indiana Jones (River Phoenix) gets chased by a few grave robbers, led by a man credited as "Fedora" (Richard Young). These robbers have found the golden cross of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado. Indy, afraid they'll take it for their own, underhanded purposes, intercepts it, arguing that it "BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!". Through this chase on horseback and a moving circus train, this young boy scout becomes Indiana Jones, all in one go. Moving things along, we eventually reach 1938, where Indy (Harrison Ford) teaches a class of professor-crush-stricken girls. Eventually, he gets approached with an archeological "mission." Indy meets with a collector of rare artifacts, Walter Donovan (Julian Glover), who tells him he could be on the right track to finding the one and only Holy Grail. He needs a little help now that his lead expert is missing: Indy's Dad, Henry (Sean Connery). With that, Indy meets up with Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliot), and the pair head to Venice, Italy, to meet Henry's colleague, Dr. Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody). Indy is there to find and rescue his father, but he has still been tasked and financially backed by Donovan to locate the Grail, so Venice is where everything starts. Eventually, Indy finds himself up against a group of Nazis who are also interested in the Grail, along with others, like the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword - an order who has protected the Grail from being found all of these years. The film also portrays Indy's complex relationship with his father and gives us a little hint at what his childhood may have been like expanding his character that much more. While Connery and Ford play very well off each other, and it's cool to see Marcus Brody get a bit more screen time than he did in 'Raiders,' another returning friendly face here is Sallah (John Rhys-Davies). Most of the film's comedic performances come from Brody and Sallah, but Indy and Henry also have some of the best exchanges in the movie. Things are a lot funnier here than they were with the previous two films, which is another way they took everything good about 'Raiders' (not quite as much 'Temple') and turned it up. While everyone has their version of the best 'Indiana Jones' title, for yours truly, it goes to 'Last Crusade' with almost no competition. This is a movie that defines a movie that has "everything." There is action; there is drama; there is adventure; there is comedy; there is horror; there's even a tiny bit of romance or at least romantic charm. If you're looking for everything an 'Indiana Jones' movie should be, 'Last Crusade,' sets the bar even higher than it was originally set with 'Raiders.' I daresay, it's a damn near perfect movie. 5/5  It's an interesting thought, but I'm about 90% sure that my 'Indiana Jones' viewing all started with 'Temple of Doom.' This is extraordinarily strange, as I was a kid who was afraid of almost everything. For some reason, I could sit through this and all the trauma it had to offer with no issue but would have to leave the room for certain other things. The only thing I can come up with is that as a kid that young, I probably didn't know or understand what I was looking at. One of the heroes in this was also a kid, so relatability.
Childhood aside, however, over the past few years, this has been pointed out mainly as the second-weakest of the 'Indiana Jones' titles, with 'Crystal Skull' firmly and agreeably at #1. But with that said, my generation grew up taking this entry as the most fun and the one they tie their nostalgia to. I'm a 'Last Crusade' guy, hands-down, but I also can't deny that there is something to this that makes it extra fun. It may be the horror elements and danger, or it doesn't take itself seriously in some ways, but this is a hell of a ride. Our film opens preceding the events of 'Raiders' in 1935 Shanghai, where Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is making a deal with crime boss Lao Che (Roy Chiao). We are simultaneously introduced to nightclub singer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw), who is inadvertently in tow with Indy and his new sidekick, Short Round (Ke Huy Quan). They board a trap of a plane set up by Lao Che only to miraculously and frankly, impossibly survive a plane crash, ending up in the jungles of India. Here, a quaint village asks for their help finding their village's sacred stone and their missing children. Indy agrees to head to Pankot Palace, along with Willie and Shorty, and they are greeted with open arms. The trio is then allowed to attend a banquet hosted by the young Maharajah (Raj Singh), which has since become one of the more famous scenes in the film. Here, we get into Indy's theory that an ancient, evil cult known as the Thugee may return to power, hence the missing children and sacred stone, which Indy theorizes is one of the five sacred Shankara stones. Of course, more famously, in this conversation, there is a great deal of disgusting food, from "Snake Surprise" to "Chilled Monkey Brains." Later that night, Indy is attacked by an assassin but overwhelms him, and his journey to find out what's at the bottom of this mystery is set in motion. With that, Indy, Willie and Shorty eventually find themselves face to face with the living nightmare of a Thugee ceremony. It involves plenty of scary behaviour, including chanting, heart-ripping and being sent into a pit of fire whilst imprisoned in a cage. To add to all that, we also get child slavery and aspects of voodoo, and it even leads to seeing Indy at what I'd argue is his weakest. While things get pretty scary throughout the film, those horror elements are well-matched with moments of adventure that we've come to know Indiana Jones for, the best of which comes as the film reaches its climax. Even unrealistic scenes like the inflatable raft saving the trio from certain death or the mine cart scene are super fun to watch, even today, as they surround the horror elements with the pure adventure we came to see. The film's fatal flaw, however, is Willie. She doesn't need to be there by any means, and she's only there to be a damsel in distress. She's by far the most grating of the Indy girls. This chapter isn't my favourite of the series, but I still have a good time watching it despite any flaws. While Willie is annoying to me, I'm in the school of kids who grew up seeing Short Round as a bit of a personal hero, a kid who could hold his own and take care of himself, complete with funny one-liners like "Hold on to your potatoes!" While the movie is full of impossible moments that even 'Mythbusters' has personally tackled, I can't deny that watching it is still a good time, even if a lot of that good time is tied to my nostalgia. 3/5  When you think of who the "Poster Boy" for adventure is, you'd be hard-pressed not to have Indiana Jones pop into your head. We're talking about how, before games like Tomb Raider and Uncharted came along, we could live the Indiana Jones lifestyle through them. A big takeaway from my childhood, 'Indiana Jones' was one of the first names I knew in movies, largely thanks to my brother, who was (and I believe still is) a massive fan. If my big deal was 'Ghostbusters,' his was 'Indy.'
What can I say about this movie? 'Raiders' is still a classic, but it is only matched by its eventual second sequel, 'Last Crusade' (in my opinion). Every time I sit down to watch this, it reminds me how they don't make them like this anymore. With a few exceptions, adventure movies nowadays are primarily (and, to be fair, often well-done) CG-heavy. Adventure movies are mostly superhero movies. But if you want to define the adventure genre, 'Raiders' is practically the pinnacle of quality. The famous and often parodied opening scene plays out, pulling us into the film and telling us everything we need to know about Indy's character. Otherwise, rather unassuming, Indy lives as a professor at Marshall College. One day, he gets a visit from friend and colleague Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott), who takes him to meet a couple of Army Intelligence agents. Here, he learns that Nazis are in search of an artifact of significant power, which we find out is probably the fabled Ark of the Covenant. With it, Hitler's armies could become unstoppable. Indy gets hired to intercept the Ark before the Nazis get hold of it and unleash a potential Hell on Earth. During this race, Indy reunites with a couple of old friends. First, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), with whom Indy once had a secret relationship. She happens to have a medallion that Indy needs to find the Ark's location, and she soon partners up with him. Second, Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) is a friend of Indy's and is known to be one of the best diggers in Cairo. But Nazis and other mercenaries make their search rather tricky. Among the more notable of the baddies are Indy's rival archaeologist, Belloq (Paul Freeman), and the far creepier Gestapo Toht (Ronald Lacey), both helping the Nazis reach their goal, each with their reasons for doing so. While as an adult, I can appreciate Belloq a bit more as the main baddie here, as a kid, I always saw Toht as much more sinister and creepy, with his Peter Lorre-like demeanour and a sense of mystery behind him. It's another good example of a film where the perspective changes as you grow up with it. Overall, no matter how often I watch this movie, certain scenes will always hit me with that feeling I had when I was a kid - cheering on Indy as some superhero without a cape. The opening scene has become synonymous with what the "Adventure" genre should look like. With its practicality, lack of CG, and actual stunts, the car chase scene holds up FAR better than anything they did similarly in 'Crystal Skull.' Even the big, climactic scene that DOES look cheesy by today's standards reminds me how 'Indiana Jones' is responsible for some of my first genuine scares. 'Raiders' is probably the most essential adventure movie ever made. I've always considered it the sort of "set bar" for the genre. Perhaps that's because it was significant in our household, but I mean it when I say there's nothing quite like it. Often imitated, never duplicated, 'Raiders' holds a sort of importance to it when it comes to good filmmaking, complete with a solid story, memorable characters, rivetting scenes complete with music that gets you in the mood to see some action, the list goes on. It's pure entertainment, through and through. 5/5 |
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