Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

This movie was an interesting one to watch, as my last experience watching Indiana Jones was almost ten years before. But, I recalled liking each of these movies and finding the Crystal Skull to be confusing. So, how does a sequel to the most iconic Harrison Ford franchise hold up over fifteen years after the last? Let's see!

PLOT: Kind of a mess, but a fun one!

These movies have always been fun action movies, but the original three hold up fairly well years after release. While Crystal Skull doesn't get treated very well, these movies do have a sense of thrill and adventure consistent throughout. This one continues the trend, but becomes a blubbering mess by the end of the film. What was originally a plot about a rare artifact made by Archimedes ends up being a story involving elements of time travel, old Nazis, and a German airplane fighting Roman soldiers. While this is very cool in concept, the execution of the plot is a sprawling mess that does keep you consistently entertained. Overall, very fun and boosted by the solid direction of the script for at least half the movie.

CHARACTERS: Oldies are good, new ones are hit or miss.

Nobody in their right mind at this point would doubt that Harrison Ford would give his all as Indy. Additionally, returning cast feel like they're continuing to provide stellar performances and the writing is strong enough to not eliminate them when not needed. But, new characters are fairly flat minus Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Indy's goddaughter. This movie kind of throws away characters who aren't relevant and ignores anyone who isn't important to the plot. Sure, this can work when done right but the amount of new characters means that certain characters get focused over others. It's a weak link in the story.

SHOTS: Actually...

This movie does go hard in some shots, but not always. James Mangold is a well-established director with well-known movies that have great shots. This movie does do that quite a bit, feeling mostly like a translation of concept art into a movie. This means it looks fantastic at times, but the moving shots can feel a bit too busy and sometimes a little off. Action can be fun, but it depends on the shot.

SOUND: Stellar.

The music composed by John Williams will never cease to be iconic and holds this film up by a mile. It's also got great sound design and use of sound throughout the movie. But, obviously everyone here knows John Williams is a legendary composer and has never made a bad soundtrack. It's great.

WRITING: Really, really hit or miss.

This can actually be quite sharp and funny when it wants to be, but then it just has these strangely poor moments of exposition and writing, especially towards the BOTCHED ending. This film has some of the most contrived writing at the end, especially since it feels like they're going one direction but end up going another. I appreciate the moments where they pay homage to old parts, but it falls very close to fanservice. Also on a related note to writing, the choice to kill off one character off-screen who was very important in a previous entry is both hilarious and terrible. I'd be pissed if the actor wasn't so controversial and unliked (no, it's not Short Round).

CONS: Can't tell at all where they rewrote things...

This film suffers from a clear issue in rewrites. The original ending supposedly was going to feature a completely different ending which is clear because the action-packed finale is out of nowhere and even then feels completely out of place. This feels rewritten and underacted in important moments, especially since the ending is supposed to be emotionally charged with a character coming back who hadn't been there all movie.

LITTLE THINGS: The color!

I appreciate the color grading in this film making most scenes visually clear. One thing films like the ones Marvel pushes out have questionable choices regarding choices in color and visual clarity, but this film is stunning at points in its use of color and such. I appreciate a film like this.

VERDICT: A flawed yet fun film compromised in the writing room.

This film started on a strong premise that fell apart in the writing room. It's a shame the original ending got cut, but this film still is strong in areas and holds a great deal of nostalgia and fun for anyone interested in a better movie than the last one. While not the best, it most certainly isn't the worst.

SCORE: 6.5/10