Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Directed by James Mangold, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny follows Harrison Ford’s iconic title character as he and a scrappy sidekick (Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Helena) embark on a quest to prevent an evil Nazi (Mads Mikkelsen’s Dr. Voller) from getting his hands on a dangerous artifact. It’s a comfortably familiar setup that’s employed to watchable yet rarely engrossing effect by Mangold, as the filmmaker, armed with a screenplay written alongside Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and David Koepp, delivers an erratically-paced adventure that doesn’t quite achieve liftoff until its bonkers third act – with the movie’s opening stretch, which boasts a distractingly de-aged Indiana Jones, getting off to an especially poor (and underwhelming) start. From there, at least, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny segues into a decent-enough midsection that contains all of the elements one has come to expect from this venerable series – although, by that same token, it’s clear that Mangold generally proves unable to generate the excitement and suspense one might’ve anticipated (it it’s all just so generic and CGI heavy). The agreeable atmosphere is undoubtedly perpetuated by Ford’s commanding and thoroughly magnetic performance, with the actor’s top-notch turn generally compensating for the movie’s lack of memorable, compelling periphery characters (eg Waller-Bridge is ultimately more grating than anything else, unfortunately). By that time that aforementioned larger-than-life third act rolls around (as well as a note perfect final few minutes), Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has cemented its place as a passable capper to a series that probably should’ve been retired after the nigh flawless Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

**1/2 out of ****