Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny


"I don't believe in magic...but a few times in my life, I've seen things. Things I can't explain. And I've come to believe it's not so much what you believe. It's how hard you believe it."   - Indiana Jones


release year: 2023
genre: action/adventure
viewing setting: home Bluray 1/18/24

synopsis: In 1969, aged adventurer Indiana Jones comes out of retirement, albeit unwillingly, to stop a foe from the past.

impressions: I have mixed feelings about this, for the same reasons I did about the Star Wars sequel trilogy. It's always good to see more adventures with the actors who were there in the beginning, but at the same time, they're much older and it's not the same. Is it better to have as many movies as possible, but with the later ones of less quality? Watch this and decide for yourself. The action scenes and sense of fantasy are definitely here, as are two old friends, some new friends, and also some new enemies. I thought the fourth movie in the series had some mystical/fantastic elements, but this one goes a lot further. It was good, just not the same as the older entries in the series.

acting: Harrison Ford (except for a de-aged version in the opening act) is a lot older and more worn-down, which the character at least acknowledges in the movie. Phoebe Waller-Bridge is his goddaughter, who goes from selfish to less selfish; the character annoyed me. Mads Mikkelsen is an old Nazi with a vision to bring about his party's ultimate victory. Toby Jones and Antonio Banderas have lesser roles as allies, while Boyd Holbrook and hulking bodybuilder Olivier Richters are the evil henchmen. John Rhys-Davies and Karen Allen return to their roles from past films in the series, through neither has much screen time. Ethann Isidore is the young thief/sidekick who helps out.

final word: Entertaining, and seemingly the last entry in this series according to Harrison Ford as well as the studio. If someone decides to make more, they should chronicle Indy's past adventures and use a younger actor.

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