Movie Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Z28Camaro

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CMNTMXR57

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We just got back from it. Went to Marcus and saw it on the Ultra-screen. I won't give away details until more have seen it, but I would give it maybe a 6, maybe 7 out of 10. Sallah is in it early. Marion doesn't come in until the end and I will say that there is a role reversal between the two of them from Raiders (even the music behind it) to pay homage to the original (despite not holding water anymore to certain individuals). It is pretty much non-stop action, so being that the movie is 2.5 hours, there really isn't much of a lull in it.

I can't say I really like Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge). Her "know it all" attitude, constant betrayal of Indy and then when they have to work together, their just is no chemistry. And her side-kick Teddy, is a throwback to Indy and Short-Round in Temple of doom.
 
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CMNTMXR57

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Ok, this review on IMDB kinda sums up my feelings on it. They gave it a 4 out of 10. I might add more to my dislike for Helena than this reviewer did though, and my higher rating is that I feel this is better than Crystal Skull.

Indiana Jones survives the events of his fifth adventure, yet the character George Lucas and Steven Spielberg brought to life in 1981 dies, well and truly... It's a shameful paradox Disney have orchestrated for the once-iconic part-time professor, in his dreary, uninspiring, dime-a-dozen "send-off"... Producer Kathleen Kennedy and Director James Mangold are primarily to blame, as are stars Harrison Ford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Broadly, the biggest problem I can point to, right off-the-bat, is the plot itself. If this is sincerely to be the last time we'll ever see Indiana Jones (which it certainly is) why choose to tell THIS particular story?

Apparently, there's a titular dial called Antikythera, invented by the Syracusan mathematician Archimedes, capable of "locating fissures in time". That's how the movie explains it early on anyway, as if they're embarrassed to flat-out call it time-travel... The prologue features a de-aged Harrison Ford, up to some vintage shenanigans aboard a train in Poland, and look, I guess this scene tricks you into believing it's an actual Indiana Jones movie (briefly, mind you). Thomas Kretschmann shows up as a Nazi Lieutenant, and by all accounts, is the best antagonist in the movie. Meanwhile, Mads Mikkelson has his talents as an actor relegated by big-budget studios (yet again), opting to have him play a substandard villain instead. Just as baffling, is Boyd Holbrook's presence. A good actor, proving his chops as the bad guy in another James Mangold-directed feature, Logan (2017) - here given absolutely zero to do besides chase Indiana Jones and fire-off his pistol occasionally. Shaunette Renée Wilson appears solely to fill Disney's ethnic quota. That surely reads harsh, but I see no narrative purpose for her character. She's on the fence about the true allegiances of the U. S Agents she's working alongside... Then gets betrayed. This ties-up which plot-thread exactly? We already know Dr. Voller is a Nazi, so why play catch-up with her? The movie runs over two hours and thirty minutes due to filler like this... Antonio Banderas gets five minutes of screen-time before getting shot dead. Was there any reason Disney hired an actor of this caliber for such a minor role? He could've easily portrayed a major ally, as opposed to John Rhys Davies, reprising his role as Sallah for a lethargic, barely limber cameo. Ethann Isidore plays a discount Short-Round (Ke Huy Quan) called Teddy, who's also an adequate pilot. It's like the movie's aware of how farcical a detail this is, so near the finale, a military flyer happens to be sleeping in the back of a plane this kid commandeers. A military flyer. Sleeping in the back of a WWII-era bomber... How convenient. God forbid Teddy needs assistance up there... By the way, Phoebe Waller-Bridge's character, Helena Shaw, somehow knows they'll need another flight back from 212 B. C (more on that later) so instructs for Teddy, her sidekick, to hijack that aircraft in particular. She doesn't accompany Teddy though, but finds a motorcycle on which she can pursue Indiana Jones, captive onboard another plane, mid take-off... The convolution cannot be overstated. Why not go with the kid on his first-ever flight? What you're left with is a logical error, that needed to be resolved during rewrites.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge has no business appearing in an Indiana Jones movie, at least not to this specific capacity. She can be endearing, had the writers attempted to present her in such a light, and her wry sense of humour from Fleabag (2016 - 2019) doesn't necessarily come in handy here. "Resourceful, daring, beautiful, self-sufficient" is how Helena Shaw describes herself, verbatim, during a boring chase sequence through Tangier. This description is contrived enough to make a sensible audience member roll their eyes, and then, worse still, unnatural enough to take you out of the moment. Dangerous high-speed scenario, yeah? But forget about that for a sec, Helena needs to list-off her best feminine traits... Kathleen Kennedy won't tolerate subtlety I guess.

The movie's budget allegedly tops-off at 300 Million Dollars, U. S. And in every major shot, from the trailers and in the final product, unfortunately, I can identify the subpar CGI, blatant green-screens and unconvincing body-doubles... It's unacceptable. There's a scuba diving sequence which isn't filmed underwater for instance. Take a VFX shot from any of the previous four movies, yes, even Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)... And I guarantee you, they'll be of a higher quality than what is presented here. Apparently, Disney's VFX Artists are underpaid, but I still can't wrap my head around those 300 Million Dollars... Where'd the money go? And who knew an Indiana Jones movie could look so ugly? It makes all those snide complaints about CGI prairie-dogs in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) seem redundant.

Furthermore, The Dial of Destiny (2023) makes it abundantly clear how underrated Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) is anyway. Mutt Williams (Shia LeBeouf) is nowhere to be found, and declined to return around the same time Steven Spielberg bowed out. The film chalks-up Mutt's absence to an off-screen death whilst serving in Vietnam - also the root cause of Indy's alcoholism and break-up with Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), believe it or not. The narrative through-line between the fourth and fifth movies just feels jarring as a result. We literally end Kingdom (2008) with a wedding and open The Dial of Destiny (2023) with a divorce..? I'm sorry, did I miss something? Could this same exact story have occurred with Mutt and Marion by Indy's side? Absolutely. What's with this trending creative urge to make old heroes depressed? It doesn't elevate any of the material here, and that's a shame, because Harrison Ford tries his best to accomodate the forced screenplay... What a waste. I guess the focus needs to be on Indy and his goddaughter, yet their relationship isn't particularly involving. Just conceptually even, it's a stretch. "Goddaughter"? She might as well be his next-door neighbour.

The climax is where I gave up. Indiana Jones travels back in time to 212 B. C and witnesses the Siege of Syracuse. The whole set-piece is ugly and overproduced. Sure, the finales of Indiana Jones movies have generally been outlandish... And yet, they remain tasteful. They're guided by Spielberg's direction and Lucas's imagination... I can't imagine they'd ever concoct something like this though. And they've been known to go wild, too... But you need to know how and why you're going wild. James Mangold has no clue, and thus crosses the line into pure, unadulterated nonsense. Aesthetically, none of these images can fit-in with the rest of the series... Antikythera is revealed to be a one-way time portal only... And yet, Indiana Jones begs Helena Shaw to leave him at this place and moment in time, inexplicably. Because what else could be waiting for him in 1969, after-all? He drinks in excess, his wife's left him and his son's died sometime after enlisting in Vietnam... Just to "piss him off", apparently. I could've sworn they overcame any hard feelings by the end of Kingdom (2008)... Anyway, Helena insists there's no reason for him to remain in 212 B. C either, and the audience agrees with her for all the wrong reasons. Helena shouldn't have to convince Indiana Jones, a scientist, first and foremost, of the potential ramifications in disturbing the space-time continuum. She shouldn't have to knock him out either. Again, a creative detour I'm sure Kathleen Kennedy had complete control over. Did nobody at Lucasfilm think to maybe oppose that gesture? Is Helena punching Indiana supposed to be funny, noble, selfish or heroic? I'm not sure. Neither was anyone behind the camera. Indiana Jones wakes up in his New York City apartment, where Marion Ravenwood returns bearing groceries. She'd been called over by Helena, a person she's never met in her life, to rekindle the ageing flame with her former spouse... Indy and Marion then reenact the scene from the ship in Raiders (1981), in what is potentially the most uncomfortable, nostalgia-pandering conclusion they could've gone for... Yikes.

Lucas' and Spielberg's departures were the first red flag. The actual preamble didn't instil anybody with much hope either, especially after those woeful early reviews from Cannes... I was optimistic. I had to be. John Williams was gonna be scoring after-all. The soundtrack itself is nothing remarkable, and that's almost a positive commentary, when the film it's attached to is so mournful.
 

IDAFC21

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This is on D+ now so I watched it last night. And finally watched the pitch meeting SpeedSpeak2me SpeedSpeak2me :ROFLMAO:

It's definitely better than crystal skull. De-aged Ford actually didn't look that bad, and that whole sequence in the beginning was awesome, but there's no de-aging his 80 year old voice...

I actually think the most disturbing part of the movie was

Teddy handcuffing that dude to the metal grate underwater and leaving him. I mean he just straight up murdered him :ROFLMAO: I mean i know he was a nazi, but still. The comic relief/sidekick isnt supposed to kill anyone! Short Round never killed nobody! That we know of.
 

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I didn't dislike Mutt though at times the characterization was like he was channeling a character from one of the 80's movies like Rumblefish (remember those movies?).

Helena at times was a bit icy.

Indy in the last movie at times too effectively focused on what he would be like in his late 70s. Ford and Spielberg reportedly wanted that vibe and well they crushed that aspect but at times it was liking look at people my parent's age (75-80 years old) running around.
 

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