Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Released in theaters on June 30, 2023
Released on Disney+ TBA
Runtime: 2 Hours 44 Minutes
Rated PG-13
Harrison Ford is back, supposedly for one last adventure, as Indiana Jones in this fifth installment of the franchise that sees him chasing down half of a relic from his past. As the world turns to space travel and the future, we find Indy retiring and stuck in his past. When his goddaughter, Helena Shaw, shows up seeking an artifact her father was obsessed with Indy discovers death, Nazis, and the government follow her. Little plans moving across a map followed by dots, over the top punching sounds during fights, and ones liners are all back as Indy has an adventure at the age of 80!
Themes:
Aging, marriage, adventure, time travel, history, historical relics, dealing with the death of a child, mourning, ingenuity, the spear that pierced Christ, foreign countries, cultures, stealing, the black market, crime lords, scuba diving, family, friendship, betrayal, drinking, trying to forget the past, divorce, Vietnam, space travel, plane crashes, risk vs reward, courage, found family, gangs, retirement, god-children, mathematics, and the ethics of what to do with historical artifacts.
Language:
The d-word crops up five or six times. “Hell” is said about six or seven times, but there is also a protest scene in which people chant and carry signs that say, “Hell no, we won’t go.” They chant this for a few minutes before the scene changes. The word “piss” is used and minor insults. There are also a few religious exclamations.
Stuff to be aware of:
This is your typical Indiana Jones movie. Several people get shot, stabbed, or killed, but nothing is more graphic than other Indy movies. In fact the deaths are far less traumatic than melting faces or hearts being ripped out in former Indy movies. Other things to be aware of: people drinking, someone almost dies from hanging, some intense scuba scenes, a plane crash, a man sleeping in his recliner that is only wearing his boxer shorts. There is a scene with giant centipedes that fall on characters, eels that attack characters, and a few skeletons.
Overall:
I know it has gotten a lot of mixed reviews, but I really enjoyed this movie. Indy’s best adventures, in my opinion, will always be Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. This one isn’t as epic as those two, but it is very enjoyable. Indy and Helena are fun to watch together because they clash. Indy’s “it belongs in a museum” and Helena’s “sell it to the highest bidder” attitudes make for some good interactions. Both characters also grow and develop over the course of the movie. I had several questions about past characters and plots of past movies that all get answered over the course of the movie. The way some of those questions are answered leads to some emotionally sad moments, which you don’t often get in an Indy movie. These moments seem earned after watching the adventurer for as long as we have. Some have complained about the ending. It might be a little far fetched, but so is deadly spirits killing people, working voodoo dolls, the holy grail, and other supernatural things from previous movies.
A few complaints: The first 20-30 minutes of the movie takes place in the past and some of the CGI is better at times than others. I miss the old days when Indy was all done in live action with no CGI. The theme of living with regret and living in the past plays better at some points of the movie than others. Some of the chase scenes happen so fast and so close up it’s a bit hard to see everything at times.
I have seen some criticism of the final act, but I believe it fits the story and Indy’s character arc. As with all the Indy movies there is no mid or after credits scene.