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Indiana Jones and Dial of Destiny (2023)

Indiana Jones is a series that is much loved. Personally I think that Last Crusade is the best one of the original trilogy but i could accept peoples argument for the others being their favourite. The film sees Indy travelling with his god-daughter played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and get two pieces of a dial which Mads Mikkelsen’s Dr Juergen Voller is trying to get so he can go back in time to change the outcome of the Second World War.

Harrison Ford is as good as ever as Indy although the de-aging was slightly off pointing. It’s not that he didn’t look like 1980’s Indy but he didn't sound like 1980’s Indy so there was a mish-mash of two Indy’s which at first was off putting.

The main problem with the film is that Helena Shaw is clearing being set up as the new lead but she is so unlikeable that no one would really care about her. She actually admits that she is only looking for the dial because she wants the fame. This is what they want their strong female lead’s motivation to be. Her lack of connection is not helped by the fact that Phoebe Waller-Bridge is just terrible as Helena. I haven’t seen Fleabag but either she messed up what the character was suppose to be or the screenplay did but something went wrong because you need the character to be likeable to a certain extent and its well in the second hour of the film before she becomes more likeable but by that point no one really cares.

The less said about how stupid the time travel portion of the film, the better. I never thought that they could come up with a worse idea than aliens in a Indy film, but they managed it with this film and it was as this point the film went off the rails for me. Up until this point, the film at least (despite its flaws) came across as an Indy film but then it was like the writers threw their hands up in the air and admitted they didnt know what to do with the plot. That is where $300 million can get you. Remember that this film cost $300 million dollars ($350 million depending on other reports).

I like James Mangold as a director but to be honest can’t see what he was able to bring to the picture. Logan was a brilliant movie and arguably one of the best featuring a Marvel character but this was a massive disappointment and it’s a shame that it turned out the way it did. Dial of Destiny is not as bad as Kingdom of the Crystal Skull but that was an easy bar to clear. But there is no way on earth that anyone involved in this film can say with their hand of their heart that this is the way that they wanted Indiana Jones to end. It’s clear that they were trying to make Helena Shaw the new Indy but this was such a bad attempt to spawn a spin-off that I doubt we will be seeing Helena in any films anytime soon. This film exists purely because….. I don’t actually know what. It has been 15 years since Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and no one was really itching to see an 81 Indiana Jones hobbling around and there didnt really seem to be much enthusiasm for this film other than the desire to bring out a recognisable franchise back to help Disney line their pockets because everything else seems to be failing (mainly at Marvel).

Goodbye Indy, at least we will have the trilogy to remember you by.

Rating - 3.5/5

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