I finally managed to catch Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny this Saturday and I wrote this article the day after on Sunday. One question I wanted to explore as a big Indy fan was, where does Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny rank against the rest of the franchise. I’ll also review the movie myself as I discuss where I see it fitting and why.
I’ll start with my current rankings, movies only, and take it from there. This won’t be everyone’s list, but it is mine.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (In my all time top five)
The Last Crusade
Temple of Doom
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
However, it would be fair to say that there’s a sizable gap for me between Temple of Doom and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I should therefore start by saying I’m not a fan of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I don’t think it’s an awful movie, but it is not a great movie either and I think that is true for the first three movies.
Some of my issues with KOTCS were the silliness and a plot that didn’t seem to…matter. However, you’re here to read about the new movie.
There will be plot SPOILERS here folks, this is not SPOILER free so bear that in mind going in.
The Dial of Destiny
Honestly, there are a lot of things I liked about Dial of Destiny. The movie loses a lot of silliness that was present in KOTCS, which for me was the right way to go tonally. By that I mean, the tone of DoD is more in tune with that of Raiders or Temple of Doom. Dial of Destiny doesn’t have any of the comedy present in Last Crusade and neither it should. I feel like that movie was the outlier (until KOTCS went even harder) and therefore I’m pleased this goes a bit more serious.
Unlike Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the plot of this story seemed to matter. You could actually argue like Raiders, the same events would have happened had Indy not intervened. However, when people level that as a criticism I always say it’s irrelevant. The fact the characters think it will matter is what is important. Now, unless you think going back in time to help the Nazi’s win the war isn’t an important thing to stop, you may well agree with me that the plot matters here.
Does it Work?
Yet, was that a good and convincing plot when all laid out? Erm, not really.
Just to get this right, the film’s baddie Voller blames Hitler for losing the War. Is his plan to go back and give Hitler the information he needs to right his wrongs and ensure a Nazi victory? No, instead his plan is to assassinate Hitler in 1939.
Really? Isn’t that the plot of many other time travel stories where the good guys are trying to kill off Hitler. Does Voller believe after that he won’t just be shot immediately and therefore unable to explain the future events to anyone of importance? Does he believe that Himmler or someone like that would do a better job? That’s how it would have worked. I guess he may have made Hitler a martyr, which may have done something? However, you can I think, see my frustration.
Character arcs
As of right now I’ve given some good and some bad and this will continue when we get to character arcs. We’ll start with the main man himself. I like Indy’s character arc here, however I don’t think it was executed as well as it could have been. Cutting it short, Indy’s arc is that he is learning to deal with his grief over the loss of his son in war. The loss has caused he and his wife Marion to split. Indy is old and he’s also lonely and drinking too much.
Retirement is here finally and whilst he get’s a good send off from his former colleagues, Indy simply doesn’t care and has nothing to look forward to. Its a bold choice for how this went and it also allows us to finally see Ford delivering something akin to his younger days for the first time in a while. Clearly Ford cares about this story and he sells this Indy to you. There’s a reluctance to have an adventure here that we haven’t seen yet with Indy.
Suggestions
Honestly, Ford is the best thing in this movie, which may not come as a huge surprise, but I didn’t feel that way about the return of Han Solo. However, whilst a character arc may seems good on paper, it;s about how we as an audience feel a part of that arc and this is where Dial of Destiny doesn’t quite cut it for me.
We end with Indy and Marion getting back together and him realizing he still has a family and friends to live for. As I said, this is a cool arc on paper, but I never felt it was executed well. The movie should have been a journey of reluctance on Indy’s part to end up with some sense of enjoyment and a him coming to the realization he wants Marion back on his own. Instead, we get Indy staying roughly the same and then being forcibly stopped from throwing his life away. Only to wake up and find his family there.
RELATED: What to Watch This Weekend – Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Why not have Indy come to this decision himself throughout the course of the movie?
You could even have had the bad guy tempt Indy with allowing him to stop his son from dying if he helped them. There are so many missed opportunities to add these elements into the story, so that Indy makes the choice that messing with time is wrong and he has to accept his fate. Have him skirt with the idea of staying in the past at the end (not 1939), but a word from Helena to remind him of some deep conversation they had earlier brings him back home on his own.
As things stand the emotional pay off does not feel earned throughout the movie. That’s perhaps what frustrated me most about Dial of Destiny.
Indy 5 Bad?
Actually, there really is a good damned movie here under the hood. However that’s never seen by the writer/director. Not once after Indy first talks about Mutt’s death does Helena try and get inside his head. Instead it’s always Indy playing the life coach to ‘Wombat’ for her character arc. Don’t get me wrong, Helena’s arc is fine, it’s the same one Indy has in Temple of Doom. Yet, when things change for Helena they just, change, I’m not sure we saw that change coming in anyway before the underwater scene. Let’s see some doubt or indecision prior for example Mr. Mangold.
Ultimately I’m just gonna say it, James Mangold is not all that. I felt like Logan touched upon some of these areas and also failed to fully pull the drama that could be from the canvass in front of him. I never got the universal praise for that movie and I feel the same here. Good ideas, which needed a good director to come in and say, ‘this is the movie, not this, let’s focus on this emotional side more’. If I can spot these opportunities watching a finished cut of the movie once, then a good director should be seeing this at the dailies stages and imagining the finished cut in his head. Dial of Destiny feels like they shot the script page for page and then went home.
Bad Guys
Ah, the bad guys were a bit weak for me, I have to say. Using the Nazi’s again, good idea. Basic plot to rewrite history was decent, whilst also completely unoriginal.
Yet, when you see the bad guys on screen and see the plan on film, it’s a bit crap. There are like three bad guys. Voller and his two Nazi converts one of which seems to be a mute and was just chosen because he’s a big guy and every Indy movie has a big guy. Indy doesn’t even get to off the big guy in a creative way, which totally defeats the purpose of having the big guy in the movie, but okay. Holbrook’s character is just so one dimensional they could have spent less by hiring someone less famous. His character is, ‘I am evil and will kill anyone or anything if my boss tells me’, end of story.
His name in the movie is Klaber, very German. Yet, for all intents and purposes he appeared to be very American heritage and a convert rather than one of Voller’s old Nazi buddies. There are other henchman, but they annoyingly only multiply when needed. Need Indy and co to kill a few people? The crew magically grows by one or two people. Then, it’s back to the core three bad guys, then it randomly ramps up again when required. This is of course despite them trotting all over the globe.
Suggestions
Here’s an idea, have Voller be in charge of a large fourth Reich conspiracy group who hopes to take over America. This would give Voller the resources he needs. Instead, he works with the CIA, until he ditches them when they no longer prove useful. Oh, and they simply don’t appear back in the movie after that. I almost feel like they were cared to go down that route because of current real world implications.
The main bad guy Voller is fine and Mikkelsen does a good job. However, they really should have had Indy make fun of him when he reveals his plot is to kill Hitler and have Indy point out how he’s not thought it through (he’s not). This would have helped if done just before Indy discovers they are not going where Voller thinks they are. Both as a double whammy, boom, bad guy’s whole plan in bits because he rushed into it.
That would have felt completely in toe with an Indy film. Have Indy laugh at him and point out the holes, then immediately go into his part about continental drift. We could see Voller growing more frustrated through the conversation until that moment when he tells the pilot (too late) to turn around.
Conclusion
So far we have a plot that almost makes sense but needs some tweaks, some character arcs which work in theory but are poorly executed and some bad guys which almost work but were poorly executed. I think it’s fair to say I don’t love Dial of Destiny. Instead I am more frustrated that there is an A movie in there under more capable hands. I just don’t see those hands being shaped like James Mangold. It took me less than 24 hours to think of five or six great additions to this script which c be easily pulled off prior to shooting. Imagine what any decent script doctor could do if given the script prior to shooting? Lucasfilm, you have my contact details.
That’s what I see from Dial of Destiny, a script with untapped potential and a finished movie to match. I don’t rate Mangold for his writing or direction in this movie, because to me he got the basics right and nothing more.
No Magic
Dial of Destiny still has some good, namely Harrison Ford’s performance and some decent stunt’s and chases. However, it feels like someone else has taken over (they did) and I’m not sure I like the new guy. This is overall a better movie than KOTCS because you won’t be cringing during this like you were when Mutt was swinging like Tarzan, or Indy was being pulled out quicksand by the most rubber snake ever seen on screen.
You won’t cringe watching Dial of Destiny, but you also won’t feel any of the magic that made you fall in love with Indiana Jones. It’s a more emotionally complete bookend than KOTCS was. However, ultimately I’d watch any of the first three before the final two. Also, I guess Indy does act like an old man in this movie, whereas in KOTCS he acted like he was in his late 40’s. That part actually works and provides some humor.
Dial of Destiny sits 4th on my list now. However, there is still a sizable gap between Temple and Dial of Destiny for me.
GRADE: B-
Where does Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny rank against the rest of the franchise. For me it’s the fourth best out of five and yet still nowhere near the first three. If that sounds good enough for you, then you’ll like this movie. If not, then it may be touch and go. Unlike some other Indy movies Dial of Destiny is not an action blockbuster for all ages. a father and his young son, left the movie after thirty minutes when we saw it, and honestly I might have felt the same as an under 7 year old.
So far the movie has performed poorly at the box office and it does not surprise me. This is not a summer blockbuster but a film more designed for the mature Indy fans of the past. Sadly, it does not quite hit that target audience either for me, but I appreciate the shoutout anyway.
Where do you rank Dial of Destiny within the Indiana Jones franchise? Agree, or disagree with my takes? thoughts below as always.
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