A treasure trove of nostalgia, thrills, laughs and heart, INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY is a terrific coda for Harrison Ford's beloved character.
For the last month, critics have been less than kind to Indy's final adventure. Ignore them, grab your whip and get ready for an enjoyable mashup of everything you've loved about Indy for over 40 years.
The opening sequence is my favorite of all the films as we are plunged into the final days of World War II and the Nazi's quest to find religious relics to give Hitler power. (anyone remember that quest for the ark of the covenant?)
As John Williams new score (loaded with all the themes we love) soars and the war explodes all around you, a spy is discovered and dragged onto the Nazi's train that's about to leave with all their treasure bounty. That spy is Indiana Jones and through incredible CGI, it's the young Harrison Ford from "Raiders". The technology has come so far from the "young" Jeff Bridges in "Tron: Legacy" 13 years ago, its astonishing. Flawless.
Indy and his partner Basil (a terrific Toby Jones) meet the particularly nasty Colonel Weber (Thomas Kretschmann from Peter Jackson's "King Kong") and Nazi scientist Dr. Voller (the reliably evil Mads Mikkelsen from "Casino Royale") who's on the quest for the ultimate ancient relic.
The Antikythera is the legendary machine that finds fissures in time. Talk about power! It's on the train and as it changes hands from Indy to Voller to Weber and back to Indy, the action sequence takes place across, over and through the long Nazi train barreling through the mountains in the middle of the night. The Lucasfilm effects team is at the peak of their powers, immersing you in the action on a massive scale. We saw the film in IMAX and we WERE on the train. It's a fantastic piece of film making and Director James Mangold (Logan, Ford v Ferrari) stages the ultimate tribute to Steven Spielberg's action set pieces. The titles, the music, the humor and action all perfectly recall "Raiders" in all its 1981 glory.
I remember seeing Raiders opening night. At the time, it was George Lucas and Spielberg's tribute to the old movie serial cliffhangers, a lost art form. The blockbuster success of the film ushered in a new type of action movie. It was fun feeling that same sense of wonder and adventure again in Mangold's capable hands.
The film moves forward to 1969. Indy is approaching 80 (Ford unbelievable is 80) and retiring from the professor role that's left his students bored and Jones less than engaged.
Out of the blue, his goddaughter and Basil's daughter Helena arrives. She's working on her thesis on the Antikythera and has picked up her father's life long devotion to discovering its secrets. Phoebe Waller-Bridge is great as Helena, bringing a 40's style, rapid speaking, up-for-anything action and wit to the proceedings.
It turns out that a lot of people are looking for the relic, plunging Indy and Helena almost immediately into a race around the world to find both halves of it, as well as the legendary instructions created by Archimedes that would give the user access to another time of their choosing.
Antonio Banderas is perfectly cast as an old pal and deep dive expert friend of Indy. John Rhys-Davies makes a very welcome return as Sallah and newcomer Ethann Isidore is a welcome addition as Helena's version of Short Round from "Temple of Doom".
Moving at a breakneck pace, the two and half hour running time seems like much less. Everything you want in an Indiana Jones movie is here as Ford, producers Lucas and Spielberg and Mangold make an all-out effort to send Indiana out in style.
Several scenes are standouts on a grand scale. Indy and Helena's escape during a NYC ticker tape parade for the returning astronauts from the first moon landing is jaw dropping in size.
Several chases in Morocco call back the fun of Indy and Marion on those same streets in "Raiders".
Massive caves and archeological sites echo the relic quest in "Last Crusade".
Bugs, spiders and centipedes give you flashbacks of "Temple of Doom",
And the action climax. WOW.
Some have complained that the finale is "too out there".
Have Indy fans forgotten that the first film was about opening the Ark of the Covenant and unleashing the face melting power within? Come on people, the films have always featured fantastic, out-of-the-box climaxes.
But nothing like what's unleashed here.
It's brave, crazy, ballsy and let's face it, cool as hell.
I loved every minute of the finale and the scenes of the massive plane flying just overhead across that madness......it's jaw dropping in its sheer audacity.
The final scene is a quiet, perfect throwback that leaves you choked up and smiling. What a way to hang up your hat, Indy.
Ford is perfect, obviously enjoying the chance to play his most popular movie hero one more time. He hasn't lost a bit of his comic timing in the 42 years he's played the character.
INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY turns back the clock with the perfect blend of reverence & respect for the series legacy, blended with the guts to take it somewhere that's somehow familiar and yet brand new.
"Give 'em hell, Indiana Jones!"
You've uncovered an A.
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