Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Directed by James Mangold
Written by David Koepp, Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, James Mangold
Starring Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelson
Rated PG-13
Runtime: 2 hours, 34 minutes
In theaters June 30

by Ryan Silberstein, Managing Editor, Red Herring

The Indiana Jones movies are one of my original pop culture loves, alongside Sesame Street, Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, and Batman. My uncle gave me an old fishing hat I wore constantly at the age of four or five, pretending it was my fedora. Wearing it, I outran giant boulders and dodged traps cleverly concealed throughout our home. Once, I even threw a bit of rope out the window and scared my parents because they thought I was going to try to swing down the outside of the house. Thankfully, my fear of heights came in handy back then. This franchise, especially the first three (I was 3 when Last Crusade hit theaters), have had a profound effect on my life. I even saw Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in theaters more times than anyone I know–a sincere thank you to the Cinema Center F&G in Newark, Delaware for their student matinee price–because for all that movie’s faults, there is still magic in that movie, especially the first 40 minutes or so. 

After the universally warm reception of Harrison Ford’s performance as Han Solo in The Force Awakens, it’s understandable that the actor would want one more chance to ride off into the sunset. Indiana Jones is the character he feels the strongest ownership over, and the South Park-fueled radicalization of Crystal Skull’s reception may have left a sour taste in his mouth. While Crystal Skull tries its best to replicate the rousing adventure spirit of the first three films, Indiana Jones and Dial of Destiny takes a much different tone, embracing the finality of this chapter to a degree that is almost shocking. In an age dominated by superheroes–characters designed to never truly get an ending–feeling that sense of finality here is actually refreshing. Along with Daniel Craig’s incarnation of James Bond, it is kind of refreshing to see Harrison Ford wrestle with age. Crystal Skull, released when Ford was about to turn 66, and The Force Awakens (Ford was 73), don’t directly tie his age into the plot, but it is certainly embedded into his performances. 

Dial of Destiny takes age head on, abandoning quips about it and centering the aging experience as one of the story’s main throughlines. After an extended prologue with a de-aged Ford fighting Nazis on a train in 1944, the story shifts to 1969. Ford, who turns 81 next month, is reintroduced as trumpets announce “Magical Mystery Tour” playing loudly from a neighboring apartment. Indiana wakes up in a recliner from a booze-induced slumber in just boxers. Seeing Ford’s body on full display–not just the years, but the mileage–isn’t played for laughs or shock, but as humanity. Later on, he complains about his shoulder and the pins in his legs as he attempts to climb a rock face. While Ford performs admirably in the action sequences, there’s a lot less running, and they are often at a slower pace. That’s not a criticism, I think most people would be thrilled to be that mobile at his age, but it is noticeable, and it’s a credit that this is actually placed front and center in an honest way. 

Everything about Indy’s life in 1969 emphasizes how out of step he is with the times, which also points to his age and his disconnection. Part of it has to do with his personal life and career. He is completely disinterested in the moon landing, or anything related to it. His students are completely unengaged (a sharp contrast to previous classroom scenes), and he barely acknowledges his coworkers at his retirement party, preferring instead to go to a bar alone. We find out later that Indy is in mourning, the promise of a happy family life established at the end of Crystal Skull torn asunder by tragedy. 

The central MacGuffin–the Antikythera, also known as the dial of Archimedes–also relates to time’s passing. The device is considered the first known mechanical computer, and was used in Ancient Greece to predict astronomical positions and events like eclipses. Time is the central theme of the film, and for Indiana Jones, the time he was supposed to have slipped away from him. Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), the antagonist, is a Nazi true believer brought to America via Operation Paperclip posing (poorly) as an assimilated German. Seeing a Nazi in the embrace of the U.S. government also underscores Indiana’s displacement from the present day. Voller’s presence allows for a lot of World War II iconography, and there are some sequences that enact our culture’s ongoing obsession with that conflict. In some ways, trying to move on from that war has only embedded it deeper within our culture, and the Indiana Jones franchise is certainly part of that legacy.

All of this gives Dial of Destiny an elegiac tone throughout. Despite some solid action sequences, a good performance from Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and a delightful final act, walking out of the theater I just felt sad. Not because of any specific story elements, but perhaps because as a whole, as a reflection on what a life amounts to, it felt a bit empty. When Indy and Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) reunite, they talk wistfully about days gone by. New characters are introduced, most of them are killed off. Maybe Mangold’s style is a little more staid, and what’s missing is Spielberg’s boyish exuberance playing off Ford’s curmudgeonous persona. Or maybe it’s just that some characters aren’t meant to age, to be ripped from their peaceful rest and pulled back into another adventure to meet the demands of our nostalgia.

While Indy is an archeologist, Hollywood isn’t studying the past to learn from it, they’re resurrecting it to try and recapture the feelings we felt all those years ago, forsaking the love of anything new. Through Indiana Jones, we romanticize the past, but it that feeling takes on a wistfulness when the present feels like a constant fight. I’ll never be that kid running around the house again, imagination ablaze. If I rolled down the steps in my house now, I probably wouldn’t be able to do much but lay on the couch for the next few days. How different will the world look when I’m 80 compared to now? Or maybe Dial of Destiny activated a latent midlife crisis and I need to go back to Asteroid City’s doomsday-tinged ennui for another round of possible catharsis. In the end, I think I’m just not ready to lose Harrison Ford and Dial of Destiny is forcing me to confront all of that. I don’t think it is a great movie, but it’s one I will likely be processing for a long time.