It’s been over forty years since the first Indiana Jones movie came out. The people who saw these movies as kids are old enough to have kids of their own now. And yet, here is another Indiana Jones movie. Claiming to be the final one (sure) Dial of Destiny sought to successfully end the franchise on a high note. And for the most part, it lands it.
The plot of the movie isn’t anything to write home about. It’s a pretty standard Indiana Jones movie. Nazi’s want a MacGuffin, Indy tries to get it first, Nazi’s get it and it backfires, movie ends. This is pretty much all of the movies except Temple of Doom. I mean, Crystal Skull had Russians, but they weren’t much different.
The action scenes, something I consider to be important to these movies, are all good as well. The two chase scenes are both good, and the final act, no spoilers, is also pretty good. There was a lot going on at the end, but it was executed quite nicely. Even though Harrison Ford is even older than a senior citizen, he can still do actions scenes.
There is one issue that I have with this movie though. And no, it’s not the length. It’s the fact that it almost completely ignores Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Bit of a spoiler warning here. I know I know, it’s popular to hate on the fourth one, but I personally liked it. And I will die on that hill. But even if people didn’t like it, they shouldn’t just ignore it.
Obviously there’s the fact that the fourth one was supposed to be the last, until it wasn’t. Also his son is completely written off as having gone to war and not come back. Just completely got rid of Mutt. And the whole Indy and Marion getting married at the end? Well within the first few minutes of present day Indy, it shows separation paper’s for him and Marion. And he’s at a completely different college now! With no explanation he goes from the new dean of a college to a professor at some new one.
Even if the best part of the movie is the beginning, the rest is still pretty good too. The usual adventure aspect is still there, the action scenes are still there, pretty much everything is still here. There are only a few nitpicks I have with this movie, like a lack of references to the previous movies, but it is still a pretty good movie. And although the ending leaves room for yet another movie, hopefully this time, Indiana Jones can enjoy his retirement. Until the next one with his face CGI’d onto some dude.
