Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Sooooo…I have to issue an apology to you all. I am guilty of listening to certain segments of the MSM that preached the cinema heresy of boycotting a movie over someone else’s politically driven opinion. And in doing so, I almost missed seeing Indian Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Worse, I undoubtably coerced some of you into skipping it, as well. This week, I offer my whole-hearted mea culpa. And as weird as it might sound, I have both Barbie and Ben Shapiro to thank for correcting me.

I listen to a lot of movie reviewers. I copy none of them and all of them in some small way. I learn how to do some things. But mostly, I think I learn how NOT to do things. I learn that my opinions of a movie don’t have to match someone else’s views. I hone my critical thinking skills and as part of my process, I am reminded to also look at it through my positive lense. That’s the goal, anyway.

Being an Average Dude, I sometimes eff up. In the case of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, I effed all the way up.

Got to eat my own words…and they are bitter, bitter, bitter…

If you look back a few weeks, you’ll see that I did a non-review of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. I stated without the slightest bit of self-awareness (or maybe it was way too much self-awareness. I’ll think on it later with beer in hand) that I had heard all the negative chatter about Indy’s last ride and that there was no way on this planet earth that I was going to take my daughter – whose nickname is Indy – to see what was for sure going to be a massive insult to one of the greatest action heroes ever to grace the big screen.

Let it not be said that I don’t admit when I am wrong. And I was very, very wrong.

The truth about Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Watching Barbie reminded me to not listen to all the negative chatter (some of which came from Ben Shapiro) and form my own opinions. Do the work, Dude. Shapiro also went to see Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and found it ‘delightful’. Ben was wrong about Barbie. Might he also be wrong about Indian Jones and the Dial of Destiny? Time to check myself, lest I wreck myself. And I’m oh so glad I did.

The opening thrill-ride was everything you would expect from an Indiana Jones movie. Edge of your seat action, fisticuffs, whips, German bad-guys from WWII, humor, ‘splosions…all of the stuff that the Average Dude loves. The de-aging CGI was not perfect but certainly good enough. I think if they had done a better job of de-aging Ford’s voice it would have been excellent. The plot established, the MacGuffin’s introduced, the cast of characters set. Boom, boom and boom.

Jump forward to current Indy, circa summer of ’69. An aging, depleted Indian Jones, now facing a lonely retirement, is thrust back into action one…last…time. Seems like Fate has a particular fancy for Indy and is fond of bringing old, unresolved adventures back to get some closure, just like in Last Crusade. Thanks, Fate.

So many underused stars

Of the co-stars in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Phoebe Waller-Bridge had the most screen time. I haven’t seen her in anything else, though I’ve heard Fleabag received positive aclaim (I can only watch so much, ya’ll). Glad to report that she didn’t upstage Indy, as was previously reported. Her character was fairly likeable if a bit of a cad. Mad Mikkelson was his usual professional self. I’ve yet to see him in a movie where he wasn’t pretty much that same self. Toby Jones, I like him very much wherever he appears. He’s one of my favorite second bananas. He took an almost throw-away character and breathed what life the script allowed into him. Nice. Same deal with Antonio Banderas. And it was great to see Boyd Holbrook show up again. I really dug his bad-@$$ characters in Sandman and Logan. He was just as BA in DoD with what screentime he was given. And special nods to Karen Allen and John Rhys-Davies.

In my own defense, I can easily see how some of the negative chatter would have been true had this movie been released as it was originally intended by Kathleen Kennedy (this is factual). That version would have been an insult to George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg and everyone who ever loved the iconic character. And an insult to my daughter, as well. Phooey and pishaw to that.

The subsequent rewrites, re-shoots and re-scores saved Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny from a fate much, much worse than death (how I hated the death of Han Solo. His blood is also on Kennedy’s hands. Factual). What we were treated to was an exciting send-off for Indy. And though it wasn’t a perfect one, it was satisfying enough.

I’m giving Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny a solid 3.25/5. Was Harrison Ford too old to pull this movie off? Yeah, a little, I think. I’ll be interested to see how they handle him as the new General ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross in the MCU. Nobody likes to see an actor age-out of the roles that brought so much joy. And Ford is, above all, an action star. Anybody remember ‘Sabrina’? I rest my case.

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