"Indiana Jones 5": messed up is different - but so is great

One thing first: there are no spoilers in this review. You will only read information that is known from the trailers that have already been released.

Conclusions are difficult. They always are. After all, they leave the last lasting impression. The aftertaste on the tongue. Especially with film series. Should you play it safe and repeat the same familiar formula of the predecessors? Or risk the ultimate flop, but try something new instead?

James Mangold must have racked his brains in search of the answer. He didn't just take over Steven Spielberg's directing duties. He also co-wrote the screenplay, and therefore the story. In fact, Mangold is not such a bold choice for this kind of job. On the one hand, he already showed in Marvel's "Logan" that ageing heroes suit him. On the other hand, he proved his craftsmanship in the western drama "3:10 to Yuma" and in the racing film "Ford vs Ferrari". The perfect successor for a directing legend like Spielberg. Actually.

Mangold only achieves a middle ground, however, because most of the time his film never really knows whether it wants to hide behind the shadow of its predecessors or step out of them. Until it does at the end - and flops.

This is what "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny"

is about
It's not the past that drives mankind in 1969. It's the future. The many new possibilities. Man has only just set foot on the moon. The astronauts who were there were celebrated like war heroes. What will be next? Mars? The solar system? The whole universe?

Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) couldn't care less. History has long since overtaken him and left him like a pile of bones turned to dust in the middle of an archaeological dig. Gone are the days when he fought Nazis on breakneck adventures and rescued valuable artefacts - for museums, where they belong. Instead, the about-to-retire archaeology professor gets drunk in his dreary New York flat and gives lectures that bore his students almost to death.

Until one day his goddaughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) turns up. Helena is looking for something that her biological father once entrusted to Indy: the Wheel of Fate. An apparatus built by Archimedes, which the great mathematician, scientist and inventor is said to have predicted cracks in time 2000 years ago. It goes without saying that not only Helena is after the wheel, but also evil forces who want to change the course of history. Time for Indy to get his hat, whip and leather jacket out of their mothballs. Fate is calling. One last time.

A groundbreaking start - literally

It is in the first twenty minutes that Mangold's "Indy" shows its best side. Of all things. The prologue was the most talked about part of the film. It begins in France in 1944, in a castle occupied by the Nazis, but quickly shifts to a fast-paced train journey through the middle of English bombing raids. At the centre: Indiana Jones, played by Ford, as if he hasn't aged a day since "The Last Crusade". Digital de-aging is the name of the technology used to rejuvenate Ford on the computer. In the past, it has caused head-shaking in films such as Netflix's "The Irishman" or Disney's "Tron". The faces are too artificial. The digital falsification of the aged original was too obvious. It's often taken something like that out of a film.

Here, however, in what is now the fifth "Indiana Jones" adventure, Ford's digital rejuvenation looks surprisingly good. Mangold, undoubtedly one of Hollywood's most gifted directors, ensures that Ford's face is only vaguely illuminated in most scenes and is therefore rarely visible enough to see through the trick. And seeing Ford as a fit Indiana Jones again in 2023 is almost worth the price of admission alone. Trust me.

Because when Indiana Jones fights with Nazis over religious artefacts, some might really think that time has been turned back. Indy is still his old self in these first 20 minutes: quick-witted, with a fist and a mouth, he doesn't shy away from any action, no matter how crazy, and still looks horrified and offended when a Nazi henchman takes the blow better than planned. Close at his side: actor Toby Jones
as inexperienced adventurer Basil Shaw, who, like Marcus Brody in "The Last Crusade", trudges along behind Indy rather badly than well. Add to this John Williams' driving film score, which only needs four notes to trigger ecstatic feelings of happiness. A dream of an "Indiana Jones" film.

But then ... the best is already over.

Frolicking in mediocrity

Perhaps it's the demystification of an uber-character like Indiana Jones that alienated me more and more from the film with every passing minute. Indy, who shaped my childhood like no other as an indestructible hero, now complains about the neighbours' loud music in his boxer shorts and vest. But it fits thematically. Back in 1989, in "The Last Crusade", the third instalment in the series, there were rumours in advance that Harrison Ford was too old for the role. This even found its way into the film. With a wink. "That belongs in a museum", says Indiana Jones to the villain. He says it to the villain in every film. "So do you", he replies.

Today, 34 years later, Ford's Indy is indeed ready for the museum. We viewers know that. He knows that himself. And just as he begins to seriously confront his own mortality for the first time, he is drawn into one last adventure. Involuntarily. And yet not entirely to his displeasure - even if Indy doesn't want to know anything about an "adventure" in the film compared to John Rhys-Davies' Sallah. After all, nothing less than the fate of the world is at stake.

Admittedly, when "Dial of Destiny" picks up speed in its action, the old, cosy "Indiana Jones" feeling comes up. This is due to Mangold's technical talent. The 59-year-old American never resorts to boring shots. He has his camera under control even during the most absurd action scenes and is bursting with creative ideas that you don't see in just any action film. In addition, the lighting and image composition are always flawless. There's no doubt about it: Mangold knows how to present his stories in a visually appealing way. He always has. That makes him one of my favourite directors. If you've seen "Ford vs. Ferrari", you'll immediately know what I mean.

What "Dial of Destiny" lacks, however, is the breakneck pace that was always a trademark of Spielberg's Indiana Jones films. In contrast, Mangold's vision, at 2 hours and 34 minutes, is not only the longest "Indy" film in the series, but also at least half an hour too long. This is mainly because "Dial of Destiny" repeatedly takes long breaks between the action passages, which contribute more to the sluggishness of the ageing Indiana Jones than I would have liked.

Mangold is known for being able to keep the tension in his stories consistently high. Structuring the narrative in such a way that it captivates the audience until the end of the film. As seen in the drama "Walk the Line" or the thriller "Identity". Why the director doesn't succeed here of all places, in his most prestigious work to date, is beyond me. Even if Mangold is not the best-known director in Hollywood, he is not a newcomer.

The thing with the supporting characters

If Mangold could at least use the pauses to give Indiana Jones' character depth or to illuminate facets that have remained hidden to us viewers up to this point, the pauses would still be forgivable. Justified, even. Instead, Mangold tries to spark some kind of chemistry between Ford's Indy and Waller-Bridge's Helena that never really ignites. Not in the romantic sense, of course. It's more of a father-daughter thing, with both of them bickering the whole film, even though they kind of like each other. This has worked well in other films. Just think of Marion Ravenwood. Willie Scott. Or Dr Elsa Schneider.

But here... I don't believe the film. I don't like Helena for a second. Not because she has no noble motives and only chases after treasures in order to sell them to the highest bidder. I actually think that's a good thing. At least on paper, it's a good antithesis to the this-belongs-in-a-museum Indy. But in the film, the spark still won't ignite. And Helena's sidekick, a boy called Teddy, a bad short-round copy from "Temple of Doom", is just annoying because he's constantly annoyed himself. He could just as well have been left out of the story. He articles nothing to the story anyway. Except to annoy me. That pain in the arse. All the other supporting characters are disposed of almost as quickly as they were introduced. And don't even get me started on the totally used-up Boyd Holbrook as the evil henchman Klaber - Holbrook already played in "Logan" under Mangold's direction. Otherwise I'll just get unnecessarily upset.

Luckily, there's someone else who enhances the supporting cast: Mads Mikkelsen. He plays Dr Völler, a Nazi who wants the wheel of fate to create a world order in which Germany has won the Second World War. Mikkelsen's performance is as good as ever. As if the Hollywood casting departments had said to themselves:

"We need a villain who doesn't actually do anything other than stoically recite his lines, and who nevertheless masters every single second in every single one of his scenes. Impossible to find someone like that, isn't it?" - "How about Mads Mikkelsen?" - "Oh, right, booked."

The Dane is perfect for this kind of role. Even in the TV series "Hannibal", he made my blood run cold with his restrained acting, which at the same time allowed me to look deep into the black soul of his character. And in the third "Fantastic Beasts" film, which was largely slated by critics, he was always mentioned as one of the few positive notes as the fascist Gellert Grindelwald. Also by me.

Mikkelsen is also the perfect antagonist in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny", with the defeat of Nazi Germany still gnawing at him 25 years after the end of the war. "You didn't win the war," he says to an American at one point, "Hitler lost it." I could watch the man be evil forever.

The cursed last act

The fact that "Indy 5" flounders around in its mediocrity most of the time is not the biggest problem I have with the film. It's the final act. Don't worry, I won't spoil anything. But don't be mad at me if my explanations remain a bit vague at this point for that very reason.

The thing is: For two hours, Mangold tries to force the Spielbergian Indy formula - more or less successfully. Including creepy crawlies. And snakes. They're obligatory. Otherwise it wouldn't be an Indiana Jones film. But then comes the final act, which suddenly isn't the final act after all, but the start of an additional final act. As if that wouldn't drag the film out unnecessarily. And then things happen that don't fit in with "Indiana Jones" at all. It doesn't help that the previously endeavouring handmade action is suddenly watered down by obvious, poorly made green screen work.

Remember the end of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"? With the aliens from another dimension? Well, if that ending already divided the audience back in 2008, then this ending will cause even more controversy. In any case, I'm curious to see what the audience's reaction will be. I didn't like it at all.

Conclusion: "Indiana, let it go..."

In 'The Last Crusade', Indiana Jones almost followed Dr Elsa Schneider's obsession with the Holy Grail and immortal fame - and thus to his death. It was his father, Sean Connery's Henry Jones, who admonished him to "let it go".

That was in 1989 and now, almost 35 years later, I wish they had stuck to Henry Jones' advice. In 2008, "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" at least still seemed like the appendix to a good novel that you can read, but where you miss absolutely nothing if you don't. "Dial of Destiny", on the other hand, comes across like a summary of the original trilogy written by Chat GPT, with some fan fiction tacked on at the end.

Sound evil? Maybe it does. But Mangold's Indy adventure is only really good - outstanding even - in its prologue. That is, when Indy, once the invincible hero of my childhood, is not an old man drowning in self-pity. Maybe it's me who's not yet ready for Indiana Jones' final call of destiny. Who knows if one day I won't have a completely different opinion of the film?

Until then - in my mental canon at least - the last thing I want to remember about the archaeology professor with the fedora hat and whip is his heroic ride into the sunset. The film was called "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" for good reason.

"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" opens in cinemas on 29 June 2023. Running time: 154 minutes. Released from the age of 12.