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| Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Harrison Ford as Helena Shaw and Indiana Jones in 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.' Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd. |
Even though the plot was a recycling of the original Indiana Jones adventures from the '80s, it was still good to see Harrison Ford go out for one last quest with his signature bullwhip, leather jacket, and trusty fedora in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. There were also great lengths of humorous treachery by Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Indy's latest partner-in-crime and intrepid scoring from John Williams, as usual.
Now set in the Space Age in the late 1960s, Indiana Jones is retiring from his professor position and has become lonely and bitter. But a younger archaeologist named Helena Shaw, played by Waller-Bridge, brings him back to his audacious ways to hunt for an artifact called the Dial of Destiny. Among many obstacles against Jones and Shaw are a twisted physicist, played by Mads Mikkelsen, an enemy of Jones' past.
Some of the plot seemed to rehash parts of Raiders or The Last Crusade, in the cases of Nazis and conspiracies and new world order. However, the exciting action between Waller-Bridge's character's cunning femme fatale style and Ford still packing a punch and bravado made it worth the watch. As for the titular artifact, it showed something I didn't expect, but it wasn't as glorious as one would think.
Whether digitally de-aged or not, I was glad to see that Harrison Ford was ready to do one last thrill ride before hanging up the hat and bullwhip. It may be too late, but I wish there had been more screen time for John-Rhys Davies' return as Sallah from the earlier films. It showed a little bit more people of color for the first time since Temple of Doom, but again, mostly as sidekicks or bad guys. It was fun in the case of guileful Teddy, played by Ethann Isidore, but not the best in the case of a CIA agent played by Shaunette Renée-Wilson.
In addition, seeing the elder Jones in the present setting was like an oldies retelling of prior director James Mangold's film Logan, with the main character looking washed-up. And no one cared who he was outside of the school system till he went back to the globe-trotting chase scenes. Then again, that's who he is, brawn and brains.
The first and last time I saw Waller-Bridge in acting was as sassy robot pilot L3–37 in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Great to see her stunt work running around buildings like Jason Bourne and tricking crooks like James Bond. She served something as a foil to Ford's character; her risky methods brought back his own wily spirit in the end. As for Mikkelsen, he's part Spalko from the Crystal Skull film, part Belloq from Raiders, with the whole God complex problem.
And John Williams did great with musically highlighting the danger and exhilaration in the film's score, including the return of the "Raiders' March."
Formulaic plot, somewhat harsh stripping of the main character, and not-so-great treatment of people of color aside, Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and John Williams all proved that it's never too late to add some hectic journeys to your life. I hope Ford had his fun, and those of you who want to see Indy go out for one last whip ride over scary pits, I'm sure you might, too.
Whether you grew up with Indiana Jones or not, catch up with the first four films and see him go out on a somewhat high note. It's undistinguished, yet undaunting.
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