Based on the current box office projections, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is not going to be soaring like an eagle at the box office this weekend, but there’s a lot of people out there who think the final act of the iconic adventurer’s fifth and final outing jumped clean over the shark.
It’s easy to understand why, but it also seemingly forgets what happened in the previous four movies where Harrison Ford’s title hero was forced to deal with face-melting supernatural MacGuffins, voodoo shenanigans, ancient knights residing in tombs, and of course little green men who dwell inside of pyramids.
Nobody involved in Dial of Destiny was shy in admitting time travel was going to factor into the narrative in one way or another, with director James Mangold defending the ambitious swing for the fences in an interview with Variety.
“I couldn’t find a way to wrap my head around going back to the past and stopping Mads from doing his nefarious deeds to continue the Third Reich. It lacked wonder and was going to turn into kind of a cat and mouse thing. I felt like we’d be better off if that’s what people are anticipating, but that we really pull the tablecloth out from under the dishes at the last minute. You’re going to have to see the power.
He’s suddenly in the midst of it. I also thought it presented us with a kind of audacious turn which I thought was a staple of these movies. It’s no more of a wild swing in my mind than ghouls flying out of a box and melting people’s heads through the sheer power of dark angels, or a 700-year-old knight existing in a cave for perpetuity. These are all beyond the scope of all physical belief.”
The filmmaker makes a fair point, but the bonkers finale for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny definitely isn’t helped or enhanced by the sequel’s relentless adherence to the questionable CGI that’s blighted many a modern blockbuster. Love it or hate it, Indy has literally been there, done it, and gotten the t-shirt.
