Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny: What Did You Think?

The curtain has lowered on the Indiana Jones franchise, and Harrison Ford is taking his final bow as the adventurer that graced the silver screen for 42 years. Way back in 1981, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas wanted to make a nostalgic film to recapture their youth and Raiders of the Lost Ark was born. Harrison Ford was able to parlay his popularity as Han Solo into another rogue hero, albeit a more noble one. Harrison seemingly always preferred Indy to Han as he thought Solo’s arc had ended with either The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi. Here we are in 2023 and after playing an “older Indy” in a cameo for the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles back in the 90s, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008, Ford is back for one last adventure.

An obvious detriment this time is Steven Spielberg deciding not to direct this Indiana Jones film, no matter how good a filmmaker James Mangold is in his own right. Even with the divisive reactions to Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, glimmers of that past Spielberg touch were still present in one way or another. Mangold stepped in to direct and co-wrote the script along with Spielberg collaborator David Koepp, as well as Jez & John-Henry Butterworth. Indy’s sidekick comes in the form of the daughter of his former colleague, played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Mads Mikkelsen and Boyd Halbrook are the antagonists this time around. And Antonio Banderas makes a small appearance along with the return of John-Rhys Davies as Indy allies.

So, what did you think? The hype has been lukewarm with a divisive word of mouth, including the less-than-stellar impression our own Chris Bumbray had in his review, stating, “If Dial of Destiny were just a regular movie, it would be fine – but it’s not a regular movie – It’s Indiana Jones. It needs to be better. Everyone involved was capable of making a great Indiana Jones film, but this feels like just another middle-of-the-road would-be blockbuster.”

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny currently sits at a 67% on rottentomatoes with an audience score of 88%.

Do you feel all the criticisms were on point? Do you feel they were too harsh? Was this a fitting end for the icon? Sound off below!