Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

[ART!]

Regarding theater chains and such: our two local theaters are both AMC, and if I have to see that Nicole Kidman promo one more time I cannot be held responsible for my actions. So much so that we drove twice as far to see DoD, in far more comfortable seating, with better sound, and for less money. And there's another theater the same distance that gets good reviews and has $5 movies on a regular basis.

We have the AMC membership that gives us occasional discounts, but I might cancel that given the options above.

I love the experience of going to the movies, a d it would take a lot to get me to stop.

 

[Morrus]

We have Disney+ just gonna wait it out and watch it later.

Cool, let us know what you think about this film when you’ve seen this film.

 

[Zardnaar]

Cool, let us know what you think about this film when you’ve seen this film.

Initial impressions are somewhat isut8ve. Can't be any worse than crystal skull.

Temple of Doom traditionally has been my second favorite Indy film do what do I know?

Recent rewatch may have changed that opinion but I couldn't bring myself to rewatch Crystal Skull.

Maybe get drunk first.

 

[BookTenTiger]

I saw it on a date night with my wife who is a big Phoebe Waller Bridge fan. I went in with pretty low expectations... But I had a good time! It's a fun Indiana Jones movie.

I think the chases were the best part, they were fun and dynamic. We also enjoyed Waller-Bridge's character, I was glad she wasn't just a meek sidekick.

There were a few parts that just didn't work for me...

Spoiler

I couldn't stand the de-aging, it took me right out of the film.

Indy being surrounded by evil eels but having no consequences was silly.

The ending time travel was neat but a little too fantastic for me, it broke the wall for me between pulp adventure and fantasy.

Overall though, a fun date movie and way better than Crystal Skull.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Haven't sen to many people claiming it's worse than CS. Well anyone.

I saw it Tuesday, and I liked it, but I enjoyed Crystal Skull more — and I may have enjoyed this one the least of all five. I think that's mostly down to preferring Spielberg as a director to Mangold, but I think the change in editors didn't help any either — Michael Kahn edited the other four movies, and they all feel very similar aesthetically. This one felt more contemporary sometimes, and I thought it was to its detriment.

There was also one narrative choice that I found jarring tonally. It's relatively minor, but...

Spoiler

I thought that Teddy handcuffing the big fella to the underwater grate was a particularly gruesome choice for an Indiana Jones movie. Lots of bad guys die in Indiana Jones movies, but it looked to me that Teddy was home free. The big fella's shoulders were too broad to get through that hole.

But I also realize that I might be somewhat idiosyncratic in my engagement with the series: I think that each movie has been a bit worse than the one before it. (I used to think that Temple of Doom was worse than The Last Crusade, but I've really re-evaluated Temple lately. It's despicable and mean in a lot of ways, but the actual craftsmanship is better.)

 

[Benjamin Olson]

There was also one narrative choice that I found jarring tonally. It's relatively minor, but...

I mean, the first movie had its big guy get blended by a propeller (albeit after cutting away), and ended with all those faces melting. I think the perhaps jarring part is that...

Spoiler

...it was the kid who committed the justifiable homicide. I don't think Temple of Doom had Short Round killing anyone (maybe I'm misremembering).

Personally my nitpick was simply that, while I didn't exactly want to see elderly Indy get in a fistfight with another giant, this movie didn't quite manage to highlight that the guy was there because every one of the movies has a really big guy, and its a series tradition. And given that my biggest disappointment with the movie was that Indy himself doesn't really get to do all that much action in the final act (a disappointment compounded by this being almost certainly the character's last proper outing), I'd have liked to see him trip that giant out of the plane or something.

 

[Deset Gled]

Saw it tonight with my kids. I liked it, they loved it. A huge, redeeming step up from Crystal Skull. I think everything below is pretty much spoiler free.

I will note that this was much more of a heavy action movie than previous installments. Yes, Indiana Jones has always been an action franchise, but this one goes the extra mile. For example, it straight up opens with an extended war sequence. And I'm used to Indiana Jones action to have a lot more of a "suspense" element; Dial of Destiny has a lot more straight up fighting. That being said, the action scenes were generally very well done.

It was also generally a dark movie. In both the literal and figurative sense. Previous installments of Indiana Jones are quite pulpy in the way that the dungeons and tunnels are always extremely well lit; even a simple torch lights up the who screen. In contrast, this movie is visually very dark, even when it seems like it shouldn't be. There are lots of night scenes (without a lot of explanation why) and lots of scenes that play out in the shadows for extended lengths. On the story side, it's also kinda dark. The lives of Indy, Helena, and other characters are really quite depressing. I'd say it's a sadder and darker plot than Temple of Doom, which I would have previously considered the "darkest" of the series. But the sad story lines are well developed and written, so it generally works well. It's definitely not DCU levels of grimdark, but it feels like a shift in that direction from previous Indy movies.

Overall, I will rank the Indy movies in this order:
Last Crusade
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Dial of Destiny
Temple of Doom
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

 

[Krachek]

Saw the movie last week. Have a good time. good summer movie.
It‘s not as marvelous as it was, pretty normal, everybody make movies inspired by the work of Lucas and Spielberg now.

 

[Clint_L]

Overall, I will rank the Indy movies in this order:
Last Crusade
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Dial of Destiny
Temple of Doom
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

That seems about right. 3 and 4 could swap positions and I would be okay with it - 3 has practical effects and doesn't need a de-aged Harrison Ford, but 4 isn't culturally offensive. If it wasn't for the latter I would put 3 ahead, but its plot has aged horribly.

 

[Mistwell]

I really quite enjoyed this movie. The new tech to essentially provide "digital makeup" to de-age Harrison Ford playing himself as a younger version was incredible. I liked that portion of the movie at least as much as I enjoyed the portion where he is his "normal" age. I thought the leading actress was a compelling character and could be a good ongoing "new Indy" if that is a direction they want to go. I liked the archeology setting and wouldn't have minded seeing even more of that.