Harrison Ford makes his final appearance as the iconic character Indiana Jones in the latest installment in this movie franchise. “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” provides a fitting bon voyage to the popular Indiana Jones character.

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is rated PG-13. It hits theaters worldwide on June 30, 2023. We attended an early screening. Also, Harrison Ford said this would be his last time wearing the signature Dr. Jones outfit. Plenty of promotions have been done in preparation for the release of this movie

However, fans of the Indiana Jones movies will enjoy it when they see Harrison Ford put on the signature items and use the whip. The music score when this happens enhances the movie-goer’s experience immensely.

Viewers of this movie are asked to join in one final adventure with Indiana Jones. As IMDB describes it, “Experience the return of legendary hero, Indiana Jones, in the fifth installment of this beloved swashbuckling series of films. Finding himself in a new era, approaching retirement, Indy wrestles with fitting into a world that seems to have outgrown him. But as the tentacles of an all-too-familiar evil return in the form of an old rival, Indy must don his hat and pick up his whip once more to make sure an ancient and powerful artifact doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.”

Acting in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”

The chief antagonist in this movie, played by Mads Mikkelsen, works well in this movie formula. Mikkelsen plays a great villain, as usual, for this movie. His acting draws watchers into the narrative. Despite that, his character’s motives lack depth, so do not expect too much.

In her role, Phoebe Waller-Bridge makes a solid companion to Indiana Jones. Of course, rumors are floating around that Waller-Bridge could become the next version of the Indiana Jones character. Yet, James Mangold, the director, has consistently denied those rumors.

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” offers guests a fun movie experience. Nevertheless, nothing groundbreaking will appear in this movie. The movie will bring enjoyment to fans of this movie franchise. James Mangold took care to honor the history of this movie franchise. In other words, plenty of scenes with fan service making nods to the previous movies will happen.

A few action scenes measure up to scenes in previous Indiana Jones movies. In fact, a clear emphasis exists in this movie on iconic action scenes. The film opens, in Marvel Cinematic Universe style, with an extended action scene. For me, I found one scene superior to all the iconic action scenes in previous movies.

However, this movie may feel too long for some watchers. The movie lasts over two and a half hours. Though the signature action scenes found in this movie live up to the level of an Indiana Jones movie, most of them last far too long,

De-Aging Technology Issues

One concern that fans voiced about this movie beforehand revolved around “de-aging” Harrison Ford for this final installment of Indiana Jones. Except for one minor scene, the skill of using this technology for the movie worked very well. These potential issues should not detract from one’s enjoyment of the film.

The Pacing of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”

We enjoyed this movie. Of course, we are also big fans of this movie franchise. Despite that, we found the action scenes too long. In contrast, we wanted more character development. For example, Dr. Jones lives alone. We see him in this movie retiring from teaching. Yet, we do not receive sufficient data to understand how his life reached this point fully. Key plot points revolve around the characters’ backgrounds. Yet, we often fail to receive much explanation.

Also, we found that the elaborate plot reached an abrupt end. If less time had been used in the action scenes, the audience could have embraced the characters more easily.

Still, we will not ruin the ending. However, the results will happen quickly and fit standard blockbuster movie patterns.

Conclusion

Once again, we enjoyed this movie. Nonetheless, as the fifth movie, it failed to live up to the standard of the original two. That may have been too large of a task for James Mangold. Mangold honors the “Indiana Jones” franchise with this movie.  We saw the film in Dolby surround sound, which made the movie so much better than if you chose to wait for it to be on Disney+ in a few months.

We recommend this movie for people to see in theatres. Still, one should enter the theatre with realistic expectations. Fans of Indiana Jones will enjoy this movie despite its faults. We wish you a good viewing experience if you go to see it. Until then, we will try Disney World “Indiana Jones” themed food and beverage over the next few days. Please be on the lookout for those reviews.