★★★★
The great Indiana Jones returns for one last adventure, in this fifth instalment directed by James Mangold, that Hollywood journeyman of preeminent ‘dad cinema’, taking over bullhorn duties from Steven Spielberg. Mangold does not drop the ball (and him doing so was never the cards). In fact, he has successfully put his own craftsman stamp on the franchise, making a film less expectedly elegiac, more outright – and unexpectedly – touching and melancholic.
In his 70s, on the cusp of retirement, Doctor Henry Jones Jr (Harrison Ford) is starting to feel as old as the kind of relics he spent his heyday chasing after. Living alone in a pokey New York apartment, drinking whisky with his cup of morning coffee, Jones is in a rut and feeling bitter, but one day he’s reluctantly dragged into a globe-trotting escapade by British goddaughter, Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge).
At 2 hours and 34 minutes (the longest film in the series), there are parts of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) which are undoubtedly baggy and its CG-heavy like Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). Here though, by virtue of Ford’s charisma – he’s still got it at 80 – and a thrill-ride narrative involving the pursuit of a mathematical device created two thousands years ago by Greek mathematician Archimedes, the movie never flags and of course there’s no such thing as a dull moment.
Ford said in the press conference for the film held at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, what was attractive about signing up for a fifth time was to see Indy as an old man, the character feeling the weight of the years bearing down on him, as well depicting his emotional torment over a recent tragedy. (This latter aspect is ingenious for creating pathos from the fate of a figure maligned by fans in the previous entry.) This sorrow gave Ford something new and exciting to wrestle with, allowed new shades to emerge. Where once Indy was ready with a quip, could rely on quick thinking and fast reactions to immediate peril, and when that failed, would punch or shoot his way out of a tight spot, here we get Indiana Jones with those exciting facets present but with an added vulnerability. We the audience, and he the character, know he’s not as fast or confident as he used to be.
Packed to the rafters with terrific action, including a barnstorming WW2-set opening sequence, and a brilliant Macguffin this time, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny acts somewhat as a corrective to the too-silly Crystal Skull and makes for a far more satisfying goodbye, complete with a final scene that is just downright lovely.
Still: Disney
