“It’s all fake,” says a middle-aged archaeologist in hat and whip when he comes across a train car full of what appear to be ancient artifacts while trying to dispose of a group of Nazis.
The man is Henry Jones Jr. (Harrison Ford), better known by his iconic adoptive name Indiana Jones, and the aforementioned scene, set relatively early in his new adventure Indiana Jones and the Dial of Fate, is unintentional and says a lot about the nature of this latest, actually second, Legacy sequel about the legendary digger and professor.
Not just because Indiana Jones’ face looks digitally rejuvenated at the moment (we’re in a flashback) and is therefore littered with CGI.
This rejuvenation is nearly flawless, glossing over any Uncanny Valley horror, and yet there’s something deeply cynical about this iconic special effect, technically among the best in this terrifyingly ugly film: the simulation is complete, all awkward references and therefore truthful have been eradicated .
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Nor does the passage of time seem to matter, a balance that relates to the whole of James Mangold (Logan) in this version of Indiana Jones: an adventure that, while defying any semblance of fanservice, feels simulated and forced.
Time has finally caught up with Indiana Jones: In the late 1960s, against the backdrop of the moon landing, he is finally ready to drop out of college, hang up his hat and whip and enjoy a well-deserved retirement.
One last adventure is unexpectedly knocking at her door: goddaughter Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) needs Jones’ help to search for a sinister number wheel found by her father and Jones’ longtime companion Baz (Toby Jones).
Of course, his trail is followed by a dubious villain in the guise of old Nazi Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), who is still clinging to the Hitler days and harboring mysterious plans with the number wheel.
Before Indy knows it, he’s being hunted down and used in every step of a typical Jones adventure, starting, of course, with the journey to exotic lands. So far known. Aside from the pathos of the ubiquitous legacy, “Indiana Jones” and “Dial of Fate” is no different from Jones’ earlier adventures at first.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | The Last Adventure
Mangold’s film fails to squeeze anything out of a scavenger hunt narrative that isn’t based on fanservice and nostalgia.
The idealistic archaeologist is still recognizable by Harrison Ford’s facial expression, but Mangold doesn’t understand what made him and his adventures so legendary and declares Indy himself an ancient artifact.
There is nothing wrong with the well-known characters and the corresponding cult surrounding the figure began decades ago anyway.
Perhaps the film’s greatest achievement is that it doesn’t slip into the pensioners’ parade.
If we step backwards from the opening sequence to 1969, we see Harrison Ford shirtless in an armchair, as if James Mangold wanted above all to clarify: – Look, this is a man in his late 80s, and although he’s in excellent at this age.
Still, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Fate returns to the roots of the series: Harrison Ford’s charm is now more sullen than rebellious, but that doesn’t make him any less attractive, and part of him, bone dry once again, is her coatings this time particularly well done.
On the other hand, the plot has to be scaled back, not only because of the hero’s age, but also because Steven Spielberg’s flair for the kinetics of pure cinema, particularly expressed in the original trilogy, is not duplicated in this one. Shape.
For example, the sprawling frenzy of the TucTuc through the narrow streets of Marrakech is nowhere near as cinematically brilliant as the chase in Spielberg’s Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, which is also set in Morocco and otherwise provides Indiana Jones’ Dial of Fate” in the action segment is a more solid blockbuster than the Rolling Stone moments of cinema for the ages.
One of the great action scenes in the film takes place in the middle of the August 13, 1969 astronaut parade in New York.
However, there are plenty of fan references, mostly really well done, that evoke feelings of nostalgia, especially among long-time fans of the series: In addition to the surprising return of some old Indy friends, some iconic moments of the series are also presented in a very clever reinterpretation, so that it Not only is there a direct reversal of the legendary Sword To A Gunfight scene, but of course it’s also a nod to Indy’s love of snakes.
So this time he has to venture into a shipwreck full of slippery two-meter-long eels.
Not surprisingly, most of the (fan) work is done by John Williams’ unforgettable Indiana Jones theme – the effect will certainly wear off at some point during the film, but this time any use of music returns. goosebumps end.
It remains to be seen if Indiana Jones and the Dial of Fate will spawn hate triads comparable to the latest installment in the series, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Troubled and clumsy as this equally late sequel was, it had Steven Spielberg and his naïve wonder at the adventure, Mangold just tapping into the simulacra of the past and declaring that fanservice itself is a discovered treasure trove.
Consequently, there is almost no image in his film that is not forced, there is no show that is not brimming with amusement parks.
On a visual level, too, everything seems terribly plastic, and even the Moroccan landscape turns into a place of study.
The bewilderment of this film, which at least boasts competent narrative and dynamic moments of action, is nowhere better expressed than in Indy’s Companion.
Helena Shaw and her cynical rejection of the story (“I only believe in money”) could possibly represent an audience whose faith in the miracle of childhood has not yet been restored.
Instead, it represents more of the film itself, opportunistically transcending the visual attributes of an icon.
Consequently, Indy’s final outing doesn’t go directly to the museum since it’s already there.