Last Friday, I posted that I was on my way to see the new Indiana Jones movie. For #Monday
Musings, here’s what I have to say about Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
My small town has a community volunteer-run movie theater. The theater is opened Thursday through Sunday evenings. Thursday is always an older movie, while Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will be a recent release.
When a movie interests me enough to actually go in public and be among people in order to watch it on the ‘big screen’ instead of waiting for it to be available to purchase in digital or physical product (dvd/blueray), I really, really want to see the movie.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is just such a movie.
I enjoyed it immensely. My first criteria for watching a movie is simply to be entertained. Dial of Destiny is entertaining from beginning to end. I’m not concerned with outlandish storylines that stretch credulity, because I expect exactly that in an Indiana Jones movie. I was not disappointed.
The movie is practically nonstop action jam packed with car chases, an airplane scene that made me cringe, and an underwater scene that set off my claustrophobia. I wished for a pause button, so I could catch my breath during the action sequences. There is a high body count of bad guys (mostly Nazis), which is another aspect of an Indiana Jones movie I expect. Conversely, the intimate, reflective moments in the movie will bring tears to your eyes.
The casting fitted the characters:
Harrison Ford plays an 80-year-old disillusioned-with-where-his-life-has-taken-him character with realism and empathy. He is equal parts angry with life and himself; at loose ends with retirement; and living alone. There were moments I truly felt sorry for him. But he is still Indy at heart, despite his life since he and Marion married being hit with heartache and marriage-trouble.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge portrays Indy’s goddaughter Helena Shaw with high energy, intelligence, compassion, and ruthlessness, much like a female version of Indiana Jones in the previous movies. Her character has seriously unscrupulous tendencies that are self-serving, though, which is different from Indy’s core character. Still, I went from being annoyed with her personality and lack of integrity to appreciating, and grudgingly admiring, who her character is under that prickly exterior.
Mads Mikkelsen is superb as the nasty Nazi antagonist, Jurgen Voller.
Many threads that run through all of the Indiana Jones movies come together in Dial of Destiny. A couple of them have an ‘awww’ factor that brings tears and a smile. Dial of Destiny honored Harrison Ford and Indiana Jones. It is a fitting story to end the series with.
Overall, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny left me with a really good feeling at the end of the movie, which is my second criteria for watching a movie. I need a satisfying ending, which is why I scour the Internet for spoilers before I watch a movie. 😉 Knowing the ending doesn’t ruin a movie for me. It enhances the journey of the story as I participate in getting to that ending.
I will purchase Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny so I can watch it at home, which I will…repeatedly.
Until next time,
Kaye Spencer
Lasterday Stories
writing through history one romance upon a time