Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (June 30th, 2023)

[Knightstalker]

People are saying its better than Crystal Skull, which I know is the lowest possible bar, but its good that this is better, right? Mangold hit it out of the park... a very small park, like an ant farm ('memba those?), but still.

The first 20 mins is the only thing better, after that it becomes incredibly average. Take the 20 minute opening flashback out, and the rest of the film is worse than KotCS IMO. The sidekick should have been Short Round, not his overbearing and patronising god daughter. Another missed opportunity from the creative geniuses at Lucasfilm.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Take the 20 minute opening flashback out, and the rest of the film is worse than KotCS IMO.

What? It's not possible... how is it possible? No.... no. no. no. no!

 

[KitbashOfficer]

But it’s a prequel and we know the ending already.

Or do we

Not to mention...these are the only kind of movies I can count on to be good these days

 

[a-dev]

The first 20 mins is the only thing better, after that it becomes incredibly average. Take the 20 minute opening flashback out, and the rest of the film is worse than KotCS IMO. The sidekick should have been Short Round, not his overbearing and patronising god daughter. Another missed opportunity from the creative geniuses at Lucasfilm.

********* yes. And now it'll never happen.

 

[Wor-Gar]

But if Short Round says "Indy, I love you" at his age now, it takes on a whole other meaning, and a real mess for Indiana Jones. Not the adventure he was looking for.

 

[YoNoSe]

I liked this moofy. I don't know who the fleabag girl is enough to have a hate boner for her. The stuff I've seen the Big Mad yootoobers scream about barely registered. A little draggy in the middle but some very good action, pretty imagery, a sometimes spooky good de-aged Ford and a couple of more serious scenes than the franchise has had before more than make up for it. Also villains that kill kill kill people helps.

I'm sure I will be in the minority on this one.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Also villains that kill kill kill people helps.

Oh, good. I like that. Ups the ante for me immediately.

 

[Mandible]

People are saying its better than Crystal Skull, which I know is the lowest possible bar, but its good that this is better, right? Mangold hit it out of the park... a very small park, like an ant farm ('memba those?), but still.

Crystal Skull is generally reviled... just give this one time, it will be too.

 

[xipotec]

if you lower your expectations considerably, you'll already be happy with seeing Indy back in action

The Dial of Destiny opens with a very long flashback scene and i liked it.

Dial of Destiny doesn't surprise at any moment. The scene where Indy rides through a large parade on a horse and finally enters the subway (as seen in the trailer) is a scarce highlight. Compared to today's action movies Dial of Destiny just seems too slow and too long.

I think director James Mangold fell into the trap of wanting to be too faithful to the original material, while he could have shown a different side of Indy. Mangold's efforts result in a very long movie where Indy has to keep bouncing from one place to another to find the other half of the Dial. The final place where he lands is kinda... well, ridiculous?

The famous Indiana Jones tune is also used way too often. As soon as Indy comes into action, even if it's only riding of in a Tuktuk, it can be heard again.

5.5/10

Fair ....I felt that overuse on the theme in the trailer!!

 

[Mandible]

The first 20 mins is the only thing better, after that it becomes incredibly average. Take the 20 minute opening flashback out, and the rest of the film is worse than KotCS IMO. The sidekick should have been Short Round, not his overbearing and patronising god daughter. Another missed opportunity from the creative geniuses at Lucasfilm.

My friend said exactly the same - and he was hoping that would be the standout piece of the film... but he just said he came away feeling utterly empty and flat.

Bit of backstory here as well: for the last few weeks he's been spinning around in an endless cycle like someone who has PTSD because he couldn't accept all the negative reviews about the film and thought it can't be as bad as everyone had been saying since Canne. It got to the point where I said I had booked him some therapy because he was just banging on about the same things over and over again and I said, no matter how you try to get a different answer, scrutinize it, try to make logic of it, etc, the answers will always be the same. Pure definition of insanity. So he REALLY wanted this to be good.

I knew it would be **** from day dot because of KK, Fleabag, and I didn't/don't want to see an 80 year old Indy.

 

[Bleah]

Wor is having anxiety over this

Pretty much we know what happens to him in the theater after the 20 minute mark:

 

[jye4ever]

Watched Raiders opening night, was blown away.

Watched TOD opening night, was blown away.

Watched TLC opening night, was amused.

Watched KOTCS opening night, was suicidal.

DOD my first Indy movie I didn’t go opening night.

Not even upset, just indifferent.

 

[jye4ever]

Wife worked late, I worked then I had to figure out dinner, cleaning, kid’s soccer then taekwondo class, I’m too exhausted for Old Fart Annoying Hag Indy lol

 

[Wor-Gar]

I have the exact experience with Star Wars (well, except the original):

Star Wars - 2nd week after opening - mind-boggling experience - saw it 30x over the year it was out

ESB - opening day - insane, ditched school and sat thru it twice - saw it 10x that summer

ROTJ - opening day - kinda felt hokey but I still loved it - saw it 3x in theater

TPM - opening day - disappointed - saw it 3x in theater

AOTC - 2 weeks after opening - really disappointed - never saw it again in theater

ROTS - opening night - loved it despite the obvious - saw it 3x in theater

TFA - screening - liked it for a moment, saw it a 2nd time and didn't like it

TLJ - screening - hated it

TROS - saw it on tv (first SW movie NOT seen in a movie theater)...




I've seen every Indy opening day/night...

I'm seeing this on Sunday, first time NOT seeing it opening day... but at least I'll still wade through it on the big screen

 

[The Buffinator]

The first 20 mins is the only thing better, after that it becomes incredibly average. Take the 20 minute opening flashback out, and the rest of the film is worse than KotCS IMO. The sidekick should have been Short Round, not his overbearing and patronising god daughter. Another missed opportunity from the creative geniuses at Lucasfilm.

The first 20 minutes should have been the first 10-15 minutes, as the longer it went the less convincing the uncanny valley de-aging CGI became. It was phenomenal in some shots, but it didn't hold up that well during some of the prolonged action sequences. And aside from his performing too much derring do in parts to be even remotely believable, I much preferred the 1969 "present day" Indy to the PS3 cut scene version. And I say that while acknowledging that Ford even had some de-aging work done to him for 1969 Indy. That opening was all set-up to the main plot anyway so despite some well-conceived action, for me the sooner it was over the better.

I liked this moofy. I don't know who the fleabag girl is enough to have a hate boner for her. The stuff I've seen the Big Mad yootoobers scream about barely registered. A little draggy in the middle but some very good action, pretty imagery, a sometimes spooky good de-aged Ford and a couple of more serious scenes than the franchise has had before more than make up for it. Also villains that kill kill kill people helps.

I'm sure I will be in the minority on this one.

Yeah overall I enjoyed the movie as well, although the final scene didn't quite work for me. And I disagree with the PWB haters; without her and Short Round 2.0 er, I mean Teddy (or characters like them) I don't know how they could even attempt an Indy movie with an 80 year old Harrison Ford. I found PWB's Helena to be a breath of fresh air. In terms of character traits hers are quite similar to that of a young Marion Ravenwood, but she's given more to do because hey, Indy's a fossil now. I guess that's simply too much for some people to digest. Whatever. I agree that the more serious, emotional scenes were well done and were highlights for me. Maybe that's not such a good thing in an Indy movie but what can I say?

p.s. - As expected, I really enjoyed Mikkelsen's performance, but I think Boyd Holbrook's character should have been fleshed out a bit better. I thought he was a mercenary working for Mikkelsen's Voller, but his blind allegiance to him given where he'd end up if Voller was successful didn't quite track. If he was an actual Nazi he disguised it well, as Holbrook sounded just like his character in The Predator....and Logan.....and Justified: City Primeval lol.

 

[Prime Clone]

Whatever you think of DOD... it's a good time to collect (non 1/6) Indy!!

Okay, maybe 1/6 too. Now bring on prime Indy!

Wife worked late, I worked then I had to figure out dinner, cleaning, kid’s soccer then taekwondo class, I’m too exhausted for Old Fart Annoying Hag Indy lol

Kid's taekwondo or yours?

 

[Captain Clown]

How do they acknowledge Shia LaBeouf’s absence - if at all?

 

[Jbeltram4]

Can’t lie. I really enjoyed this movie. If it’s the send off, way better end to Indy than Crystal Skulls. WAAAYYY better. Thought it had good action, good pacing, and nothing more unbelievable than any other Indy flick.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Wow... movie's getting a much better pat-on-the-back than I expected.

Wait a minute -- you're all a bunch of doll collecting freaks. What do you know?

 

[The Buffinator]

Wow... movie's getting a much better pat-on-the-back than I expected.

Wait a minute -- you're all a bunch of doll collecting freaks. What do you know?

We know HT is monitoring these threads and we're hoping our sincere love for the film will convince them to release a de-aged Indy as well.