CANNES REVIEW: Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny Brings Action, Time Travel, Girl Power, and a Feel-Good Vibe

Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny, starring Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Helena), Antonio Banderas (Renaldo), Mads Mikkelsen (Dr. Voller), Ethann Isidore (Teddy) and Toby Jones (Basil Shaw) doesn’t disappoint on loads of action, time travel, and a very feminist footprint.

Harrison Ford, at the age of 80, is a powerhouse in his latest film Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny. Ford is back again for his final bow as Indiana Jones, and this final chapter in an action-packed franchise leaves fans with a really great story from NYC, Greece to Morroco, and tons of action from land and air to sea, and even back in time. It gives a realistic twist to a lead actor, well out of his prime, still showing the young ones how it’s done.

Ford looks incredible for his age, and it was great to see the story start and flashback to earlier days of him battling Nazis on a train in 1944, for rare artifacts meant for Hitler to steal, including half of the Archimedes Dial (do a deep dive, trust us), as he outpaces them along with Toby Jones as Professor Basil Shaw in a final leap from a train. Basil’s infatuation with understanding the power behind the dial that he passed on to his daughter finds Indiana decades later with his life turned upside down with bodies dropped by some questionable CIA agents, on a hunt for the missing half with goddaughter and criminally minded Helena. She’s had a tryst or two, including debts owed to a fiance in the Moroccan Mafia as she tries to auction off rare treasures and leaves Indy for dead, but she’s living her best independent life, right?

Mads Mikkelsen is the evil Nazi Dr. Voller who feels Hitler just didn’t get things right when he lost the war, and while the dial slipped through his fingers, literally on a moving train along with his getting sideswiped in the head by some pretty strong steel, he’s somehow emerged in 1969 NYC, to take back what he feels is his. He wants to time travel back to 1940s Greece and do the job he feels Hitler failed at, making him somewhat of a Führer 2.0.

Overall the stunts and locations were spectacular, from moving trains with a younger version of Ford appearing with some de-aging technology enhancements (ILM FaceSwap) that, hey, I am not complaining about. Anytime I get to see a younger or older version of Harrison, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Ford has been an iconic leading man since his early days as Indiana Jones, as well as Hans Solo in Star Wars, and for someone that has spent decades on screen, his charm, acting chops, and stunt scenes delivered.

While I missed this when at Cannes Film Festival (yes, I am still salty that I was in Cannes for two months accredited at the film festival and couldn’t snag a seat for this premiere), I was delighted that my first 4DX experience was Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny because I literally didn’t know I walked into a 4DX screening and was pleasantly surprised to be thrown in the air with mist machines shooting about with the theater fans roaring one scene after the next. Popcorn flying, I loved getting jostled in my seat along the NYC Moon ticker tape parade and on to Tangier with Ford behind the motorcycle tuk tuk going down narrow streets and steep staircases, dodging bullets, as well as scenes in Greece, underwater with Antonia Banderas in a subtle role as the team searched for a code map or Graphikos, to the second half of the dial. The flight scenes were also incredible in 4DX, but it’s just a bonus. I would have loved to have seen this in standard format as well. There’s a great story, excellent cinematography, amazing stunts, loads of action, and a really great nostalgic ending to the franchise for fans.

Ford’s costars all give great supporting performances from Shaunette Renée as a CIA agent; unbeknownst to her, she’s conspiring with Nazis after Helena, Indy, and the dial. Phoebe Waller-Bridge gives a wonderful performance as Helena with her take no prisoners, snarky girl-powered lines; I really got into her clap backs, ambition, and no apologies-given attitude.

Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny is modern, fresh, and new, and of course, most archaic critics will hate this female-empowered aspect and spiral into a fever dream over this entire film as not mimicking what they believe it should be, but what I found was an up to date, fun, action-packed send off to an actor that gave us more joy than we could have ever expected.

Directed by James Mangold and written by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, David Koepp, and James Mangold, based on characters created by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman, the film is produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, and Simon Emanuel, with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas serving as executive producers. John Williams is back at it, scoring this project after working on every Indiana Jones film since 1981.

Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny is in theaters now.