[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

Following an excellent opening twenty minutes which sees Indy (Harrison Ford) up against Nazis in 1944 the film reverts to the present day and teams the now elderly archaeologist with his goddaughter as played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

I was often bemused by Waller-Bridge. At times she was so annoying, can she actually act? Going off this film she appears to be from the Liz Hurley school of terrible acting and more often than not looked lost in comparison to Harrison Ford, who i should add, was once again brilliant. However she did kind of grow on me by the end.

An end which took over two and a half hours to come, which is another problem. The film is far too long and careers from one set piece to another. There are great swathes of the plot which could have been cut - All the CIA stuff for a start - to tighten the story which was weak when compared to the original trilogy of Indy films, especially it's pointless time travel ending. As with Star Wars, Disney have all the ingredients they simply don't know what to do with them.

The set pieces were for the most part very good. The tuk-tuk chase through the streets of Tangier was exciting even if it didn't quite beat the opening train sequence for sheer Indiana Jones fun.

Half the time i felt like i was watching a Bond film with an elderly Bond rather than an Indiana Jones film, perhaps due to Mads Mikkelsen playing the main villain in similar style to his Le Chifre from 2006's Casino Royale and also the multiple vehicle chase sequences even if as mentioned they were well done.

The film's final scenes were lovely and left me with a warm glow and overall feeling of enjoyment even if it was a bumpy ride getting there.