Remember, a little over a month ago, on May 18, 2023 to be exact, the highly anticipated Indiana Jones 5 and the Dial of Destiny was screened at the opening of the Cannes Film Festival. Obviously, the film was out of competition, but its presence nevertheless allowed the festival to have all the attention of the whole world, especially since the entire film crew was on site. Harrison Ford, Mads Mikkelsen, Phoebe Waller-Bridges, director James Mangold, but also all the rest of the cast, the climb of the steps on the Croisette was only of interest for the film. We have all seen the images of Harrison Ford, moved to tears at the end of the screening of the film, applauded by the public for several minutes, probably not for the qualities of the film, but rather to salute the career of the actor, now 80 years old. It must be said that the man made us dream for more than 40 years. From Han Solo in Star Wars to Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, Jack Trainer in Working Girl, Dr. Richard Kimble in The Fugitive, the President of the United States in Air Force One and of course Dr. Henry Jones, aka Indiana Jones , Harrison Ford is and will remain an icon of a cinema that is no longer made today.
Because it’s a bit like Indiana Jones 5 and the Dial of Destiny, a film torn between the liabilities of a series born in the 80s when computer graphics were in their infancy and which continues to live in the years 2020 where the cinema has a hard time living without the use of CGI. How to juggle between the two? And above all, is it possible? Precisely, to allow this perilous balancing act, it was James Mangold who got down to the task, he who became known for Copland in 1997, a policeman made with the codes of the past, but also other major films such as Walk the Line, 3:10 for Yuma, Knight & Day, Wolverine, the episode in Japan, the excellent Logan and Le Man 66. In short, Mangold is not just anyone, d as much as he has always claimed to have been a child of Steven Spielberg’s cinema. So there was some confidence in knowing that he was behind the Indiana Jones 5 project, even though Master Spielberg had failed in 2008.
DEALING WITH THE PAST
But why is Indiana Jones 5 The Dial of Destiny by James Mangold doing so much better than Indiana Jones 4 by Steven Spielberg? Probably because the film plays with the past, the bygone era and Harrison Ford’s finally assumed age. Well yes, when you are 80 years old and you are the star of a great adventure film where the action must be rhythmic and dynamic, it is a bit complicated. But James Mangold knows how to play with his camera, his narration and his staging to give credibility to a lot of moments, and to avoid the scenes with grandpa Harrison Ford making cringe on the screen, as was the case in Star Wars the The Force Awakens where we were made to believe that Han Solo was still a fiery young man in his fifties, while Ford staggered reverently when he ran. Always to remind us that we are at the end of a character and to accept that he is now old, there is this scene in the apartment of Indiana Jones, awakened one fine morning by the excessively loud music of his young people. neighbors celebrating. Mangold both wants to show us that Indy remains both this grumpy character, but who comes to a point where he no longer really supports youth. Which was already the case with his son in the previous episode…
So, not everything is successful, far from it, but there is a certain desire and passion to do things well that shines through on the screen. This play on time, we find it from the beginning of the film, with this intro sequence of nearly 20 minutes where we find a young Indiana Jones in 1944, when Nazi Germany is losing the war. It’s a digitally rejuvenated Indiana Jones that appears on the screen, thanks to the de-aging technology which is doing quite well overall, but which nevertheless shows its limits on certain levels. Moreover, it is no coincidence that the intro scene in the past was filmed at night, it is also to mask as much as possible the defects linked to the digital dressing. Besides, not sure that the film ages well, but nevertheless, we are on a much better job than the first de-aging which was made in 2018/2019 where Hollywood was spending millions of dollars to rejuvenate its actors, while a YouTuber, a certain Shammok, did much better from his home computer. We remember that his comparisons have often ridiculed Hollywood on several occasions, and this is the reason why LucasFilms hired him to improve this famous technique, at a lower cost, and not to pass for puppets…
FROM 80 TO 40
Going back to the prologue itself, what works is this mixture of adventure, generosity and comic effect that recalls the first Indiana Jones, but also the discovery of Jurgën Voller, the character embodied by Mads Mikkelsen, always so impeccable when it comes to playing the bad guys, especially when they are Nazis. Another character that surprised me was that of Helena Shaw, her goddaughter, played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, actress but also screenwriter. It was she who wrote the screenplay for the latest James Bond, No Time to Die. While I know that the film was not unanimous, but it is thanks to her that the character of Bond gained in sensitivity… But to come back to her character of Helena Shaw, that’s all simply the best female character in the Indiana Jones saga. Afterwards, it wasn’t really difficult, the women never really had very interesting roles, the interest being systematically focused on the character of Indy. Even Cate Blanchett in Indiana Jones 4 had hardly convinced in her writing.
For Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character, it’s not the great revolution either, beware, but the fact that she stands up to Harrison Ford, that she exudes both this malice and this empathy allows us to enjoy each of his appearances. Which is unfortunately not the case for the character of Teddy, this young boy played by the French Ethann Isidore, and whose goal is to reproduce the character of Demi-Lune (Short Round in VO) immortalized by the actor Ke Huy Quan, recent Oscar winner for Everything Everywhere All at Once. Teddy unfortunately lacks the comedic and endearing scope of Half Moon, not because the actor does what he can, but because the writing of the character lacks interest. Quite frankly, we don’t really know what it is used for in the film.
What has always worked in the first 3 Indiana Jones is this ability to transport us from one point of the adventure to another, with a narrative fluidity that means that we are never bored. This is also somewhat the case with Dial of Destiny, except that the film finds its limits in a pace that lacks epic breath at times. Yes, the film ticks all the boxes of the adventure film imposed by the saga itself, we wink and we pay homage, but precisely, we feel a certain superficiality, as if it had to be done . What doesn’t work, however, is this game of cat and mouse between Indiana Jones and Voller, Mads Mikkelsen’s character, who don’t stop chasing each other for two and a half hours, sometimes with moments that lack coherence and real challenge. On the other hand, what is likely to make people wince is the final twist of the film, the reason for Indy’s quest for this dial created by Archimedes. The fourth episode had already been debated for its fantastic side and its encounter with the Third Type, this one is of the same ilk in its narrative choices. This is also why the film bothered so much at Cannes, in addition to the inequality of the visual effects. Indiana Jones has always had this slightly fantastic side, but here, we are really in the middle of science fiction. That said, I rather liked this passage and the end chosen for the character of Indy. James Mangold could have chosen the easy way, but preferred to give this great adventurer the end he deserved, a bit like Nathan Drake in Uncharted 4. The parallel is made, the reference too, the circle is complete.
Conclusion, no Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is not the disaster so decried at Cannes. The film did not deserve its 40% obtained on Rotten Tomatoes after the preview at Cannes. Moreover, since then, the note has gone up and should continue to grow at the time of its release. He’s not a great Indiana Jones either, he’ll stay below the top three, but we’re having a good time. All is not perfect for sure, but the entertainment is there.
OUR RATING: 6/10