MovieChat Forums > Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) Discussion > A so-so end to the great Indiana Jones

A so-so end to the great Indiana Jones

posted a year ago by Rorikon (16890)
4 replies | jump to latest

Should've kept the fedora on during those CGI face scenes. It looked way better with it on and it looked near-pure Indy. With his hat off the motion capture CGI seems to lag a bit trying to catch up to the facial features of the look-alike actor. It was worse when he turned around and it seemed like his face shape-shifted a bit. The voice didn't even sound like Indy as well.

I think they did pretty good trying to balance Indy out with his current age and didn't downgrade him all that much alongside Helena. Sucks that Mutt died during the Vietnam War apparently after Crystal Skull.

Am I the only one that sorta fell asleep near the middle? I think it was Helena and Indy rambling before the action picked up where they started traveling to places and unlocking the mystery of the Dial.

The car chase scene was meh, some long lost love acting like a fan-atic for Helena's heart while giving chase to the Nazis.

I love John William the composer but I think he overdid the nostalgia theme a bit, especially in parts where no Indy action is happening where he pulls off a heroic escape or beats up a bunch of Nazis while blasting away things.

Even in 212BC, how would they know how to shoot down a 'dragon'? Those ballista shots were pretty accurate considering how fast the planes were flying and how heavy those machines are.

Too many macguffins (especially that Short Round wannabe) in the movie. It never gave me the same excitement I had when I watched the Last Crusade.

[–] christomacin (4576) a year ago

Am I the only one that sorta fell asleep near the middle?

The drier humor, more grounded in reality situations (up until the end obviously), more subdued and mature tone, and general lack of bombast (relative to other Indy films anyway) is most likely the thing that will hold this back from huge success the most. It almost felt like what an Indiana Jones movie made in 1971 would have been like if Lucas had cast Robert Mitchum in the role of an ageing archaelogoist and made that instead of THX1138. In other words, if felt more like a pre-Blockbuster era film than a 1980s inspired film. This has both advantages and disadvantages when it comes to being a late stage Indy film. The fact that he is a very old man makes it work a lot better than I would have thought it would. Still, there were times when this film needed to "go for the jugular" a bit more and show a bit more Spielbergian flash.

[–] CraigJamesReview (1548) a year ago

After the car chase in Tangiers I thought the excitement really started to dissipate, the action becoming more redundant and mundane. Movie never really recovers

Reviewed it here if anyone is interested:
https://youtu.be/D87QMjRGFQo

[–] christomacin (4576) a year ago

I feel similar to the parts of Crystal Skull as soon as they get into the jungle. Not that the film was too great even before that, but the wheels really came off at that point. The worst I can say of this one is the slow, subdued tone and pace.... and length. I never found it dumb though. Crystal Skull was just dumb.

[–] wtnmoviefan (20) a year ago

I was hoping this one was better than the Crystal Skull. It was. Impressed with Harrison's acting when explaining what happened with Marion and their son in the middle of the movie. I would like to think he and Marion and the goddaughter would find some ruins to explore or something similiar. Can't see Indy in a rocking chair taking it easy.