Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) * *

Directed by:  James Mangold

Starring:  Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Toby Jones, Mads Mikkelsen, Antonio Banderas, Thomas Kretschmann, Ethann Isidore, Karen Allen, John Rhys-Davies

The long-awaited and long-gestating fifth installment of the Indiana Jones series is here and while it expends sufficient effort, it feels retreaded and old hat, no pun intended.  As each chase progresses and each action scene creeps along, there isn't much in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny we haven't seen before or done better in the previous four installments.   It's nearly three hours and runs out of gas long before the final credits. 

The first thirty minutes or so shows a convincingly de-aged Ford as Dr. Jones at the tail end of World War II captured by Nazis for trying to steal an ancient knife which turns out to be a fake.  After escaping in the most Indiana Jones way possible, Dr. Jones then steals half of the Antikythera, a dial Archimedes created to locate fissures in time, from under the nose of Dr. Jurgen Voller (Mikkelsen).  Well, after knocking him cold anyway.   The issue with the opening sequences is not just that they're on CGI overload, but because the action is shot in almost impenetrable darkness.    

Indy leaves the dial in the hands of his partner Basil Shaw (Jones) and the film skips ahead to August 1969. Indy is separated from his wife Marion (Allen), lost his son during the Vietnam War, and retires from his professorship at Hunter College with little fanfare.   As Indy drowns his sorrows at the local bar, his goddaughter Helena Shaw (Waller-Bridge), Basil's daughter, reunites with him for the first time in years to draw him into helping her locate the missing half of the Antikythera.  Indy finds himself evading FBI agents and employees of embittered Dr. Voller, who has spent his years since the end of the war looking for what Helena wants to find as well as helping NASA send astronauts to the moon.  This takes Indy to Morocco and then somewhere near Greece to deep-sea dive for the item while Dr. Voller follows only a few steps behind. 

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny takes us through the paces we've seen previously.   Despite some nostalgia, this movie never takes off, leaving Ford and the cast languishing.   I must admit when Dr. Voller reveals his plans for the Antikythera once he procures the missing half is intriguing:  He wants to travel back to August 1939 and usurp Hitler as the Fuhrer of Nazi Germany and win the war.   This would present Indy with a quandary:  Should he save Hitler in order to defeat Voller's plan?   Sadly, the movie doesn't follow through with the premise and takes a safer way out.   Add this to the stockpile of missed opportunities featured in this fifth and likely final installment featuring Harrison Ford in the iconic title role.   He deserved better.