“indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny” Just Doesn’t Crack The Whip | Review

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” debuted in May at the Cannes Film Festival, where it received what could kindly be described as a tepid response from critics. Based on a recent advanced screening of the fifth and, supposedly, final film in the beloved series dating to 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” it’s pretty easy to say “Dial” isn’t some horrendous “Indiana Jones” adventure. But, alas, it isn’t a particularly strong one, either. It’s as if talented filmmaker James Mangold — taking the reins from franchise director Steven Spielberg — set out to make a convincing forgery of an “Indiana Jones.” Aside from Spielberg, all the requisite ingredients are there, from Harrison Ford in the titular role — wearing his leather jacket and fedora and occasionally cracking that iconic whip — to an archeological treasure to scheming Nazis to one last rousing score from the great John Williams. And yet the affair constantly feels a little off, starting with the action-packed first act set 25 years before the main adventure and featuring a convincingly de-aged Ford. It isn’t simply that this prologue, which introduces us to the film’s villain, then-Nazi officer Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), runs too long.