Dial of Destiny may be the worst movie I've ever seen. I'm not joking. It wasn't just a spectacularly bad Indy flick, it was a total mess of a film.
It was embarrassing. It was like watching 2 hours and 34 minutes of elder abuse. The last film was the perfect end to the series. It was uplifting and closed on a high note.
Indy is now reduced to a sad old man, son dead, wife left him, no longer an assistant dean at an elite university with a beautiful, big house in upstate NY but rather a tired, disrespected professor at a NYC college living in an apartment in the city with young, noisy neighbors, riding crowded subway cars to get to work, and bitter defeat engraved upon his countenance.
He played second banana to an obnoxious female lead with no charisma that you don't care about and a string of bland characters, terrible chase sequences which required little more than Harrison Ford sitting along for the ride looking feeble, frightened and out of step.
The villains were lackluster copies from so many other unmemorable films, trigger happy, murderous henchmen just filling up space.
Sallah, now a NYC cabbie feels thrust in for nostalgia sake and because John Rhys-Davies was amenable to a quick buck. From the trailer, I figured his role would be the most embarrassing part but that was actually reserved for Indiana Jones himself.
The opening was terrible, unimaginative, lackluster and despite the high level of action, exhaustively boring. The young CGI Indiana Jones was near Jar Jar Binks level bad.
This Indiana Jones was even sadder than the outcome of Han Solo- the once great reformed smuggler turned general and hero of the rebel alliance, back to being a broken down smuggler thereby reversing all his accomplishments.
Indiana Jones was the last great remnant of the past for Disney to destroy. Critical Drinker's review (on YouTube) is spot on except for his take on the opening scene. He thought it was good and felt like an Indy movie but it was absolutely awful. Mangold's overblown action sequences have no heart, nor do they keep you clinging to the edge of your seat. He also lacks the finesse, talent and charm of Steven Spielberg's cinematic style.
The film didn't even do the transition from the Paramount logo to a mountain in the film like every Indy film has done.
I cannot warn you enough to avoid this train wreck! You have been warned.
33 out of 48 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Tell Your Friends