Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny {Movie Review}

The globe-trotting adventure continues in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” The film opens on Friday, June 30th and I had the opportunity to screen this movie at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank earlier this month.

This is the first “Indiana Jones” movie not directed by Steven Spielberg. However, the spirit and nostalgia remain intact, along with a fresh approach by director James Mangold.

The movie opens with an action-thrilling sequence and then after a time jump, we see Indiana Jones teaching an archaeology class at a college in New York. It’s during this class that we meet his goddaughter, Helena Shaw (played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge). We later learn that she is searching for a rare artifact that her dad gave to Indy many years ago, the infamous Archimedes Dial. Are her interests in the Dial purely for sentimental value or is she motivated by something else? That’s a question that movie viewers will be asking throughout the course of the film.

Harrison Ford returns as the legendary hero archaeologist in the highly anticipated fifth installment of the iconic “Indiana Jones” franchise, which is directed by James Mangold (“Ford v Ferrari,” “Logan”). Starring along with Ford are Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”), Antonio Banderas (“Pain and Glory”), John Rhys-Davies (“Raiders of the Lost Ark”), Toby Jones (“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”) and Mads Mikkelsen (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”).

If you’re an Indy buff, then you will appreciate the cameos and callbacks in this film. But in my opinion, it’s the new characters in this movie that provide the humor in what is said to be Harrison Ford’s final adventure as Indiana Jones. Not only do Ford and Waller-Bridge have fun chemistry, but Antonio Banderas had me laughing out loud many times.

The cast and creatives deliver an entertaining film that is consistent with earlier installments of the franchise, with a sense of adventure and action-packed scenes. As I said to someone recently, come for Harrison Ford and the nostalgia, but stay for Phoebe Waller-Bridge (who I adore). The movie is quite a ride, and the soaring John Williams score will give you ALL the feels!

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” opens in theaters Friday, June 16.
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is rated PG-13.
Visit the official movie website here for more information.

Disclosure: No monetary compensation was received for this post. I attended an advanced screening of the movie which helped facilitate this review. Images shown in this post are used with permission. As always, my opinions are 100% my own.