Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny is the fifth film in the franchise, and it is right around the corner! Fans have a lot of love for the first three movies, and not so much the fourth (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – 2008). That’s why there’s a lot of anticipation and mixed emotions as this new film heads our way. But the first reactions from the film’s Cannes Film Festival premiere have been released, and it sounds like it’s going to be a fun movie!
Variety’s Clayton Davis said: “Redemption! James Mangold redeems #IndianaJones with #DialOfDestiny. A farewell to one of the greatest movie characters in cinema history. Action, laughs, charm…just everything that makes him great. Thanks Harrison Ford (and Phoebe Waller Bridge) for the ride. #Cannes2023”
RadioTimes said: “In a film about the the past, its fitting that there are some references to former adventures, but Mangold and his scriptwriters don’t overdo the Easter eggs. There’s enough iconography – the whip, the fedora – close to hand anyway, to ensure you don’t forget you’re watching an Indiana Jones movie. The final reel may take a serious flight of fantasy, but unlike those aliens in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, it somehow feels an apt journey for Indy. Perhaps the film could’ve been more daring – it feels fairly safe – but fans will leave cinemas feeling like their old hero had one final great outing in him.”
South China Morning Post: “Fans of the adventure series are given a film replete with Indy staples: action, humour, mystery and his old foe, the Nazis. Director James Mangold, stepping in for Steven Spielberg, brings the character’s adventures to a satisfying close, while Ford revels in reprising the role for one last hurrah … With some throwbacks (including an underused John Rhys-Davies), Dial of Destiny feels like an old-school Indy romp, more so than 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, as it tries to capture the rollicking spirit of the originals. With genuine emotion sewn into the story, it’s not just John Williams’ instantly recognizable score that hits the right notes.”
Total Film via GamesRadar teased: “There’s a nostalgic, old-fashioned feel to the film, a rollicking, globe-trotting ride that pits Ford’s intrepid adventurer against the Nazis once more. Certainly, it makes up for 2008’s outlandish Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, with a more grounded story. Well, until the final reel, at least… (no spoilers!)”
The Irish Times: “Let us put one worry to rest. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, premiering to much hoopla at Cannes, is the best film in the series for 15 years. It counts as a sort of compliment to say that James Mangold’s film – until a gleefully absurd ending – plays like just another episode in a creaky unpretentious romp … Nobody with a brain in their heads will compare Dial of Destiny favourably to the first three films. There is a sense throughout of a project struggling to stand beneath the weight of its history. But Mangold, director of Logan and 3:10 to Yuma, knows how to keep his foot on the pedal.”
Steven Spielberg recently said of the film after an early screening: “Bob Iger had a screening for a lot of the Disney executives, and I came to the screening along with the director James Mangold. Everybody loved the movie. It’s really, really a good ‘Indiana Jones’ film. I’m really proud of what Jim has done with it.”
Below you’ll find a video of Harrison Ford getting emotional and tears upnduring an Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 5-minute standing ovation.
Harrison Ford with tears in his eyes during the standing ovation for ‘INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY’. pic.twitter.com/mJtRv4wLKk
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) May 18, 2023
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny opens in theaters on June 30th. Do these reviews get you excited to check it out?
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny picks up with Harrison Ford’s famed archeologist in 1969 as he’s pulled back into another grand adventure involving Voller, a NASA member and ex-Nazi involved with the Moon landing program, who wants to “rectify the world and make it into a better place as he sees fit.” He’s looking to correct the mistakes that Hitler made when he was in power with the Dial of Destiney artifact.
The movie also stars Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag), Boyd Holbrook (Logan), Shaunette Renée Wilson (The Resident), and Thomas Kretschmann (Avengers: Age Of Ultron).
The film will open in theaters on June 30, 2023.