Before seeing an advance screening of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, we felt it was necessary to revisit the whole franchise in a week. The last time we watched an Indiana Jones film was the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008 (which does not deserve the hate it gets, it is a fun film). Fast forward 15 years later, Harrison Ford is back in the fedora for what feels like the final time and like most of the franchise, the film is a thrilling fun adventure that misses out on greatness.

It is better than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Temple of Doom by featuring strong additions with the scene stealing Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Helena and the young Ethann Isidore as Teddy. James Mangold taking helm in the directors chair replacing Steven Spielberg, showcases the brilliant storytelling that Mangold displayed with films like Walk The Line, Logan and Ford V Ferrari. Dial of Destiny features some of the best action scenes in the franchise and that is due to how Mangold handles the action.

Lucasfilms Ltd

What holds this back from the greatness of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Lost Crusade is questionable decisions with the plot, misuse of actors in role and the hefty runtime. The film clocks in at 2 hours and 34 minutes, with 15 to 20 minutes that could be cut out. We are massive fans of Antonio Banderas, but his character seemed more like a plot device over someone we should care about, almost feels like if that was cut from the film it would have not made a difference. She has a small role, but Shaunett Renee Wilson was a delight and hope to see her in more roles but with most of the supporting cast she felt expendable or misused. Mads Mikkelsen is good as always but his henchmen being Boyd Holbrook felt like a missed opportunity. Holbrook proved he can have a commending presence with his performance as The Corinthian in The Sandman but he was just a trigger happy mercenary in this depiction.

Dial of Destiny is fun, there is no denying that, and it deserves to be seen in a movie theater. Despite the opening scene being a tad too long, it established the adventure we were in for. Also having a de-aged Harrison Ford was a very cool moment as we got to relive what made Raiders of the Lost Ark so great. Its not a great film, but with the hints of nostalgia, good performances throughout and amazing action, its much better than expected.