Frankly, I’m very surprised Disney even greetlit another Indiana Jones movie. After the debacle that was Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, you would think they would’ve let Dr. Henry Jones finally hang up his Fedora and whip already. And yet here we are! We’re getting another Indiana Jones adventure in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Was it worth the decade and a half long wait? We’ll I just saw the movie and I certainly have my thoughts on the matter.

Before we do get into the review proper, I understand the movie hasn’t been released in each and every territory as of right now. I also know there are going to be a contingent of fans who are on the fence regarding if they’re going to see it or now. So, with all of that in mind, I’m going to make this a SPOILER FREE review.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has our favorite whip wielding archeologist roped into an adventure involving his goddaughter who is in search of pieces of Archimedes’ Dial, a device which is purported to give the user the power to travel through time. Of course, it just so happens that Nazis are also after the device. So it becomes a race on who can retrieve the missing pieces first.

Let’s start with the good stuff first. I will say I enjoyed the action setpieces in Dial of Destiny quite a bit. They’re exciting and they do a lot of fun stuff, especially the more practical stuntwork. There’s a good amount of CGI here and, while they’re fine, I was really impressed when they do the action the old fashioned way. Doing things like building large sets and getting stuntmen to do what stuntmen do best may seem old-fashioned but it feels more real because it is. However, it does make the CGI scenes stick out more. It’s not like they’re bad but you can tell there’s just something off about the entire thing.

I also have to say the action feels, well, different from other Indiana Jones adventures. They feel more like the action scenes you’ve seen in other action blockbusters with the camera angles and the pacing. Once again, I have to reiterate that the action setpieces aren’t bad. But the Indiana Jones staples, like the big brawl with the unstoppable big guy from Raiders of the Lost Ark or the feeling of dread when the walls are about to squish Indy and Short Round from Temple of Doom, just aren’t in Dial of Destiny. As such, even thought the action is exhilarating, they come off as a little more generic and unmemorable.

The acting overall is pretty good in Dial of Destiny. Harrison Ford is basically Indiana Jones so he always does a top-notch performance in the role. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who plays Helena Shaw, Indy’s goddaughter, does come off as a little too cocky for her own good at the start but she does grow on you. That’s mainly because Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s chemistry with Harrison Ford is pretty good. I also did like Mads Mikkelsen as the prerequisite Nazi bad guy as well as Boyd Holbrook as his more callous right-hand man. It was also nice to see John Rhys-Davies’ Sallah return, even for just a brief moment. The only weak link here might be Kenny, who is basically Helena’s version of Short Round. It’s not a terrible performance per se. But it felt like he was putting on an act instead of making me believe he was this plucky kid who could drive anything.

Now, while I do think the idea behind Dial of Destiny is intriguing, I don’t think the writers fully explored the potential when in came to delivering an intriguing Indiana Jones adventure. Maybe because the film is set during 1969 but Dial of Destiny’s locations do not feel all that mysterious, unexplored nor dangerous. The areas Indy explores mostly feels safe, which is far removed from the locations from the other Indiana Jones films.

I also have to say Dial of Destiny is a little too overstuffed with subplots. What’s worse is that these subplots are there mostly for convenience to move the story along or to try to pad the runtime. As this is a SPOILER FREE review, I won’t go into specifics but, as an example, there is a sequence wherein some baddies appear who have no connection to the search of the Dial of Destiny start chasing after Indiana Jones and Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character while the two are in pursuit of the bad guys! And, once the action sequence is done, they’re never spoken about nor do they appear in the film.

Also, partially because all of the subplots do add up, Dial of Destiny is just too long for its own good. Clocking in at a hefty 153 minutes, it is the longest Indiana Jones film, with The Last Crusade following at 127 minutes. That’s weird because The Last Crusade feels half as long as Dial of Destiny! It does show that some scenes, even the action sequences do drag on for a little bit too long and they devote a little too much time to the subplots that don’t go anywhere. I guess a little more time in the editing room would’ve improved the film, even by a tiny bit.

That’s not to say Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a terrible movie. I’d even say it’s a good movie overall. I did have a good time watching it because the action is pretty good and most of the acting is solid. Yes, the film could use some trimming down and maybe a rewrite or two. But it never crosses the line to bad. Unfortunately, you do kind of expect a whole lot more from an Indiana Jones movie than “just okay” and, ultimately, Dial of Destiny is going to come off like a bad movie when you compare it to the first three films.

Do I recommend you go watch Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny? I guess it depends on how high you set your expectations. If you expect it to hit the same high notes of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom and the Last Crusade, I say wait for Disney+ to start streaming it. There’s no need for you to rush out to watch it. If you’re hoping to see a better film that washes the taste of Legend of the Crystal Skull out of your mouth or go watch an entertaining action movie, then Dial of Destiny gets a thumbs up from me. It’s not the highest recommendation but that’s the best I can give it.

Have you seen Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny? Where would your rank it in the film series? Let me know in the comments section below!