Well, it looks like Indiana Jones should have hung up his Fedora long ago. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny made a decent showing at the box office for its first three days. But, when you have a budget of around $300 million, “decent” isn’t going to cut it. I thought it was fine but it’s definitely not on par with the first trilogy.

Now, since the film has everyone chasing after a macguffin which can control time itself, I expected there to be some plot holes. It’s just something that comes with the territory when a movie adds time travel to its premise. But I did walk out of the theater with a whole bunch of questions that didn’t involve time travel. So, let’s go look at five inconsequential questions that popped into my head while watching Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Oh, even though it should be obvious as I’m going to be talking about specific plot points and moments of the film, I’m going to be putting up the SPOILER WARNING now. We’re all good? Okay.

#1 What happened to Indiana Jones’ house?

It’s been a while since I watched Kingdom of the Crystal Skull so my memory is a bit hazy but I remember Dr. Henry Jones Jr. living in a pretty decent sized house. At the very least, the house might have belonged to Dr. Henry Jones Sr. and he willed the home to his son. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that Indiana Jones actually had a really nice looking house in the movie.

So, I gotta ask, what happened to it? In Dial of Destiny, Indy is living in a crappy apartment with neighbors who play loud music and stuff. Why did he move? I guess he could’ve sold the house when he married Marion. He also could still own in but it leasing an apartment while he’s teaching in a new university… if it is a different university. I’m not so sure. Still, if he has a nice home, why not stay there so he wouldn’t have to involve himself with those hippie neighbors of his!

Speaking of the university… kind of…

#2 What happened to Indy’s murder charge?

Near the start of the film, Indy gets lassoed into another adventure thanks to his goddaughter, Helena Shaw. Helena tricks Indy into giving her the first part of Archimedes’ Dial but it turns out the Nazi mathematician who owned it previously, Jurgen Voller, is also looking for it. This leads to Voller’s henchmen killing a couple of Indy’s colleagues. This leads to Indy becoming the prime suspect of their deaths, even though he has no motive. Why? Because movie, that’s why!

Anyway, this does lead Indiana Jones to become a wanted man. And the only way to clear his name is to… complete the missing pieces of Archimedes’ Dial? Honestly, I don’t really understand this because, after the adventure is complete, Indy goes home and all’s right with the world. What happened to him being a wanted man? Did the CIA clear his name because Voller killed one of their assets? It’s not really explained by the end but all we care about is the happy ending, right?

Speaking of Voller…

#3 Why does Jurgen Voller need to be working with the CIA to get the Dial of Destiny?

As mentioned earlier, Jurgen Voller was the original person who had Archimedes’ Dial in his possession. Indy and Helena Shaw’s father, Basil Shaw who’s apparently Indy’s longtime friend who we’ve never seen in the previous movies, got it from him while trying to retrieve the Lance of Longinus. After World War II, Voller seemingly escaped Nazi Germany and wormed his way into the United States’ Space Program, even helping NASA with the Apollo 11 mission. I guess Voller help was invaluable as he was even given special CIA clearance to help get the Dial of Destiny from Helena Shaw.

However, when the CIA assigned to him started to impede his plans, he kills her and goes travel the world, hunting down Indy, Shaw, Teddy (who is Helena Shaw’s version of Short Round) and the aforementioned Dial of Destiny. So why did he need the help of the CIA in the first place? I mean, he seemed like a smart enough guy and he’s still in touch with the seedy underbelly of the black market antiquities market, as he was aware of the underground auction in Tangier. He’s also rich enough to keep an old WWII bomber hiding out in a hanger for years. So, why did he play along with the CIA when he could’ve just sent his henchmen to follow Helena Shaw while she got the Dial of Destiny?

Speaking of Short Round…

#4 What happened to Short Round?

In the film, we do get a good number of returning characters from the previous Indiana Jones movies. Marion appears at the very end of the film to take care of Indy. Sallah and his entire family was apparently brought to the United States with the help of Indiana Jones. Honestly, that sounds like an adventure I would’ve wanted to see as it does involve one of my favorite characters from Raiders of the Lost Ark and Last Crusade.

Some longtime characters don’t appear for obvious reasons. Dr. Henry Jones Sr. has passed away by this time. So has Marcus Brody, who we also seen in Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. It wouldn’t make sense to see Willie Scott from Temple of Doom as Indy is already with Marion. But what about the other integral character from Temple of Doom? No, I’m not talking about Mola Ram, the priest who attempts to perform Kano’s Mortal Kombat 1 Fatality on Indy. I’m, of course, talking about Short Round.

Why didn’t Short Round appear in this movie? I mean, you had other characters who helped Indy throughout the years, like Marion and Sallah. But you didn’t get Short Round? Are you saying Indy didn’t bring Short Round to America after the events of Temple of Doom? He managed to bring Sallah, his wife and his nine kids but he couldn’t do the same for one orphan Chinese boy who you clearly have a bond with because you game him a nickname? Really, Indy?

Oh, speaking of nicknames…

#5 Why is “Wombat” Helena Shaw’s nickname?

As mentioned earlier, Helena Shaw is the daughter of Indy’s longtime friend who we never saw in any of the previous movies. Okay, I can forgive that because they didn’t know at the time they would need this character. However, the writers did try to grind it into your head they were close enough for Basil Shaw to ask Indy to be Helena Shaw’s godfather, which he accepted. They even upped the ante by having Indy calling her “Wombat” as a kind of affectionate nickname to show how close they are.

But why “Wombat”? Nicknames are supposed to have some significance as to why you earn that moniker. It would’ve been nice to be given some explanation as to why Indy would call her Wombat, wouldn’t it? I mean, it’s not important but this is where I do ask a lot of inconsequential questions about the movie. So, it’s totally appropriate for me to be asking this right now.

BONUS: What happened to the guy who was sleeping on the plane when Teddy hijacked it?

Okay, I get Teddy is supposed to be Helena Shaw’s version of Short Round. This does entail he can drive anything, including planes. Fine, I’ll suspend my disbelief long enough for that to be believable. However, I do have to ask what happened to the pilot who was sleeping on the plane when Teddy stole it? I mean, he’s never mentioned again. It’s a weird thing to ask but it’s also weird why the writers even introduced him in the story in the first place. I mean, if I can buy Teddy being able to take off, I can buy him being able to land the plane.

What other questions popped into your head while watching Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny? Let me know what they are in the comments section below!