Indiana Jones is back, and like it or leave it, nostalgia here to stay

Johnson Thomas

Indiana Jones at 70-plus, and well past his action-hero expiration date, finds himself in a new era, one in which he is desperately trying to fit in. That sentence speaks as much about this swansong for the much-loved traditional action-adventure series as it does about the lead character.

Jones has become an alcoholic, his son has passed away and his wife has left him. Even his students doze off when he drones on about archaeology. That’s the character director James Mangold has to try and make interesting. So, in comes a familiar evil in the form of a former Nazi scientist (Mads Mikkelsen), who in 1969 is just about to have a meeting with the US President to accept an honour for being instrumental for the ‘man on the moon’ landings. The familiar enemy obviously heralds familiar thrill-seeking. The Dial of Destiny, Archimedes’ Antikythera, is at stake here and Indy dons his fedora, picks up his whip, teams up with Helena, his former partner’s daughter, and once more embarks on a globe-trotting adventure to make sure an ancient and powerful artefact doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

Just as Jones is overreaching for a man of his age, so is this film. The script, in attempting to honour the franchise’s past, keeps re-enacting scenes we’ve experienced before. Even so, Mangold and Ford manage to add dynamic and refreshing touches to the iconic action hero. Jones’ character has enough meat to create a compelling enough arc.

The action feels like a retread of past glory. Jones obviously can’t do the stuff he used to and neither can he convincingly pull off the action he is made to do out here. But the opening flashback does the trick of lending a feel of sprightly agility to the ageing hero. The back story (1939), with a de-aged Ford tricking the Nazis into parting with one-half of the coveted dial, drives up the nostalgia value. And the consequent cut into the present (1969), where the retired professor goes into action mode to wiggle away from the CIA and the Antikythera-hunting Nazis, makes for a much more laidback experience. The thrill of the chase is strong but obviously, age has caught up with our hero so the director resorts to swift edits and less risky action.

In its attempt to pay homage to its predecessors, the narrative has Jones recalling his tryst with the past (drinking the Blood of Kali, enduring voodoo torture, and getting shot nine times), punch-hitting the Nazis, using his whip judiciously, encountering scary creepy-crawlies in darkly dense caves and riskily flying into time fissures.

The action is still very cool and set pieces (especially the opening sequence) make for fairly riveting entertainment. The Dial of Destiny prefers to hack into the past than fast-forward into the future. The action here doesn’t try to defy gravity and is not shot with a green screen. There’s minimal CGI at play and the post-production gloss is functional. It’s heartening to see real people doing stunts in real locations.

The attention to detail is also praiseworthy. In an action sequence enacted during a parade, the period details were pretty much bang on. Even John Williams’ score keeps the narrative strongly hitched to a glorious past as it resonates with iconic notes and nostalgia-inducing orchestrations. This film might not exactly redeem the brand, but fans who don’t expect a fresh take and are kosher with chases and gunfights sewn together across locations around the globe are going to be fairly enthused!