SNAPSHOT
A fifth movie in the Indiana Jones franchise, continuing the story after Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). Starring Harrison Ford as adventurer Indiana Jones and Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Helena. The full cast also features Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Kretschmann, Boyd Holbrook, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Toby Jones, Antonio Banderas, and Olivier Richters. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, also known as, Indiana Jones 5 is directed by acclaimed American filmmaker James Mangold, director of the movies Heavy, Cop Land, Girl Interrupted, Kate & Leopold, Identity, Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma, Knight and Day, The Wolverine, Logan, and Ford v Ferrari previously. The screenplay is written by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and James Mangold. It’s based on characters by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. Produced by Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Simon Emanuel, and Lucasfilm. (courtesy First Showing)
Indy is back people and even though Harrison Ford is 80, he looks for all the world like he’s just as ready to take on anyone who wants to stand in his way with the same swashbuckling joie de vivre and sense of fun that characterises the first four films in the long-running Indiana Jones franchise.
The just-released trailer and poster are packed full of all kinds of references to the adventures that led up to this point – as Gizmodo points out, “the first trailer for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny [is] chock full of recognisable Indy action with plenty of Nazi punching, cave exploring, and train jumping” – making it a nostalgic joy on one hand but with the presence of Indy’s goddaughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), there’s also plenty of new narrative blood pumping through the film’s veins.
What makes the Indy movies such a joy to watch is that they are cinema at its most purely escapist; it’s exactly the kind of lift you out of the everyday storytelling we all need from time to time to make life seems a whole lot less banally oppressive, and they come with the added bonus of richly alive characters and a worldview that very much acknowledge’s the greys of human existence but which still, happily celebrates the triumph of good over evil.
Indiana Jones has the lot and having the franchise back is going to be one of 2023’s great cinematic highlights when it premieres in Australia on 29 June 2023 and US and UK on 30 June.