History YMMV / IndianaJonesAndTheDialOfDestiny

* AssPull: The audience is expected to accept that a large ''metal object'' struck Voller ''in the head'' at ''massive speeds'' on top of a train and ''knocked him hundreds of feet below into the forest'' and yet when he reappears years later, he doesn't even have a scar from it. The velocity alone should have actually ''decapitated'' him, but he's totally fine when he shows up in the film later on.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Helena Shaw. Many viewers appreciate her for being a suave, snarky ActionGirl who brings a different flavor of fortune-hunter more reminiscent of someone like [[Franchise/TombRaider Lara Croft]] or [[VideoGame/{{Uncharted}} Nathan Drake]] to the ''Indiana Jones'' series, having genuinely good chemistry with Indy and setting her up as [[spoiler: a surrogate daughter to him and Marion after Mutt's death]], whereas others think that her devil-may-care attitude doesn't gel with the film's more serious and darker tone very well and disliking her for being the [[HyperCompetentSidekick opposite negative]] of [[DamselScrappy Willie]] . The debate also more specifically rages over her choice to [[spoiler: knock out Indy and bring him back to the present despite his wish to stay in the past, with some finding it heartwarming and others finding it disrespectful]].

* AlasPoorScrappy: [[spoiler:If this franchise has a commonly-cited example, it's Mutt Williams from ''Crystal Skull''. Come this film, we discover Mutt died in Vietnam, and it ''destroyed'' Indy and Marion with grief. The way Indy describes it, with his gruff voice breaking, is ''devastating''. Ironically, when ''Kingdom'' came out, the most common voice of the fandom was that Mutt should be killed off.]]

* MisaimedMarketing: Trying to follow steps of ''Film/TopGunMaverick'' a year prior, the film made its premier at the Cannes Film Festival, arguably the toughest mainstream film festival in the world. The critics there who gave their first impressions on the film skewed negative, which likely hurt ''Dial of Destiny'' before it could get out to general audiences, already starting with a stain on its reputation before the wide release.

* SoOkayItsAverage: The conclusion of both the lukewarm reviews and audience reactions - not a bad movie, with some good chemistry between the leads and decent action, but it lacks the energy of the previous films, has some sluggish pacing in the middle and ends up feeling more like a generic action blockbuster.

* UncertainAudience: It's hard to tell who the movie was aimed at, trying to be both a nostalgic send-off, fanservice machine, and [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull another attempt]] to find a potential replacement for Indiana Jones himself. It failed to attract young adults and teens entirely, despite ostensibly being tailored for them, given that it's a movie about an octogenarian (or even how Franchise/IndianaJones as a whole faded out of pop culture). It didn't work with older audiences, who found it just too silly or got burned away by the previous nostalgia drive that was ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull.''[[note]]Even if people above 35 made up the vast majority of the movie-goers[[/note]] Die-hard fans were turned off by it being a BTeamSequel and featuring a version of Indy basically unrecognizable compared to his prime, both physically and mentally. And the small but still significant group of ''Crystal Skull'' fans, who would have been more accepting of an Indiana Jones movie where he's out of his prime were turned off due to the film pulling a HappyEndingOverride by [[spoiler:killing Mutt offscreen resulting in Marion divorcing Indy, leaving him alone and miserable]]. The marketing campaign was also all over the place, uncertain if it wanted to aim at a pre-existing fanbase or just sell the movie to wide audiences. The end result was a ''severe'' underperformance at the box office, well below even the most moderate projections, while the movie struggled to earn back its budget despite being planned as ''the'' summer tentpole.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Helena Shaw. Many viewers appreciate her for being a suave, snarky ActionGirl who brings a different flavor of fortune-hunter more reminiscent of someone like [[Franchise/TombRaider Lara Croft]] or [[VideoGame/{{Uncharted}} Nathan Drake]] to the ''Indiana Jones'' series, having genuinely good chemistry with Indy and setting her up as [[spoiler: a surrogate daughter to him and Marion after Mutt's death]], whereas others think that her devil-may-care attitude doesn't gel with the film's more serious and darker tone very well. The debate also more specifically rages over her choice to [[spoiler: knock out Indy and bring him back to the present despite his wish to stay in the past, with some finding it heartwarming and others finding it disrespectful]].

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Helena Shaw. Many viewers appreciate her for being a suave, snarky ActionGirl who brings a different flavor of fortune-hunter more reminiscent of someone like [[Franchise/TombRaider Lara Croft]] or [[VideoGame/{{Uncharted}} Nathan Drake]] to the ''Indiana Jones'' series and having genuinely good chemistry with Indy, whereas others think that her devil-may-care attitude doesn't gel with the film's more serious and darker tone very well. The debate also more specifically rages over her choice to [[spoiler: knock out Indy and bring him back to the present despite his wish to stay in the past, with some finding it heartwarming and others finding it disrespectful]].

* ContestedSequel: This movie generated diverse opinions among fans who, critical of certain elements in ''Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'', found satisfaction in the film's nods to the first and third installments. Some appreciated the time-travel concept, throwbacks to previous Indy movies and perceived improvements over the divisive aspects of the prior film, and [[spoiler: Indy and Marion shippers loving that it ended with them rebuilding their marriage]]. Others, including both supporters and critics of ''Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'', expressed discontent with what they viewed as nostalgia-driven elements, believing the film failed to capture the essence of the original movies and played things safe. Additionally, Helena Shaw has been singled out as a BaseBreakingCharacter, with many of the film's detractors disliking her in particular.

* OneSceneWonder: A few characters with only about a minute of screen time are more memorable than several bigger cast members.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Helena Shaw. Many viewers appreciate her for being a suave, snarky ActionGirl who brings a different flavor of fortune-hunter more reminiscent of someone like [[Franchise/TombRaider Lara Croft]] or [[VideoGame/{{Uncharted}} Nathan Drake]] to the ''Indiana Jones'' series and having genuinely good chemistry with Indy, whereas others think that her devil-may-care attitude doesn't gel with the film's more serious and darker tone very well. The debate also more specifically rages over her [[spoiler: knocking out Indy and bringing him back to the present despite his wish to stay]].

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Helena Shaw is a titanic one. Many viewers appreciate her for being a suave, snarky ActionGirl who brings a different flavor of fortune-hunter more reminiscent of someone like [[Franchise/TombRaider Lara Croft]] or [[VideoGame/{{Uncharted}} Nathan Drake]] to the ''Indiana Jones'' series and having genuinely good chemistry with Indy, whereas others think that her devil-may-care attitude doesn't gel with the film's more serious and darker tone very well. The debate also more specifically rages over whether her [[spoiler:knocking out Indy and bringing him back to the present despite his wish to stay]].

* ContestedSequel: This movie generated diverse opinions among fans who, critical of certain elements in ''Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'', found satisfaction in the film's nods to the first and third installments. Some appreciated the time-travel concept, throwbacks to previous Indy movies and perceived improvements over the divisive aspects of the prior film, and [[spoiler: Indy and Marion shippers loving that it ended with them rebuilding their marriage]]. Others, including both supporters and critics of ''Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'', expressed discontent with what they viewed as nostalgia-driven elements, believing the film failed to capture the essence of the original movies and played things safe. Additionally, Helena Shaw's has been singled out as a BaseBreakingCharacter, with many of the film's detractors disliking her particular.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Helena Shaw is a titanic one. Many viewers appreciate her for being a suave, snarky ActionGirl who brings a different flavor of fortune-hunter more reminiscent of someone like [[Franchise/TombRaider Lara Croft]] or [[VideoGame/{{Uncharted}} Nathan Drake]] to the ''Indiana Jones'' series and having genuinely good chemistry with Indy, whereas others think that her devil-may-care attitude doesn't gel with the film's more serious and darker tone very well and that she's just as or possibly even ''more'' annoying than [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom Willie Scott]]. The debate also more specifically rages over whether her [[spoiler:knocking out Indy and bringing him back to the present was her acting in Indy's best interest so that he wouldn't die lonely in the past and could reunite with Marion or whether she robbed him of spending his last days living amongst the thing he loved the most, history]].

* ContestedSequel: This movie generated diverse opinions among fans who, critical of certain elements in ''Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'', found satisfaction in the film's nods to the first and third installments. Some appreciated the time-travel concept, throwbacks to previous Indy movies and perceived improvements over the divisive aspects of the prior film. However, a substantial number, including both supporters and critics of ''Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'', expressed discontent with what they viewed as nostalgia-driven elements, believing the film failed to capture the essence of the original movies and playing things safe. Additionally, Helena Shaw's character faced criticism for being one-dimensional and lacking development being considered one of the worst female sidekicks like with Willie.

* ItsNotSupposedToWinOscars: Defenders of this film will often point out that ''no one'' in the fanbase went into this movie expecting it to be on par with ''Raiders'' or ''Last Crusade'' in terms of quality, and that complaining about [[ToughActToFollow the film not living up to the unreasonable expectations of those two films]] merely causes ''Dial of Destiny'''s more positive and unique aspects to be ignored.

* {{Narm}}: The audience is expected to accept that a large ''metal object'' struck the colonel ''in the head'' at ''massive speeds'' on top of a train and ''knocked him hundreds of feet below into the forest'' and yet when he reappears years later, he doesn't even have a scar from it. The velocity alone should have actually ''decapitated'' him, but he's totally fine when he shows up in the film later on.

* ItsTheSameSoItSucks:
** Some viewers took issues that this movie once again uses Nazis (or Neo-Nazis in the case of Voller's henchmen) as the main bad guys for the third time, having Indy being [[StealthPun solo]] again and despite making sure it doesn't reference ''Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' all too much, [[spoiler:still featuring some sci-fi elements with the Dial of Destiny being able to travel back in time]]. [[BrokenBase However]], a couple viewers took a liking to the idea of the Nazis coming BackForTheFinale in the form of Neo-Nazis as a way to {{Bookend}} the series, which started with Indy competing with them for powerful treasure.

** The {{Mook}} who Indy fights atop a motorcycle that is barreling downhill is a particualry memorable part of the ActionPrologue.

** [[spoiler: Despite the HappyEndingOverride, the movie ends in pretty much the exact same note that the previous movie ended. With Indy getting together with Marion, deciding to not retire from adventures and a potential LegacyCharacter being implied. Some fans wished for a different GrandFinale for Indiana Jones, given it make some fans feel it makes the movie pointless. Not helped by the climax toying with the possibility of Indy spending the rest of his days living the history he always treasured, only to get forcibly yanked back to his regular life]].
* JustHereForGodzilla: Once the fact that the climax involves [[spoiler: time-travel and a random shoot-out between a [=WW2=] bomber and Romans invading ancient Syracuse]] became known, some people went to watch the movie ''solely'' for that.

** Mason, the CIA agent, could have been an interesting character and ally to Indy, if not for [[spoiler: getting double crossed and killed off by Voller fairly early in the story]].

** Despite Mutt's divisive at best reception, some fans were disappointed the film chose to reveal [[spoiler: that he died in between movies serving in Vietnam]]. Many said they would have preferred the role to be recast and given more growth as a person, which could've easily worked out since this movie is set a decade after ''Crystal Skull''.

** Related to that, [[spoiler: Indy considers to spend the rest of his days living the history he always treasured and investigated, this could have being a fairly unique and fitting conclusion to give to Indiana Jones as a character but then Helena punches him and brought him to the present for the more standard "Indy gets together with Marion" ending again]].

* {{Narm}}: The audience is expected to accept that a large ''metal object'' struck the colonel ''in the head'' at ''massive speeds'' on top of a train and ''knocked him hundreds of feet below into the forest'' and yet when he reappears years later, he doesn't even have a scar from it. The velocity alone should have actually ''decapitated'' him, but he's totally fine when he shows up in the film later on. Yeah, sure, why not?

** The African-American RetiredBadass hotel porter who engages in PassiveAggressiveKombat with Voller earned mentions in multiple reviews of the film.

* ReplacementScrappy: Teddy is considered to be an inferior version of Shortround who lacks the personality and chemistry the latter had with Indy.

* TheScrappy: Helena Shaw faced significant fan backlash as her character's one-dimensional nature and lack of development left audiences disinterested, while her consistent arrogance and selfishness, coupled with a lack of growth, intensified the negative reception. The forced and awkward chemistry with Indiana Jones failed to establish the anticipated strong bond, further alienating fans. Collectively, Helena Shaw's shortcomings in development, personality, chemistry, and her perceived smugness and pretentiousness positioned her as a widely disliked character.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: In the first and third Indiana Jones movies, the inclusion of Nazis was generally accepted due to the wartime setting. However, in Dial of Destiny, set in 1969, fans criticized their inclusion. The historical timeline had moved beyond the era of Nazi dominance, and the resurgence of neo nazis lacked a strong, justifiable narrative context with fans feeling that they were only included for fan service sake.

* ContestedSequel: This movie generated diverse opinions among fans who, critical of certain elements in ''Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'', found satisfaction in the film's nods to the first and third installments. Some appreciated the time-travel concept, throwbacks to previous Indy movies and perceived improvements over the divisive aspects of the prior film. However, a substantial number, including both supporters and critics of ''Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'', expressed discontent with what they viewed as nostalgia-driven elements, believing the film failed to capture the essence of the original movies and playing things safe. Additionally, Helena Shaw's character faced widespread disapproval for being one-dimensional and lacking development being considered one of the worst female sidekicks like with Willie.

%% Do not add Base Breaking Character, Broken Base, Contested Sequel, Sequelitis, Surprisingly Improved Sequel, The Scrappy, or Overshadowed By Controversy examples until six months after the work's release (December 30th, 2023).
%% Complete Monster and Magnificent Bastard entries require approval on their respective cleanup threads.
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