History YMMV / IndianaJonesAndTheDialOfDestiny

* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: A common complaint regarding Indiana Jones in this film is that he goes through basically the exact same character arc as Han Solo in ''[[Film/StarWarsEpisodeVIITheForceAwakens The Force Awakens]]'' and Luke Skywalker in ''[[Film/StarWarsEpisodeVIIITheLastJedi The Last Jedi]]'' i.e., "a beloved hero is revealed to have turned bitter and grown distant from their loved ones in their old age but is inspired to get back into the action through their interaction with a young heroine". Creator/HarrisonFord playing an old man divorced from his wife [[spoiler:following the death of their son]] was also seen in ''Film/TheCallOfTheWild2020'', though the ending here [[spoiler:is considerably happier]].

** The titular dial is, for all intents and purposes, [[spoiler:a time machine - a unique artifact in the Indiana Jones series and one that lends itself to many potentially exciting idea for Indy's GrandFinale: maybe Indiana Jones, ''the'' AdventureArcheologist, could go on a journey through famous historical events - or he could go through a ContinuityCavalcade and see [[Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk the Ark of the Covenant]], [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom the Sankara Stones]], [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade the Holy Grail]] and the [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull gods of Akator]] in their respective heydeys - or any number of possibilities that arise from the premise of "Indiana Jones fighting time-travelling Nazis". Instead, the Dial acts as a generic McGuffin for most of the film and Indy only ends up travelling through time right near the end of the movie.]]

%%* OneSceneWonder: A few characters with only about a minute of screen time are more memorable than several bigger cast members.
%%** The {{Mook}} who Indy fights atop a motorcycle that is barrelling downhill during the ActionPrologue.
%%** The African-American RetiredBadass hotel porter who engages in PassiveAggressiveKombat with Voller.

%%* OneSceneWonder:

* OneSceneWonder:
** The {{Mook}} who Indy fights atop a motorcycle that is barrelling downhill during the ActionPrologue.
** The African-American RetiredBadass hotel porter who engages in PassiveAggressiveKombat with Voller.

* EsotericHappyEnding: The movie ends with Indy [[spoiler:waking up in his New York apartment, with his injuries treated, and his relationship with Marion rekindled. While this sounds like a straight happy ending, Indy was the main suspect in a series of murders at the time he previously left New York, and this is never addressed later (though there is a major scene where Agent Mason explicitly says the government knows Voller is responsible for the deaths, giving the audience enough information to infer that Indy's charges were never going to last long once a proper investigation got all of the details). On top of that while Indy is reunited with Marion it's doubtful either will fully be able to get over [[OutlivingOnesOffspring the death of Mutt]].]]

* MisBlamed: Director Creator/JamesMangold quickly became the scrapegoat to blame for all the faults of the movie, with voices pointing out his "lack of experience" and "one-hit-wonder-guy" status... except he's a seasoned director who has proven that he can handle [[GenreProlificCreator any genre he's given]] - with things like successful action and action-comedies being his standard fare, but even handling drama and a [[Film/KateAndLeopold god-damn rom-com]] with ease. So while the film does have many contentious aspects, "inexperienced director" is not one of them.

** We never get an explanation to [[spoiler:why Helena is a black market dealer.]]

** ''[[MadDoctor Oberarzt]]'' Jürgen Voller is defined by his withering disdain for the "occult" and [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler the Führer]]'s obsession with it, an obsession Voller rules as the reason for Germany's failure in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. With no faith in Hitler but still a heartless, racist Nazi even twenty years after the war ends, Voller sets his sights on the Antikythera, an ancient dial that Voller reasons is a time machine that will allow him to rewrite world history, plotting to assassinate Hitler as to replace him and steer Germany to victory. Voller gets multiple innocent people killed during his pursuit of the dial, apathetically permitting his unhinged right-hand man Klaber to murder anyone he comes across. In one instance, Voller kidnaps Indy's friend Renaldo, has the man's crew slaughtered, then shoots Renaldo dead right in front of Indy just to spite him. Willing to kill children and leave even his own loyal men for dead, Voller's ultimate interest in rewriting history is to [[GodhoodSeeker play God]] and [[ItsAllAboutMe satisfy an ego]] that eclipses even Hitler's own.

** 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]]. With many fans saying they would have preferred the role to be recast as his absence is the direct cause of the film's HappyEndingOverride while it could've also given his character more traits and grown as a person which could've easily worked out given that this movie is set a decade later after ''Crystal Skull''.

** 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.

* 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.

* EsotericHappyEnding: The movie ends with Indy [[spoiler:waking up in his New York apartment, with his injuries treated, and his relationship with Marion rekindled. While this sounds like a straight happy ending, Indy was the main suspect in a series of murders at the time he previously left New York, and this is never addressed later. On top of that while Indy is reunited with Marion it's doubtful either will fully be able to get over [[OutlivingOnesOffspring the death of Mutt]].]]

* MisBlamed: Director Creator/JamesMangold quickly became the scrapegoat to blame for all the faults of the movie, with voices pointing out his "lack of experience" and "one-hit-wonder-guy" status... except he's a seasoned director who has proven that he can handle [[GenreRoulette any genre he's given]] - with things like successful action and action-comedies being his standard fare, but even handling drama and a [[Film/KateAndLeopold god-damn rom-com]] with ease. So while the film does have many issues, "inexperienced director" is not one of them.

* LoveToHate: Jürgen Voller is a deliciously evil Nazi villain, whom thanks to his [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain almost-realistic portrayal]] and Creator/MadsMikkelsen's subdued but strong performance winds up being one of if not ''the'' most "[[HateSink I'm an evil Nazi bastard who deserves to get punched in the face]]" characters in the entire series, making watching his downfall in the final act glorious to behold. It's telling that even the film's strongest detractors could find nothing bad to say about it's main villain.

* {{Misblamed}}: Director Creator/JamesMangold quickly became the scrapegoat to blame for all the faults of the movie, with voices pointing out his "lack of experience" and "one-hit-wonder-guy" status... except he's a seasoned director who has proven that he can handle [[GenreRoulette any genre he's given]] - with things like successful action and action-comedies being his standard fare, but even handling drama and a [[Film/KateAndLeopold god-damn rom-com]] with ease. So while the film does have many issues, "inexperienced director" is not one of them.

* MisaimedMarketing: 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 and less high-brow critics who were broadly much friendlier to the film.

** [[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 feel pointless, not helped by the climax toying with the possibility of Indiana Jones spending the rest of his days living the history he always treasured, only for them to throw them away at the last minute ]]

** 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 her and brought him to the present for the more standard "Indy gets together with Marion" ending again]].

* 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.

%% Do not add Base Breaking Character, Broken Base, Contested Sequel, Sequelitis, The Scrappy, or Overshadowed By Controversy examples until six months after the work's release (December 30th, 2023).

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: Many viewers and ''Indiana Jones'' fans see ''Dial of Destiny'' as an improvement over ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull''. The latter film has been criticized for various elements, particularly the changing tone toward pure sci-fi, contrived action sequences and the contentious reception of Mutt. While ''Dial'' does have its issues and detractors, some agree that this film feels closer to the spirit of the original three films. However, on its own, ''Dial'' had a rather timid reception, and it's more about the lasting perception of ''Kingdom'' than any other factor, making ''Dial'' look better solely by comparison to the near-universally disliked precedessor.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: Many viewers and ''Indiana Jones'' fans see ''Dial of Destiny'' as an improvement over ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull''. The latter film has been criticized for various elements, particularly the changing tone toward pure sci-fi, contrived action sequences and the contentious reception of Mutt. While ''Dial'' does have its issues and detractors, some agree that this film feels closer to the spirit of the original three films. However, on its own, ''Dial'' had a rather timid reception, and it's more about the lasting perception of ''Kingdom'' than any other factor, making ''Dial'' look better solely by comparison to the universally disliked precedessor.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: Many viewers & longtime ''Indiana Jones'' fans see ''Dial of Destiny'' as an improvement over ''Kingdom of the Crystal Skull''. The latter film has been criticized for various elements such as the character of Mutt, the Nuke-Fridge Scene, the main McGuffin, and the inclusion of aliens & sci-fi in a series based on archeology & history. While ''Dial'' does have its detractors, many agree that this film feels much closer to the spirit of the original three films. Several viewers stated that the film feels like a natural progression for the character, a McGuffin based on a real historic artifact, more memorable & compelling side-characters & villains, and serves as a good send-off to one of the most beloved cinematic heroes.