YMMV / Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

• Alas, Poor Scrappy: 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.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Did Indy genuinely believe that Voller's calculations had been screwed up by continental drift or was he just bluffing to try and get Voller to abort the flight, and his "Eureka!" Moment was just another example of him making things up as he goes along?
  • The ending suggests that Marion was only swayed by Helena to come back to Indy's apartment because she was told the "old" adventuring Indy was back in form. Is this actually true, or was it just a cover to try and mask Marion's feelings of loneliness and depression caused by Mutt's death?
  • Was it really Indy who couldn't console Marion, or was it the other way around, with Indy blaming himself for Mutt's death and Marion leaving because she couldn't snap him out of his depression? Taking that into account, was leaving Indy a last ditch attempt to reach him?
• Ass Pull: 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.
• Base-Breaking Character: Helena Shaw. Many viewers appreciate her for being a suave, snarky Action Girl who brings a different flavor of fortune-hunter more reminiscent of someone like Lara Croft or Nathan Drake to the Indiana Jones series, having genuinely good chemistry with Indy and setting her up as 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 opposite negative of Willie. The debate also more specifically rages over her choice to 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.
• Catharsis Factor:
  • The film's opening sequence is basically 15 minutes of Nazis looking incompetent and subsequently dying in gruesome manners. Between the commander's composure breaking when he learns the Holy Lance is a fake, Indy using said fake Lance to barricade a platoon of Nazis in their sleeping car, and said platoon cartoonishly Heiling their commanding officer when they're let out, the Nazis in the last days of the Reich are Played for Laughs... but that doesn't make it any less satisfying when an RAF plane hits the train-mounted flak cannon just as the tracks curve, causing said cannon to jam and fire on the train, where Nazis are climbing in an attempt to get to Indy and Shaw. While Voller survives because the other two hours and nineteen minutes of film has to happen, he doesn't walk away unscathed—the sound his head makes when it hits the pipe of a water tower by the train tracks is incredibly satisfying.
  • The ending. Voller and his neo-Nazi cohorts die in a fiery plane crash, trapped in 214 B.C. and doomed to be forgotten by all but Indy and his cohorts. As with all previous Indy villains, Voller got exactly what he wanted: to change history, but received it the worst way possible. And the best part is the Antikythera, as Helena put it, is a "loaded deck" that can only bring people back to this exact point in time. Meaning, Voller wasted decades of his life and gave up living in the lap of luxury working for the U.S. government, for something that was never going to work, regardless of Indy, Helena, and Teddy's involvement. And adding onto it, Voller is given enough time between his defeat and his death to really have it sink in how badly he messed this whole thing up.
• Complete Monster:
  • Oberarzt Jürgen Voller is defined by his withering disdain for the "occult" and the Führer's obsession with it, an obsession Voller rules as the reason for Germany's failure in World War II. 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 play God and satisfy an ego that eclipses even Hitler's own.
  • Klaber is an American Neo-Nazi and Voller's Trigger-Happy right hand attack dog who shares his boss' goal of rewriting history for a Nazi success. Enforcing Voller's "No witnesses" policy with sadistic glee, Klaber guns down anyone who witnesses Voller's plans, even for simply being there at the wrong time. Captured by the CIA along with Voller for being reckless, Klaber slaughters all of his captors, gloating to his handler Mason before executing her. Tailing the heroes, Klaber infiltrates Indy's ally Renaldo's boat and wipes out his entire crew. Sent back in time by the Antikythera to a Roman siege along with Voller, Klaber ignores his boss's attempt to try and save themselves and instead focuses on mowing down dozens of Roman soldiers with maniacal contempt, regarding them as savages.
• Contested Sequel: 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 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.
• Fanon Discontinuity: Due to being just as divisive as Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and going through a Happy Ending Override, one half of fandom likes to ignore this movie's existence and prefer it ended with Crystal Skull especially since the latter had the original creators involved. Another part of the fandom points toward The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and how much the movie clashes with what was already established about Indy's life, especially since even the already divisive Kingdom managed to keep a neutral stance toward it.
• Fan-Preferred Cut Content: Amongst the many reshot alternative endings the one where Indy was joining his father Henry Jones Sr. by a literal farplane was what most fans felt would've given this movie better closure.
• He's Just Hiding: In spite of the film establishing Mutt was killed in action in Vietnam, some fans have suggested he was a POW being detained in line with the real life myth of American prisoners of war left behind in Vietnam after 1975 and being concealed from the public (a myth popularized by Rambo: First Blood Part II).
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!:
  • 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 solo again and despite making sure it doesn't reference Kingdom of the Crystal Skull all too much, still featuring some sci-fi elements with the Dial of Destiny being able to travel back in time. However, a couple viewers took a liking to the idea of the Nazis coming Back for the Finale in the form of Neo-Nazis as a way to Bookend the series, which started with Indy competing with them for powerful treasure.
  • Despite the Happy Ending Override, 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 Legacy Character being implied. Some fans wished for a different Grand Finale 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.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Once the fact that the climax involves 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.
• Love to Hate: Jürgen Voller is a deliciously evil Nazi villain, whom thanks to his almost-realistic portrayal and Mads Mikkelsen's subdued but strong performance winds up being one of if not the most "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 its main villain.
• One-Scene Wonder: A few characters with only about a minute of screen time are quite memorable:
  • The Mook who Indy fights atop a motorcycle that is barreling downhill is a particualry memorable part of the Action Prologue.
  • The African-American Retired Badass hotel porter who engages in Passive-Aggressive Kombat with Voller earned mentions in multiple reviews of the film.
• Salvaged Story: A common criticism of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was that it tried to have an arc about Indy starting to actively take notice of the fact that he's getting older, but still had him performing daredevil stunts and engaging in bare-knuckle brawling, and that he should have been using his wits and his archaeological knowledge to get out of bad situations while relying on people like Mutt to do the heavy lifting, not unlike how Henry Sr. was in Last Crusade. Dial of Destiny clearly takes this into account, with Indy being a much feebler and frailer man bordering on retirement who while still getting involved in a bit of action is primarily The Smart Guy and lets Helena and Teddy engage in combat with the bad guys.
• So Okay, It's Average: 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 previous films, has some sluggish pacing in the middle and ends up feeling more like a generic action blockbuster.
• Special Effect Failure:
  • In the first trailer it's pretty obvious that Harrison Ford's head is CGI'd rather poorly on the stuntman riding the horse in the first shot of the Tickertape Parade sequence.
  • The de-aged Indy in the film's opening looks reasonably good, in that it looks like Harrison Ford in his forties — but his voice is still that of a 78-year-old man, creating some Vocal Dissonance.
  • The bike chase after a taking-off plane during the climax is just off, in big part due to the scene taking place in heavy rain, which is blatantly green-screened.
• Take That, Scrappy!: Mutt, a very controversial character from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, ends up being killed offscreen during the Vietnam War. However, his death devastating both Indy and Marion to the point where they separated and almost divorced makes this less satisfying.
• They Copied It, So It Sucks!: A common complaint regarding Indiana Jones in this film is that he goes through basically the exact same character arc as Han Solo in The Force Awakens and Luke Skywalker in 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". Harrison Ford playing an old man divorced from his wife following the death of their son was also seen in The Call of the Wild (2020), though the ending here is considerably happier.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Renaldo, Jones's diver friend, is played by none other than Antonio Banderas, Zorro himself! Sadly, we learn next to nothing about him before Voller unceremoniously kills him in retaliation for Indy not translating the Graphikos. Indy is quite pissed off about his death though.
  • Hauke. Despite the previous Indiana Jones movies usually having a history with Indy fighting off some Giant Mook until he defeats them for good, Hauke unceremoniously dies by drowning offscreen and it wasn't even Indy who defeated him but Helena's Kid Sidekick Teddy.
  • Mason, the CIA agent, could have been an interesting character and ally to Indy, if not for getting double crossed and killed off by Voller fairly early in the story.
  • To a lesser extent, Sallah. Many were pleasantly surprised to see the fan-favorite character return, only to be disappointed that he only appears briefly in the first half of the film and at the very end, having little to no contribution to the overall storyline, being there to mostly help Indy to get to the airport and evade capture. Renaldo's role arguably could have been filled by him, with Sallah being murdered by Voller to give more of a personal incentive to Indy to bring him down.
  • Marion only appears at the very end of the film. While her scene is super effective, she still would have probably been better served with more screen time, as she feels a bit too much like just a cameo. Her actor, Karen Allen, was also disappointed with this.
  • Despite Mutt's divisive at best reception, some fans were disappointed the film chose to reveal 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.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • The titular dial is, for all intents and purposes, a time machine - a unique artifact in the Indiana Jones series and one that lends itself to many potentially exciting idea for Indy's Grand Finale: maybe Indiana Jones, the Adventure Archeologist, could go on a journey through famous historical events - or he could go through a Continuity Cavalcade and see the Ark of the Covenant, the Sankara Stones, the Holy Grail and the gods of Akator in their respective heydays - or any number of possibilities that arise from the premise of "Indiana Jones fighting time-travelling Nazis". Instead, the Dial acts as a generic MacGuffin for most of the film and Indy only ends up travelling through time right near the end of the movie.
  • Related to that, 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.
  • The first act sets up a situation where Indy is framed for the murder of his colleagues at Hunter College, potentially setting up a sequence where Indy has to Clear My Name. Instead, it's mostly dropped without explanation by the end of the time Indy gets on the plane for Tangiers, with the one person who has a problem with it (Mason) getting coldly executed by Voller before the midway point of the film. Even in a situation where touting this reputation might actually benefit Indy (in the black market auction in Tangiers, when he's trying to explain himself to the other buyers), it never comes up again and is never resolved, feeling like left-over ideas from an early version of the script that were never fleshed out past the start of the film or cut for time.
• Uncertain Audience: It's hard to tell who the movie was aimed at, trying to be both a nostalgic send-off, fanservice machine, and 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 Indiana Jones 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 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.^note Even if people above 35 made up the vast majority of the movie-goers Die-hard fans were turned off by it being a B-Team Sequel 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 Happy Ending Override by 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 an underperformance at the box office, well below even the most moderate projections, while the movie struggled to earn back its budget.
• Visual Effects of Awesome:
  • The de-aged Indy featured at parts in the film has won praise from various news outlets, as well as Harrison Ford, already being cited as the gold standard for de-aging tech.
  • The recreation of the Siege of Syracuse has been praised as one of the highlights of the movie.

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