Cue the theme song! After 15 years, Harrison Ford has returned to play his iconic character, Indiana Jones, in the fifth instalment of the series. At the age of 81, fans were shocked to hear that Ford would be returning for the role, but even more so that they were making another film to begin with. Because the real question that lingered in the air was why? Though the film released earlier this year in June, it wasn’t only till a couple of weeks ago that I finally had a chance to watch it – and I’ve come to a sad conclusion. Unfortunately, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was a major disappointment, and here are all the reasons why.

[Please note there are spoilers in this review; read at your own discretion]

Look, I love Harrison Ford as much as the next guy, and though I was holding out hope that he would be able to carry this film, there were just too many problems to overcome. To put it simply, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny lacked the same charm and appeal that made the original trilogy so great. Although I’m sure it was made with the best intentions, the film failed to show much heart, and I struggled to see the purpose behind it. I’ll always have a soft spot for seeing Ford as Indie on screen, but sadly, even his involvement in this movie wasn’t enough to save my opinon of it.

I think the biggest let-down was definitely the story (yes, the most important part of any film!) – I felt the pacing was off and I just couldn’t get into it. I found myself growing bored numerous times and quite honestly, the “shocking” twist at the end ruined it even more for me. Seriously? Time travel? In my opinion, there was something about it that just felt overly gimmicky and too cheesy; I couldn’t wrap my head around it! If you felt differently about the time travel, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!

Another major issue I had with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was that I didn’t like any of the new characters introduced. For one, Mads Mikkelson, though fantastic at playing villains, was a rather bland antagonist that should’ve already been dead at the start. (Seriously though, who survives a hit against a metal pole while standing on a full speed train?!) I also disliked Helena Shaw (played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge) which was disappointing given her large role in the film; though I love her as an actress, I admittedly felt she lacked the right emotion and excitement to play the lead in an action-adventure film. And lastly, Kumar (played by Ethann Isidore) felt like an irrelevant character that was just thrown in as an attempt to recreate the Indie + Short Round dynamic.

And finally, I can’t not comment about the CGI used in the film. While the de-aging looked pretty decent at first, even impressive, it quickly became disastrous the moment I a). heard Ford’s much older, more mature voice paired with the very young-looking Indie, and b). when I saw how awkward his mouth looked just doing basic facial expressions. While I’m aware it’s no small feat to accomplish such CGI on that scale, it just didn’t sit quite right with me and took me out of the scene immediately. I didn’t have much of a problem with the rest of the CGI in the film, though the plane scene when they flew back in time was definitely a little wonky looking too.

All in all, this is not a movie I would want to watch again. There wasn’t anything about it that made me desire a second watch. I was quite harsh on my critique, but that’s because I felt Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny needed to prove to me that it was worthy of being added to the beloved series – which it failed to do. Everything from the characters, to the script, to the action just didn’t work for me. I was genuinely happy to see Ford once again on screen as the character, but I think it’s also time for him to put the hat and whip aside. Given all my comments, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is getting a 3.5/10 from me. Yes, it is one of the lowest scores on my blog so far, but unfortunately I struggled to find enough merit to give points for.