This movie is not terrible. It isn’t the worst thing I have ever seen by far, but it does have its problems and the main problem is a big one.
It’s the deconstruction of a hero.
Now, this wouldn’t be the biggest problem to have in a movie if it was something you did sparingly. But for some reason, this is something that Lucasfilm has done time and time again with its main characters. Examples of this are Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. Both characters are torn apart to tell a story, which in some cases can be done to success. It becomes lazy though when you seem to have to do it with every story you tell. I personally have defended the Luke Skywalker decision because I feel that they gave him one of the coolest Jedi moments in Star Wars history. You may disagree with that (and you have the right to), but for me, it is amazing so it makes up for anything that occurs before it. With Han Solo, he deserted someone he truly loved in Princess Leia and his son Ben, which may have played a part in his decision to turn to the dark side. I partly forgave that because Han in the original trilogy was at least a selfish person that looked out for himself, so maybe you could see him get in a tough spot and find himself turning back to his old ways. So all of those things I rationalized and in my head could make sense of in some way.
In Dial of Destiny, they not only make Indy sad and old, they make him in some ways pathetic. His students don’t like him, he has turned to drinking, and not only that, but he is now divorced and his kid joined the military to make Indy angry and died in the war. At the end of the film, Indy has given up on the present and wants to stay behind to die as he is bleeding out from a gunshot wound, and he doesn’t even have the chance to change his mind about his decision before he gets knocked out by his co-star, taking away his agency. I could forgive one or two of these things in the movie to make the story interesting and give the character a challenge but I can not accept all of these things especially the fact that Indy would give up. That is the cruelest one. In literally every movie before this, Indy was the opposite of giving up. He would be knocked down, hanging on a slim chance of hope, but he would always cling to that hope and never give up. I did not want to see an Indy that would ever do that. He would have fought to the very end, no matter the obstacles in his path. So say what you will and enjoy the film if you want – that is everyone’s right and should be their right. But for me, I had to draw the line in the sand and say I will not accept this Indy.
Don’t worry though, I will not start a war on Twitter or YouTube because I am one person with different views and those views differ from many of yours. So love this movie despite what I say or think and have fun with it. But I will say to you, do not attack anyone in turn who disagrees about the film because maybe they feel the way I do and that isn’t an attack on you. It is individuality that makes us great, and it makes us even greater in those times that we can come together and love the same things.
Thank you for your time. Get up with me on the Let’s Get Ready Network anytime you can, and let’s have some fun in the comment section.
