Star Wars Celebration occurred over the weekend, and because there’s not actually THAT much Star Wars stuff coming, it included a presentation for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. (They should probably change “Star Wars Celebration” to “Lucasfilm Legends” or similar. Anyway.)
This is the best trailer we’ve seen yet for Indy 5, which is not to say I am sold—I am not. But this trailer hits the right combo of Indiana Jones action and nostalgia to almost convince me this won’t be Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Redux, and it has the most Phoebe Waller-Bridge we’ve seen to date, plus more of Boyd Holbrook and Mads Mikkelsen as the bad guys. Generally, they’re just showing off more of the cast, and the movie looks better for it.
Waller-Bridge is playing “Helena”, Indy’s goddaughter, who I maintain was probably supposed to be his daughter, but Crystal Skull already ruined the “Indy is a secret dad” reveal. Helena seems snappy and sharp, like any good Waller-Bridge heroine, and she has Indy’s thirst for adventure. We also learn a little of the plot setup—a doohickey Indy found During The War can change history, a Nazi wants it to “fix Hitler’s mistakes”, big yikes, and Indy is on the brink of retirement, which means he’s probably going to die.
Indiana Jones + “one last job” + the guy who directed Logan + a legacy character to feature in new movies = Indy is dying. Make your peace with it now.
I am glad Dial is bringing us back to where Indy belongs, though, which is the action-adventure milieu with plenty of Nazi-punching. Can’t wait to see actual Nazis upset they’re the bad guys again, and everyone cheers when they get punched. I still think “Old Indy” is a mistake and the mount of de-aged Indy featured in this trailer suggests somebody somewhere agrees with me, but Old Indy punching Nazis is a compromise between keeping Harrison Ford in the role and what people love about Indiana Jones: the style and tone of 1930s action-adventures.
Though I remain skeptical, I am increasingly convinced that 1) Dial won’t be as bad as Crystal Skull, and 2) this movie will be huge. Audiences are back and longing for escapist adventure, this is pushing all the right buttons. And, frankly, most people have probably forgotten Crystal Skull, and this will be what Crystal Skull was supposed to be: a proper swan song for Indiana Jones.