"This isn't an adventure," says the title character in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny." "Those days have come and gone." And come again.
It must be said that "Dial of Destiny" is not what anyone would call an original movie, something that's also true of "Raiders of the Lost Ark," which lovingly repurposed elements of classic movies. But it also must be said that director James Mangold's team captures not just the elements fans hope for — enormous puzzles, wily young rascals, picturesque settings, ciphers, thrilling escapes, a smidge of romance — but also the spirit of the three good movies in the series (let's just forget the lousy "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull").
One of the smartest decisions was to acknowledge that 42 years have passed since we met the snake-hating archaeology teacher in "Raiders." It's not clear how old Indy is supposed to be in "Destiny," partly because Harrison Ford — who still has a six-pack — doesn't look like most 80-year-olds. Jones is retiring from teaching in the film's present day, 1969, so maybe he's supposed to be 65? That would fit the blink-and-you'll-miss-it detail that he's in the middle of a divorce and recently lost his son, presumably in the Vietnam War.
