Midway through “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” a movie janked up with enough digital effects to rival the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, Harrison Ford gets on a boat. It’s a nice, contemplative scene on a diving vessel, sailing to Athens and piloted by Antonio Banderas. Indy’s traveling, uneasily, with his goddaughter, Helena, played by generously showcased Phoebe Waller-Bridge, chasing after the Dial of Destiny, which the Nazis are likewise chasing to give this movie a reason for being.
Indy reflects on what’s in his heart regarding his failing marriage, and who he has lost. The star relaxes into this moment. Ford was 79 when he filmed “Dial of Destiny” — he’s 80 now — and he finesses it just so: with gravitas, banked emotion, glancing heartbreak. Before you know it, you’ve forgotten how not-special the first hour of “Dial of Destiny” was. The movie takes a breath, and the second half’s a little better. And that, friends, is what a movie star does for a living.
And just before that unexpectedly effective transition scene on the boat? What do we get as a lead-in? The map! The beloved old-school, on-screen itinerary update, showing where Indy’s been and where he’s going. The Indiana Jones franchise has always loved its map dissolves, that charming remnant of prestige studio pictures but also of the cheaper, grungier, cliffhanging serials Steven Spielberg and George Lucas watched as young boys dreaming of whips, ray guns and plunder.
