Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Director: James Mangold
Starring: Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, Toby Jones, Boyd Holbrook, Ethann Isidore, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Thomas Kretschmann, Olivier Richters, Karen Allen
Running Time: 154 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

In what should be considered a relief, James Mangold's Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a mostly satisfying send-off for the iconic character, easily surpassing 2008's widely reviled, underwhelming Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Though a far cry from the first three films in the series, it has sections that come close to recapturing that nostalgic sense of adventure, with others curiously feeling more like a modern facsimile of classic Indy. But it's a good time, anchored by a story that's surprisingly focused given the concerns going in.

This is bloated at over two and a half hours, but doesn't drag, and whatever 80-year-old Harrison Ford's physical limitations are, they're covered by a plot that accounts for the challenges of his role. Mangold follows the familiar Spielberg template, at least until a denoument certifiably insane enough to inspire more debate and discussion. But unlike Crystal Skull, you can actually envision viewers remembering and even revisiting this, possibly healing some of the wounds inflicted by that previous film.

It's 1944 and the Nazis have captured Indiana Jones (Ford) and Oxford archeologist Basil Shaw (Toby Jones) while attempting to retrieve the Lance of Longinus from a castle in the French Alps. The Lance is fake, but German astrophysicist Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) has possession of half the Archimedes' Dial, a mechanism built by Syracusan mathematician Archimedes that supposedly enables time travel. Indy and Basil escape with the Dial, but decades later in 1969, a recently retired Indy is visited by goddaughter and archeologist Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), who believes he still has the object her late father Basil was obsessed with. 

Upon Indy discovering Helena's motivations for locating the rare piece aren't what he assumed, they're followed by Voller (fronting as NASA engineer "Dr. Schmidt") and the CIA, along with a gang of mercenaries helping him reclaim it to drastically alter history. Joined by Helena and her teen pickpocket sidekick Teddy Kumar (Ethann Isidore), Indy must find directions to the Dial's other half and stop Voller from opening the time fissure before it's too late.

A setting and era this different is something that's never really been explored in the franchise so the character's advanced age does present an opportunity to take advantage of a fresh scenario. And it's downright surreal observing the curmudgeonly professor and archaeologist floundering in 1960's New York City, riding the subway, watching TV and complaining about his neighbors blasting the Beatles. It further reinforces the idea he's stuck out of time, desperately clinging to history as the world passes him by. Never crankier, we eventually discover why, with Ford again expertly slipping into the role while sarcastically poking fun at Indy's seniority.

For all the fuss over the casting a female lead opposite Ford, Waller-Bridge's Helena isn't intended to compensate for the challenges of having Ford carry this on his own. Her backstory and connection to Indy fits the plot, with the actress bringing some screwball comedic timing to the proceedings and handling herself just fine in the action sequences. The least of this film's issues, she proves they made the right casting move in foregoing potentially bigger stars who may not have meshed as well with Ford. And despite some help, he's hardly relegated to the sidelines, nor is the character's attitude or demeanor a drastic departure from what we've embraced for decades. 

Ethann Isadore's kid sidekick is more derivative, clearly meant to invoke Short Round from Temple of Doom, but even his function suitably expands, adding a little extra kick to the narrative's machinations. As villainous Nazi scientist Voller, Mikkelsen creepily makes for one of Indy's more ambitious adversaries, mapping out a grand plan that wouldn't seem out of place in a Bond picture. John Rhys Davies returns in a smaller role as Indy's old pal Sallah while Antonio Banderas has an even tinier one as tactical scuba diver Renaldo. Thankfully, John Williams' legendary score is back as we remember it, with some additional flourishes. 

Mangold's staging and filming of the big action set pieces are highlighted by a horseback chase through NYC during the Apollo 11 parade and another with motorized rickshaws in Tangier. Both are superior to the murky 1944 prologue, which marks the franchise's most elaborate use of digitized technology yet, with a 25 minute sequence depicting a de-aged, deep faked version of Ford's Indy. It's pulled off reasonably well, but is still an odd fit for a property entrenched in retro influences like Saturday morning serials of the 30's and 40's.

You can't help but wonder if the opening is too much of a distraction, almost daring audiences to search for flaws and unintentionally harming what should be a fully immersive experience. And considering how Star Wars fans lose their minds over the briefest use of AI effects, a full half hour is a risky experiment. While trimming the sequence may have helped in covering noticeable shortcomings, it doesn't hurt to admit we might not be ready for this yet, at least to such an extent.

In a franchise with melting faces, extractions of human hearts and aliens the idea of time travel could still be a bridge too far for some fans. The hesitation isn't completely unwarranted since this veers further into the sci-fi realm than we've ever seen in the series, while maintaining the ancient mysticism that's defined other historical artifacts. The only difference here is how far the writers take it, actually following through on what's promised.

Larger questions are addressed regarding what transpired between Crystal Skull and the events of this installment, helping to explain how Indy ends up in this bitter place, latching on to the past like it's his last hope. How it fits into the plot is clever and certain to stir up more debate surrounding the creative choice made in the closing minutes. But it's safe to say common sense prevails, as the alternative would leave a dangling thread when all loose ends need to be tightly tied. An exciting, old fashioned blockbuster, Dial of Destiny goes out on top, upholding the spirit of the franchise while giving us the fitting final chapter we were owed fifteen years earlier.

Tetris

Director: Jon S. Baird
Starring: Taron Egerton, Nikita Yefremov, Sofia Lebedeva, Anthony Boyle, Ben Miles, Ken Yamamura, Igor Grabuzov, Oleg Shtefanko, Ayane Nagabuchi, Rick Yune, Roger Allam, Toby Jones, Togo Igawa, Matthew Marsh
Running Time: 118 min.
Rating: R

★★½ (out of ★★★★)  

Simple, straightforward and addictive, it's easy to see how Tetris became such a phenomenon during the mid to late 80's video game craze. The story behind its development and licensing is lesser known, as director Jon S. Baird attempts to make sense of its complicated journey to store shelves. The latest in a string of biopics focusing on big brand products, the script stretches the idea of creative license to its breaking point, as even the actual participants have candidly implied in interviews that some of the events here are either heavily exaggerated or flat-out didn't occur.

Those watching Tetris with even minor background knowledge of the game's origins will feel those Hollywood liberties being taken, which is nothing new for the genre and certainly doesn't disqualify it. But there is an inflated sense of frenetic urgency surrounding this, possibly stemming from concerns that a movie about video game rights might prove too dry for mainstream audiences. This justifiable concern results in an overcompensation of sorts, as the film succumbs to some wheeling and dealing messy enough to give viewers whiplash.

It's 1988 and Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton) of Bullet-Proof Software is in the midst of marketing his newest video game at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas when he notices another game called Tetris, created by Soviet programmer Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Yefremov). But while there Henk finds out that Robert Stein (Toby Jones) of Andromeda Software bought worldwide licensing rights from the Soviet government-owned ELORG. 

It turns out that Stein signed a contract with media magnate Robert Maxwell (Roger Allam) and his son, Mirrorsoft CEO, Kevin Maxwell (Anthony Boyle), enabling them to distribute the game in exchange for royalties. Unfortunately for them, Rogers also claims rights, having recently gotten another Mirrorsoft executive to sign off on the game for PC, console and arcade use. 

After Rogers proposes to Nintendo CEO Hiroshi Yamauchi (Togo Igawa) that they co-produce the game for NES, the company's new Game Boy handheld device readies for launch, just as Sega and Atari also enter the fray. The battle between Rogers and the Maxwells come to a head in Moscow, as ELORG chairman Nikolai Belikov (Oleg Shtefanko) struggles to sort this out with the Soviet Communist Party and a scary KGB operative (Igor Grabuzov) breathing down his neck. Having leveraged everything he has on Tetris, Rogers needs a way to secure the rights and escape Russia alive, even while Pajitnov runs the risk of not seeing a penny from his own creation. 

Under ideal circumstances, a story based on real-life events this chaotic would be streamlined for viewers completely unfamiliar with what happened. And you'd figure that's a sizable majority, some of whom were likely prompted to check this out because it covers the origin of a popular, iconic video game they've played or maybe even grew up on. It's to the film's credit and detriment that it refuses to cut corners, giving us an agonizingly detailed look at all the business complications involved with the licensing. And are there ever a lot, with rights changing hands half a dozen times during about fifteen double crosses as Rogers desperately tries to finalize his deal. 

In a way, this turns out how many worried Ben Affleck's Air would, as both feature entrepreneurial disruptors bucking corporate culture to bring a game-changing product to the masses. Each comes with great personal and professional risk, but the key difference is that Tetris was getting released no matter what. Rogers saw an opportunity and pounced, while Sonny Vaccaro made his own by signing Michael Jordan to Nike. Without him there are no Air Jordans and the film goes to great lengths showing Sonny's vision for the brand. A game involving colorful interlocking blocks is a far cry from that, but it's still a commodity, and beyond Rogers staring at monitors in astonishment, we're rarely given glimpses into why he feels so strongly about it.

Regardless of Rogers' fascination with the game, Noah Pink's script effectively convey the stakes by showing the personal toll this obsession takes on his wife (Ayane Nagabuchi) and young daughters. But when the characters aren't bickering over contracts, it's mostly aiming to be a Cold War spy actioner, complete with a young Russian interpreter (Sofia Lebedeva), high-speed chases through the Moscow streets and even a Mikhail Gorbachev (Matthew Marsh) appearance. Of course, the Soviet leader knowing about the game, much less having a vested interest, requires a big suspension of disbelief. To Baird and his cast's credit, implausible moments like these do come across better than expected, even when getting lost in the minutiae of legal details. 

Moving briskly and incorporating a clever use of 8-bit animated effects throughout, Tetris ticks all the nostalgic boxes with its retro aesthetic and 80's soundtrack. It also contains a handful of solid performances, most notably from Egerton and some slightly lesser known faces. They carry this through some heavily comedic stretches before veering into dramatic territory that resembles a lesser Argo. Crafting a political thriller around the ownership of a video game was never going to be easy, but Tetris could have leveled up by instead exploring what actually went into its creation.