The followingpiece contains SPOILERS for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.Unless you have an Antikythera handy, you will not be able to unsee them if you keep reading.They say you cant teach an old dog new tricks.Howabout a guy named after an old dog?That, in a nutshell, is the premise ofIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.ThefifthIndiana Jonesfilm opened last year tomediocre reviews and middling box office. Believe it or not, it fared worse with critics than the much-malignedIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. (It alsoearned less than half ofCrystal Skulls worldwide gross.) Headlines in every major Hollywood tradetsk-tskedits exorbitant budget supposedly somewhere in the $300-400 million range which made Dial of Destinynot only one of the most expensive films in history, but also one of the biggermoney losers as well.IfeltDial of Destinywas basically finewhen it debuted in theaters last summer. It seemed like a more successful farewell to Indy than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and that seemed like enough of a win to me. But Ive thought a lot aboutit since then. At first I wasnt sure why. Its clearly not a superior adventure movie, especially not by the standards of theIndiana Jones franchise, which produced some of the greatestaction movies of the 20th century. DespiteDial of Destinysmassive budget, some of itsvisual effects areinexplicably rough. So are some of its big set pieces.INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINYLucasfilm Ltd.loading...READ MORE: How Spider-Mans Co-Creator Left His Mark on Indiana JonesButDial of Destinymight also be the most thoughtful film in theIndiana Jones series. Heck, itmightbeonly thoughtful film in theIndiana Jones series. By some metrics, thatmay not be a good thing. Who goes to a summer blockbuster about a crusading herosaving antiquities from Nazisfor thoughtfulness?Me, I guess. After a second look at Dial of Destiny,Ive come toreallyappreciate the care with which this sequel was conceptualized and constructed to emphasizeitsaging stars strengthsandweaknesses, both to the films benefit. I like that it is an action movie with a lot on its mind and its heart on its sleeve. And I love that Disney decided in an era when Hollywoodnever makes movies about old people tospend $300 million on one about an 80-year-old man reckoning with grief, his own mortality, and the relentlessmarch of time.This is not a formula for a four-quadrant hit, so it shouldnt be surprising that Dial of Destiny struggled to connect with audiences, especially younger ones. Somewhat perversely, that only makes me like it more. This movie takes somehuge swings. They dont all connect, but even some of theelements that dont quite work still make sense within the movies larger story and themes: Namely a man of the past learning to live in the present.Lucasfilm Ltd.Lucasfilm Ltd.loading...Case in point:Dial of Destinys cold open, set in 1944 and chronicling a young Indiana Jones as he evades a bunch of Nazis stealing some priceless historical artifacts. The sequence takes place 25 years before the rest ofDial of Destinys main story, and features a version of leading man Harrison Fordde-agedvia a variety of digital technologies. Young Indy rescues hiscolleagueBasil Shaw (Toby Jones), and together they grabhalf of the Antikythera, an ancient dial created by famed Greek mathematician Archimedes,that was in the possession of a Nazi scientist namedJrgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen).In addition to the younger Harrison Ford (who was supposedly created with cutting-edge AI software that compiled and combined images of the real Ford frompriorStar WarsandIndiana Jones movies),Dial of Destinys opening action scenefeatures enough special effects to filla standard Hollywood production: Planes and explosions and cannon fire and a fist fight on top of a speeding train.Truth be told, none of it looks especiallyfabulous including the de-aged Indiana Jones. In individual frames (like the one above) it could almost pass for the real thing. In motion, especially when you hear Fords growly older voice coming out of it, it rarely passes muster. While it surely took an enormous amount of effort to get CGIndythis close to the real thing, its never close enough to fool the naked eye. Its Indiana Jones and the Uncanny Valley.INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINYLucasfilm Ltd.loading...You could argue that usingthat much digital technology in anIndiana Jones movie is a betrayal of the series original ethos and aesthetic. As first conceived by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman, and then written by Lawrence Kasdan and directed by Steven Spielberg, Indiana Joneswas designed asan adrenalized throwback to Saturday morning serials of the 1930s and 40s like Spy SmasherandDaredevils of the Red Circle. As such, Spielbergs originalIndiana Jonestrilogy was jammed with practical effects; fist fights, falling boulders,truck crashes, and the like.Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny which was directed byLogansJames Mangold instead of Spielberg features far more digital effects and stunts than any of the earlier films. And, again, some of them dont look fantastic. But the choice to bring Indy into the 21st century, at least technologically speaking, very much matchesMangolds broader ideas for Indyabout embracing the way things are, instead of bemoaning the way things used to be.After the long opening in 1944, that narrative resumes in New York City on 1969s Moon Day, when the Apollo 11 astronauts are the guests of honor ata ticker tape parade through the streets of Manhattan. Indiana Jones, now separated from his wife Marion (Karen Allen) and days from retirement at Hunter College, could care less about any of that. While everyone else in New York is at the parade, Indy bellies up to a bar to drown his sorrows. This is not the hero we remember fromRaiders of the Lost Ark.INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINYLucasfilm Ltd.loading...Hes not the man his goddaughter, Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), remembers either.Helena the grownchild of Indys old friend Basil finds Indy and asks for his help retrieving the two halves of theAntikythera. Jones is hesitant; hesthrough with adventure and he knows thatBasils obsession with Archimedes dial ruined his life.Then it turns outVoller who played a key role in helping NASA land on the moon is after Helena and the dial too, backed by CIA agents who killed Indys co-workers and framed him for their murder. That sends Indy hopscotching across theplanet to clear his name and find Helena and theAntikythera before Voller and his goons.If you know anything about theIndiana Jonesfranchise, you know how this will end: In Indiana Jones total failure. True to form, Indys efforts to keep Voller from the Dial only help him acquire it, and along the way another one of Indys friends gets murdered (Antonio Banderas, making adistractingly brief cameo as a scuba diver named Renaldo). Voller assembles theAntikythera, which can locate fissures in time. Then he commences with his ultimate plan: Totravel back to the 1930s and alter the course of history to ensure Germany wins World War II.And then ...wellthen the movie takes a major turn.INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINYLucasfilmloading...Voller, brilliant as he is, fails to account for continental drift, a concept that hadnt been discovered yet in the days of Archimedes. As a result,instead of 1930s Germany, the Antikythera sendsVoller and Indyto 212 B.C. and the Siege of Syracuse back to the days of Archimedes himself. Their plane crashes, all of the Nazis are killed, and a wounded Indybegs Helena to leave him in the past, despite the fact that modern medicine is the only thing that couldheal his injuries.Earlier inDial of Destiny, Indiana Jonestold his old buddy Sallah that his days of excitement have come and gone, possibly a meta acknowledgement that the early blockbuster era the character belonged to has given way to a very different type of big-budget cinema. In that context, Indys disgust with the astronauts of Apollo 11almostfeels like a metaphorical attack on the sci-fi moviesthat replaced serialsin the 1950s and 60s and perhaps a commentary about thesuperhero movies that gluttodays cinematic marketplace. After all, the original Fantastic Four were astronaut explorers transformed bycosmic rays. Howcan a dude with a whipmeasure up in a world with a geniusin a suit of armor, or a demigod with a hammer that shoots lighting?In other words, Indiana Jones no longer pursues relics; he is one. Or, at least, hethinks he is one. And that sort of thinking becomesa self-fulfilling prophecy much like a creating a dial (of destiny) that can send people back in time, which men of the future use to travel back to the past, whichArchimedesthen uses as the inspiration for a dial (of destiny) that can send people back in time.Thats why it was important that Mangold filledDial of Destiny with modern special effects. To be in this new world, you have to fully commit to it. Just because the effects didnt look as convincing asthe ones in other movies doesntmean the underlying conceitwas unsound. It just means the execution was a little off.LucasfilmLucasfilmloading...When Indy refuses to leave ancient Syracuse, Helena knocks him unconscious and drags him back to 1969. (In an eloquent grace note in this story about time loops,Dial of Destinyjourney around the world and across thousands of yearsthen returns to its first shot of 1969,looking out the window of Indiana Jones apartment at his fire escape, where a pair of socks flapin the breeze.) When Indy wakes up, his estranged wife Marionis waiting to see him.Someone told me youre back, Marion says to Indy. Are you back?And then the two recreatethe famous scene fromRaiders of the Lost Arkwhen Indy complains that he hurts everywhere and Marion kisses him in the only place on his body thatdoesnthurt. For the final time, John Williams Marions Theme swells on the soundtrack. InRaiders of the Lost Ark,that music served asthe backdrop to two beautiful young peoples romantic, globetrotting adventures. InDial of Destiny it plays as those same people, now 40 years older, embrace in adingy Manhattan kitchen.Before Marions return, Indyhad every reason to be depressed, and Ford gives one of the best performances of his career as this exhausted shell of Indys former self. The scene where Helenaasks what he would do if he could travel to the past, promptsa devastating monologue that single-handedly redeems every secondKingdom of the Crystal Skull spent on the Mutt Williams character.Back onthe beach in Syracuse in 212 B.C.,Indiana Jonesspeaks thefivewords essential to understandingDial of Destiny:My god, were witnessing history!Indeed, he is. But thatline exposes a deeper truth that Indy andperhaps the audience missed the first time around. (I certainly did the first time I watched it.) Remember the very explicit date when Dial of Destinysmain story takes place: Moon Day, when the Apollo 11 astronauts received a heros welcome in New York City in tribute for their Moon landing, one of the 20th centurys grandest scientific achievements.That was history, too. And Indiana Jones could have witnessed it and chose not to.Seeing Marion again helps Indy finally reckon withthisimportant truth. History is a beautiful, fascinating thing, filled withmagic and wonder. The history of cinema informed every bit ofIndiana Jones conception and creation, after all. Sometimes, though, the present is beautiful and fascinating too, if were willing to look forward rather than back.Get our free mobile appThe Greatest Indiana Jones Movie That Was Never MadeA few years before Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released, Frank Darabont wrote a very similar (but vastly superior) script called Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods. Here are some of its most notable differences from the version that was made.