Indiana Jones trailer reaction and title reveal
By Kieran Burt.
Lucasfilm has unveiled the title for the upcoming fifth Indiana Jones film, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny at the Brazil Comic Con. Alongside this reveal, they published a trailer.
The trailer opens with Sallah – Indiana Jones’ companion in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, played once again by John Rhys-Davies – reminiscing about their adventures, even some that we haven’t seen before, like undersea adventures in some kind of ruins.
Indy is, of course, not wanting to return to adventure, and will likely be dragged back into the fight, but it’s not clear how yet. Some voiceover for the trailer talks about his belief in magic, which is somewhat reminiscent of his dialogue in Star Wars: The Force Awakens where he talks about how his belief in the Force has changed.
There are elements of imperfect CGI, for example Indiana Jones’ head bobs in an unnatural way when his horse rears in a parade, but that will probably be sorted out for the film, which is still some six months away. What does look good is the deaging technology they have implemented on Harrison Ford, which is very convincing.
To theorise a bit about the flashbacks, we do see them go back to the old Indy films, but also some new incident where he’s captured by Nazis. It’s possible that Indy has bad blood between the lead Nazi in the film, Mads Mikkelsen’s Voller. This would link the pair, and give Indy a reason to fear that Voller’s activities aren’t as noble as the American government thinks they are.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge can be seen as her character, and though her name isn’t given Indy says he is her godfather, and Waller-Bridge says the two characters are mildly related. This is an interesting development, as neither Karen Allen’s Marion (Indy’s love) nor Shia LaBeouf’s Mutt Williams (Indy’s son) are going to be in the film. Family dynamics however look like they will still play a huge part in the film.
Star Wars even gets a quick nod, with weather effects on the glass at the trailer’s minute and nine second mark looking like the Millenium Falcon going through hyperspace. This is the ship that Han Solo, Harrison Ford’s character, flies. The two franchises have a long history of referencing one another, so this might be done on purpose.
This is part of a quick montage, which shows Indy on horseback running through the subway of New York. There’s also sequences set on the top of a train, hinting that there’ll be wall to wall action in the film once it gets going.
The trailer ends with a hilarious scene. Indy comes up against a room full of rich people (the subtitles indicate one of them is a buyer), with the situation turning violent and everyone pulling guns out. Indy uses his trusty whip to try and make the bad guys cower but has to duck to avoid being shot.
Not much plot is revealed, but thanks to image reveals and cast interviews we know that the conflict will be taking place against the backdrop of the American space race, with Indy fighting his traditional enemy of Nazis. There’s no clue to what the mysterious Dial of Destiny is, or what it does yet.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will be released in cinemas on June 30th.
