“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Fate” finds Henry Jones Jr. struggling with his place in the world. Not only did the rise of the space race and a triumphant moonwalk in 1969 render his archaeological interest even older and outdated, but he officially retired from education. However, Indy’s biggest obstacle is the breakdown of his family. At the start of the film, after the opening flashback sequence with a digitally aged Harrison Ford, documents on the fridge in Indy’s apartment reveal that he and Marion are breaking up. Also, in one of the film’s most heartbreaking and powerful moments, Indy reveals that his son Mutt tragically died after enlisting in the US Army and being shipped off to Vietnam. The heartbreak that followed shattered Marion and tore their marriage apart, and Indy didn’t get over it either.
It’s a story that centers squarely on Indiana Jones, now a relic from another time, both professionally and personally. In fact, Indy feels so lost and aimless that in the film’s climactic moments, when he finds himself transported back several centuries to the time of Archimedes, the creator of the titular Dial of Destiny, he tries to stay behind. after suffering a gunshot wound. , believing that he has nothing left to live on these days. Luckily, her somewhat fatherly but dysfunctional relationship with Helena Shaw puts her in a position to convince him otherwise, even if that literally means giving it meaning with a punch to the face, taking him back to 1969 and forcing him to come to terms with Marion (Karen Allen).
With a character as strong and confident as Helena Shaw accompanying Indiana Jones on her latest big-screen adventure, you’d think there would be at least some sort of clue about Helena, perhaps giving us a different kind of adventurer to follow. Fortunately, this is not the case.