After two weeks in theaters, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny still struggles to find its core audience. It’s quite possible that the well for sequels and remakes from the 80s might be starting to run dry for Hollywood. When something as big as Indiana Jones can’t hit a home run, it might be these types of movies are starting to lose the mass appeal that made them surefire wins for producers.

It’s definitely not a terrible movie, though. Certainly undeserving of all the Rotten Tomatoes scores that it’s been given. In many ways, it learns from what’s come before and pairs Indiana Jones with a good sidekick who could get her own movie if enough people decide they like her. So what’s the hold-up with this film? One angle you can take on this is that it ignores what could be its greatest asset: aging.

A Young Man’s Game
Walt Disney Studios

In some ways, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull understands this concept better, shocking as it may sound. For all its many flaws, the film, by comparison, does have a subtle way of acknowledging it without getting too dour. Indiana Jones is someone who feels a bit day late and a dollar short as the film opens.

Getting captured, hopelessly outgunned by Russians, not quite having enough finesse to pull off a grapple, a different take to be sure. The film definitely declines from this point, but it does understand keeping the action sequences on the simplistic side (Barring the whole nuke fridge bit). You won’t find an old Indiana being dragged by a truck in the desert in this one, and he does get a few one-liners that denote the wisdom that comes with age, like, “Knowledge was their treasure.” You get the vague sense he’s aged without him explicitly saying he’s too old for this.

He felt different because he is different. It’s not as much fun watching the same thing over again by comparison. Dial of Destiny has him leaping from car to car and making incredible saves, contrasted with a scene where he struggles to climb some rocks. It’s difficult to decide who the character is as he’s somewhere between Superman and a normal old man. Consequently, he’s an old man who complains about not being able to do the very things that he’s pulling off. There’s not a lot of new in the film because of that.

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A film like this may have done a lot better by giving Indy a more thoughtful role. A story where he gets to take the reins Sean Connery left behind as his own dad. Call to mind how Indiana is ready to shoot an airplane pilot just before his father uses a flock of seagulls to crash it, with a quote from Charlemagne to top it off.

The years haven’t diminished his father’s usefulness one bit; it’s just changed forms. There’s a way to do this film that has him acting smarter, not harder, with perhaps a side character doing some of the crazier stunts in place of him. Perhaps there could even be a nod at another line from Last Crusade he mentions to his college class, “Most of archeology, is done in the library. Research. Reading.” Why not have a few short sequences of Indiana Jones solving some puzzles akin to National Treasure?

Mangold Misses
Walt Disney Studios

What’s perhaps weirder still is that James Mangold is unquestionably a phenomenal director. The man has extensive experience with this style of character with his very somber tale of Wolverine and Professor X living out their final days, wondering if they still have anything to offer to society.

The world no longer cares about them, and only a few people actually know who they still are. This very theme feels like one of the things Dial of Destiny wants to do so badly but falls short of. To have a fall-from-grace story arc like in Logan, you actually have to have the character struggle to do those things that made them famous and have it impact the story more than an offhand comment.

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But as Mangold himself has said, “Whatever your greatest liability, you should fly towards that.” In other words, turn a weakness into a crowning achievement. So you have to question why he does run away from it. Cut out the scenes with Indiana Jones talking about the pains of aging from the lengthy two 1/2-hour runtime, and you wouldn’t notice a difference. They play such a small role.

Mangold was the guy to make that emotionally charged action story showcasing how the hero we all love has changed and how that’s far from a bad thing. Think of how interesting a once invincible Wolverine is when he’s stripped down to being old, feeble, and way outmatched. Or even Dan Evans from 3:10 to Yuma, who’s as fragile as his leg getting knocked out from underneath him.

In those few moments, though of Indiana speaking about suffering as he’s aged, you sense there’s another movie underneath the massive $300 million budget. One that could be slightly more Old Man and the Sea than it is. It’s not a bad movie for ignoring it; there’s still an enjoyable enough movie here without big damn ants and weird aliens.

There’s potentially a more interesting tale waiting to be told than pretending Indiana Jones is still the guy who can do it all in the character’s 70s. If you really want to see a hero’s journey end, aging can be one of the most meaningful parts of it if you let it be.