WARNING: The following article contains minor spoilers for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Indiana Jones’ final showdown, his big send-off, finally arrived in theaters this week after what felt like an agonizing wait. Although reviews scattered online seem in favor of the fifth and final installment in the much-loved franchise, there’s one common gripe with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny that fans can’t seem to shake off.
In the opening 20-25 minutes of the movie, we see a younger Harrison Ford and his then-colleague Basil Shaw, a fellow archaeologist from Oxford, captured by Nazis while attempting to retrieve the Lance of Longinus. The pair are interrogated by the Nazis, but Jones eventually escapes and rescues Shaw, jumping from a train loaded with stolen antiques. On the surface, nothing seems particularly wrong with that scene, but plenty of disgruntled viewers have spotted a major flaw: poor de-aging technology.
As you’ll glimpse in the GIF below, Dial of Destiny‘s de-aging efforts are incredibly patchy. Rather than simply casting a younger actor in Ford’s likeness, the Lucasfilm made the decision to de-age Ford, who’s about to be 81 years old. As several tweets point out, the de-aged version of Indiana Jones doesn’t physically match up with Ford’s raspy, 80-year-old voice… and that can be rather distracting.
Although many are suggesting that Dial of Destiny succeeded where Crystal Skull failed, there are those who are willing to let bygones be bygones as Dial of Destiny proves to be just as stodgy as its predecessor. Overall, it’s quite the mixed bag of reactions; some agree that Jones’ swan song bid farewell to the franchise in the best way, whereas others are left unfulfilled by a sequel that chooses to cut corners.
There’s truly no definitive outlook on Dial of Destiny that isn’t a personal preference, but the de-aging segment is notoriously distracting, which takes away from Ford’s acting. Thankfully, newcomer Phoebe Waller-Bridge carries some of the Lucasfilm’s slack to make her mark on the Indiana Jones world. We’ll give credit where it’s due to Mads Mikkelsen, as well, who ticked off portraying both a Bond villain and an Indiana Jones villain in one eventful career.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is showing in theaters now.