Why The CGI In Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny Left So Many Fans Disappointed

The "Indiana Jones" franchise has returned with its fifth and potentially final installment, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny." The new film is, notably, the first in the series' history not to be directed by Steven Spielberg, who stepped aside this time around to let "Logan" and "Ford v. Ferrari" filmmaker James Mangold sit in the director's chair. Despite Spielberg's absence, "The Dial of Destiny" does feature the return of Harrison Ford, who reprises his role as the franchise's eponymous archeologist opposite several newcomers, including Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Boyd Holbrook, and Toby Jones.

In the weeks since it made its premiere at the Cannes International Film Festival, the movie has inspired plenty of passionate responses. Now that it's playing in theaters nationwide, the conversations surrounding it have only intensified, too. Indeed, while the film has so far been received fairly positively, many longtime "Indiana Jones" fans have taken to social media to explain why they were let down by the visual effects and CGI featured throughout "The Dial of Destiny."

On Reddit, one fan pointed specifically to the film's Nazi Germany-set opening flashback, writing, "The HORRIBLE CGI when Indy was running on top of the train in the intro had me shaking my head almost immediately." In the same Reddit thread, another viewer similarly wrote, "Every time they went to CGI when they could have used practical effects ... it was a little disappointing."

Fans haven't just taken issue with the CGI used in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny." Viewers have also expressed their dissatisfaction online with many of the film's action sequences. In one Reddit thread, u/PaulRai01 even asked, "I saw this on IMAX. Is it just me or were the hand-to-hand fight sequences edited to s***?" Their query received numerous passionate responses from other fans, including u/RobbyTheRobit, who wrote, "It felt so claustrophobic. Visually it just looked wrong most of the time."

Elsewhere, a different "Indiana Jones" fan offered their critique of the film's various action moments, noting, "We almost never got a chance to soak in the set pieces because there were hardly any wide shots," while another viewer observed, "Almost everything was shot in medium or close up when it wasn't necessary." All in all, even though many seemed to have liked the film, it also looks like there have been some who were left disappointed by its approach to certain moments and sequences.

It's not hard to see why fans are going out of their way to hold "The Dial of Destiny" to such a high standard, either. The first three "Indiana Jones" movies are widely considered some of the greatest action films that have ever been made. Steven Spielberg's artful, exuberant direction of them has, consequently, been praised quite a bit over the years by critics, casual fans, and even other filmmakers.

Of course, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" director James Mangold also knew that he was taking on a near-impossible task when he agreed to helm the film in Spielberg's place.

In an interview with IndieWire, James Mangold spoke long and admiringly of director Steven Spielberg's style and approach to filmmaking. "Every shot has a purpose in Steven's work," Mangold told the outlet. "Single-camera filmmakers who are building sequences out of shots with a purpose has gotten quite rare. It's all built on a powerful connection to the movies he grew up with." Taking that into account, when he finally signed on to direct "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," Mangold says he didn't feel any need to try to reinvent the formula that Spielberg had previously perfected.

"I had to screw my head on to the idea that I was essentially a pinch hitter for Babe Ruth," Mangold explained. "I didn't feel like I had to play out some sort of rejection of his aesthetic. I'm a profound admirer."

Whether or not the "Dial of Destiny" filmmaker managed to match the quality level established by Spielberg is something that fans will likely spend years debating. Either way, it's worth noting that Mangold isn't the only director whose decisions have been negatively compared to those that were made in, for instance, "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Steven Spielberg himself faced similar critiques when he directed "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," which has been the subject of widespread derision and criticism ever since it was released.

Mangold's film doesn't seem to have been received nearly as poorly as that 2008 blockbuster. As some of the above comments prove, though, that doesn't mean fans don't have a lot to say about "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny."