Indiana Jones 5 Proves The End Is Nigh For Old-School Movie Star Comebacks
And with one final film, the greatest name in adventure hangs up his hat and the whip for the last time.
The ending of the last "Indiana Jones" film leaves this iconic hero behind with a legacy of snakes, crusades, and (for better or worse) fridges that were nuked against our wishes. No matter where you stand on "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," there's no denying that Harrison Ford does deserve some credit for daring to reprise his role as the original tomb raider. True to his grizzled reputation, Ford gives us the exact kind of goodbye he's been wanting to give.
Great as this moment is, though, Ford's grand finale is also a sharp reminder of a one-mighty quality that we're losing from the big screen — big movies about big characters defined by big screen icons of yesteryear. Sure, there is still Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) from "Mission: Impossible" and John Wick (Keanu Reeves), but after them, the remainder of major on-screen heroes are all comic book figures defined by the character, rather than the actor. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently broke the news that he wouldn't be back as "The Terminator" should any future films get powered up again, and Sylvester Stallone looks like he could potentially be exiting "The Expendables" if the trailer for "The Expendables 4" is anything to go by.
If old-school movie stars are making their final homerun, though, what comes next?
Superheroes have been winning the war against movie stars
It's wild to think that there was a time when the only character that changed hands as much as Batmen was a secret agent with a mighty thirst for Martinis. Nowadays, characters are king, rather than actors.
To quote our new Captain America, aka Anthony Mackie, the actor told the press in 2022 that, "It used to be, with Tom Cruise and Will Smith and Stallone and Schwarzenegger, when you went to the movies, you went to go see the Stallone movie; you went to go see the Schwarzenegger movie." In Mackie's eyes, times have changed, and it's a landscape that can't be ignored. "Now you go see X-Men. So, the evolution of the superhero has meant the death of the movie star."
It's a statement that holds more irony now than ever, particularly given that Mackie's big screen debut as the star-spangled hero will see him facing off against Harrison Ford himself, possibly as the Red Hulk. Looking at the broader picture, it feels almost unthinkable that the name of Captain America outweighs the one behind Dr. Jones and Han Solo. It's nothing new, though. In Chris Evans' first stint as Cap, he starred opposite Tommy Lee Jones. In the second one, he opposed Robert Redford. Veterans of the silver screen have come and gone through both the MCU and DC movies, but therein lies a lesson — because while comic book movies and their ilk have certainly taken over pop culture, there's still a place for seasoned movie stars inside them, but not if they are just trying to replicate past successes with contemporary technology.
Old-school stars need to know their limits and be realigned for better roles elsewhere
Within months of each other, two legends of the silver screen — Harrison Ford and Arnold Schwarzenegger — dared to return to the genre that helped fortify their careers, long before the market for comic book movies was as big as it is now. The results have been ... a very mixed bag.
The problem is that filmmaking has changed since their heyday, and bluntly, neither of them are young men anymore. When we see their characters in action, it's very apparent that the stars are not really in action. In the case of "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," for a lot of the heavy action-orientated sequences, Ford is lumbering around a scene that honestly dials down the pace of what should be a high-octane event. It's not his fault, of course. The guy is pushing 80 and can't crack the whip or outrun Nazis like he used to, but the end result is what it is. He's not the only one, either. While it might be earning its second season at Netflix, Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Fubar" saw the Austrian Oak creaking through scenes, some of which saw his stunt double noticeably stepping in when things got a bit too rough.
It's an undeniable truth that aging will get in the way of doing action scenes. However, it signposts the fact that these stars, big as they are, have aged out of the sorts of roles that made them famous. Yes, we always want them back on our screens, but it should be in reasonable, realistic roles for people their age.
A new crop of stars are getting bigger and bigger
At the moment, the terrain of superhero movies has been shakier than it's ever been. Regardless of the behind-the-scenes issues and massive fan reactions following early screenings, "The Flash" is nowhere near the super success Warner Bros. Discovery hoped it would be. It suffered a 73% dip in its second week, barely earning the No.3 box-office spot ahead of the raunchy comedy, "No Hard Feelings," starring Jennifer Lawrence. While it's certainly a telling sign of how audiences are embracing the DCEU to DCU shift, it could also signify that the dominance of IP-driven movies is slipping.
If that's the case, there might very well be a shift back toward name-driven projects, centered around the newest crop of stars. Christopher Nolan is a director, not an actor, but he's a very known quantity and is the primary selling point of the hotly-anticipated "Oppenheimer." Even putting Nolan aside, that film is bursting with talent, including Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. The same day sees the release of "Barbie," which might look like an IP-driven movie on the surface, but is really banking on the increasingly massive star profile of Margot Robbie.
With that in mind, while the newest "Indiana Jones" probably marks the end of high-profile returns for the movie stars of the past, it does seem that there's a new era of movie stars getting ready to take their place.