The Hollywood Reporter has published a fascinating new interview with legendary actor Harrison Ford, and we have to give full credit to James Hibberd for daring to ask him about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull!
Serving as the iconic adventurer's long-awaited return to the big screen, the 2008 movie received mostly negative reviews from fans and critics alike. There was even an entire episode of South Park devoted to Steven Spielberg and George Lucas "raping" everyone's childhood, and the ill-will towards the sequel only seems to have worsened in the years since.
As we're sure you'll recall, it was the movie that introduced Indy's son, Mutt, and made a lot of jokes about the hero being old. There were some redeeming qualities, of course, but throwing a sci-fi storyline into the mix simply did not work.
Asked how he feels about the way critics came down on Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Ford said: "Where are they now? I mean, [the critics] were harsh on it, but what are they doing now? I understand. But those were their rules — not [director Steven Spielberg’s and co-writer George Lucas’] rules."
"They were imposing their rules on what the movie should be. I don’t feel it’s necessary to address those issues. I think that everyone has a right to their opinion," the actor continued. "The film was not as successful as we wanted it to be, perhaps. But it didn’t create an attitude or a behavior that carried over into this film."
Ford clearly isn't losing any sleep over what the critics think and would go on to explain that, in James Mangold's Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, all the "old Indy" jokes are gone.
"In [Dial of Destiny] there were a lot of old jokes in the script. We took them all out," Ford states. "There is a moment where he observes himself in this situation and says, 'What the f**k am I doing in here?' I’d rather create behaviour that is the joke of age rather than talk about it."
It's always fun hearing from Ford, and with this movie set to serve as his last time playing Indiana Jones, the hope is that he can go out on a high. That appears to be a priority for everyone involved anyway, and after Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the only way is up for this franchise, right?
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is set to be released in theaters on June 30, 2023.