CANNES, France: Artificial intelligence may have been used to make Harrison Ford decades younger in parts of his final film as Indiana Jones, but the 80-year-old actor said on Friday he loved being older, and has no plans to slow down.
Ford, whose Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny premiered in Cannes on Thursday night, has vowed this will be his last adventure as the swashbuckling archaeologist after more than four decades in the role.
And Kathleen Kennedy, the president of Lucasfilm, which also produces the Star Wars franchise, gave a resounding “no” at a press conference when asked if AI technology would be used to keep Ford coming back to the role in the future.
An emotional Ford, who welled up several times reflecting on his long career and co-stars, and also cracked several jokes, said he was “real happy with age”.
“I don’t look back and say, ‘I wish I was that guy again,’ because I don’t. I love being older, it was great to be young but, shitfire, I could be dead, I am just older.”
And, he has no plan to slow down, confirming he would do another season of the Western drama series 1923 as well as the comedy Shrinking.
Mixed reviews
Ford first swung onto screens as the quick-witted and intrepid archaeologist with his trademark fedora and whip in Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, which was followed by two hugely popular sequels.
Though a fourth film in 2008 made a lot of money, it was widely panned.
An emotional Ford received a surprise honorary Palme d’Or ahead of the premiere of the fifth instalment.
He is joined in the new adventure by Phoebe Waller-Bridge as his witty and more sprightly sidekick, with Mads Mikkelsen as a villainous Nazi scientist.
But the reviews overnight were mixed.
For some critics swept up in nostalgia, the logic-defying scenes and rousing theme song provided solid sentimental fun.
"There are plenty of jolly chases ... some creepy encounters with insects and an underground tomb whose passageways open up with a grinding noise," said The Guardian.
"The finale is wildly silly and entertaining ... (but) Indiana Jones still has a certain old-school class."
Empire also enjoyed the ride, saying it remained true to its "fantasy" leanings.
"All the hallmarks of the series are there as you'd hope them to be, lovingly preserved like archaeological treasures," it said, but added that the "barmy finale ... might divide audiences".
The Hollywood Reporter was less impressed with the "rinse-and-repeat formula of chases and gunfights" and "how glaringly fake so much of it looks", but acknowledged "a sweet blast of pure nostalgia".
The IndieWire reporter had no fun at all, calling it "an almost complete waste of time" and "a belabored reminder that some relics are better left where and when they belong."
The series began back in 1981 with Raiders of the Lost Ark and was followed shortly after by two hugely popular sequels. Though a fourth film in 2008 made a lot of money, it was widely panned.
The new entry is the first not to be directed by Steven Spielberg, who passed the reins to James Mangold, known for Girl, Interrupted, Walk the Line and Logan.
Mangold told AFP this was his "best version of Steven, me kind of emulating my mentor".
