Harrison Ford is too old to play Indiana Jones — but it’s also key

polygon.com:

Harrison Ford has returned for his final adventure as everyone’s favorite Nazi-battling archaeologist in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, but general excitement for the continuation of the Indiana Jones franchise has been diluted as fans discuss Ford’s age and whether he can still perform as a pulp adventurer. Ford is 80 years old — 20 years older than Sean Connery was when he played Indy’s father in The Last Crusade. Do audiences want to see an octogenarian play one of cinema’s most iconic action heroes? Sure, Ford spends a significant part of the movie digitally de-aged, but some fans clearly aren’t convinced that Ford is up for a globe-trotting adventure.

The skeptics aren’t wrong to point out that Ford’s physical limitations make him unconvincing as a typical action hero. But here’s the thing: Indiana Jones never was a typical action hero. The secret weapon of the Indiana Jones franchise isn’t the way it indulges tough-guy archetypes, but the way it subverts them.

Almost every set-piece throughout the Indiana Jones franchise sees Jones at a physical disadvantage. He’s nearly always getting pummeled — by Nazis, other adversaries, or the environment — until he finally discovers a way to outmaneuver or escape them. Sometimes that’s through plain cheating. His most epic win across the franchise is when he doesn’t even bother to duel an expert swordsman, and instead shoots him point-blank. And let’s not forget Indy’s near-debilitating fear of snakes.

Indy’s limitations and weaknesses are the genius of this franchise, and the reason he remains such an endearing hero. In spite of Ford’s Hollywood looks and the highly choreographed set-pieces in the Indiana Jones movies, the character still has an everyman charm that