Fandoms are a fickle bunch. From the rabid intensity of BTS lovers to the nerdy dismissiveness of the worst of Star Wars fans, you can usually get a contrarian opinion about a beloved bit of content from somewhere, or a dramatic overreaction about how something new is ruining a franchise forever. More often than not, these accusations are a little unfounded, but sometimes newer films — especially the endless reboots of beloved franchises we seem to be drowning in nowadays — are worthy of getting a lot more criticism than they do.
When it comes to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the quality of the newest Harrison Ford vehicle is up for debate, but there’s no doubt it’s missing the thrilling nature of earlier outings. However, some fans of the swashbuckling archaeologist think that the lukewarm reactions to the movie are because fans want to punish Disney and Lucasfilm for how they handled the most recent Star Wars sequels, which were noted for their inconsistency, derivative nature, and the way there seemed to be a deep lack of planning with regard to resolving plots. And one fan on Reddit has made their feelings clear about the connection between the two.
While it’s tempting to cast Star Wars fans as bitter enough to take out their frustrations around the franchise on another film (and I’m hardly one to paint them in the best light, either), it does seem like a cop-out to claim that criticisms of the newest Indiana Jones flick are entirely down to some kind of astroturfing campaign, something other Redditors pointed out in the comment section.
With that said, other commenters noted that while negative reactions to the new film might not be a result of angry Star Wars fans, a lot of negative commentary is coming from snowflake right-wingers and people who’ve decided the fact Disney sees LGBTQ+ people are real and worthy of respect means the entertainment giant is evil.
Others were also quick to point out that many felt the Star Wars sequels were actually quite well regarded, especially when they came out (with the exception of The Rise of Skywalker, which was panned almost immediately). So, the notion that negative reactions are the result of a campaign by Star Wars fans is a bit fanciful, to say the least.
When it comes down to it, opinions about films are so subjective that trying to ascribe negative reactions to a movie that you like to some external force is never going to go down too well. Maybe the newest Indiana Jones film is garnering some middling reviews because it’s the victim of an internet campaign. Or, maybe, like most reboots, it’s just a poor imitation of a classic that was made because it was easy money for the studio rather than because it was a story people were excited to tell.