Hollywood has introduced the technology of de-aging at a curious time. Now toying with the idea of digitally rendered actors who have moved on from this life... think Carrie Fisher, Paul Walker and that old guy from Star Wars... it's becoming a strange place if you consider the impact of AI. What will become of actors if their likeness is being sold to the highest bidder long after they've retired from the picture? Tinseltown has got stuck on a certain generation of actors whose star power still sells tickets at the box office. It's no wonder they're looking for ways to re-energise the old guard.

When it comes to de-aging, there aren't a great many examples but there are enough to make contrasts. Here's a selection in ascending order.

The Ugly - Jeff Bridges in TRON: Legacy

One of the first instances where the technology was put to the test, we probably should be a bit more forgiving of the travesty that is Jeff Bridges in TRON: Legacy. A first-rate actor, his presence was immense but his de-aging was distracting at best. Smoothed down to look like Chip in Not Quite Human, the performance was clunky and borderline mannequin.

As perfect as his features may have been, this was more an exercise in realistic animation more than anything else! Instead of being a seamless engagement with a realistic character, it's bad enough to the point of being laughable. It must have cost an arm and a leg to have been pushed through to the final cut. Spoiling what was already a reach, most of what we've got to fall back on is the incredible soundtrack from Daft Punk.

The Bad - Robert De Niro in The Irishman

Martin Scorsese knows how to make a crime drama. He's built his career on the genre, which is why it wasn't all that surprising to hear that he was staring down a 3-hour plus crime epic. What was truly surprising is that this film was the first time he got to work with Al Pacino and vice-versa. Two luminaries of the genre, it seems mad that they haven't done it before with the common denominator in Robert De Niro. Playing the titular character, De Niro is typically excellent... delivering another sturdy lead performance in a film that garnered loads of Oscar nominations. Unfortunately, as excellent as the production is... broken down into segments if you want to watch it as a mini-series, the de-aging is not ideal.

Taking a gamble, Scorsese attempts to use flashbacks to tell of the Irishman's long and lethal career has a hard man. When limited in movement, De Niro looks great... a spitting image of his younger self. A valiant effort, the biggest miscalculation is in De Niro's physical performance. Modelled on the actor himself, one thing you can't get away from is someone's gait. As young as the de-aging makes him look, the fraud is literally a misstep with his younger self moving like his present day self.

The Good - Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

The latest installation of Indiana Jones finds Harrison Ford, now in his 80s, picking up the fedora and whip once again. A beloved franchise, still highly rated in spite of the subpar latent sequel, it's always a pleasure watching Indy get a jump on Nazi scum. The character could've been derived from a comic book but has found a place in everyone's hearts as the archaeology professor turned treasure hunter. Much of this fondness comes from Harrison Ford's casting, having become synonymous with the character as if on par with James Bond.

The film uses de-aging technology to give Ford a chance to relive his former glory and set up a decades later vendetta. Starting with Ford in his prime as Indiana Jones, director James Mangold recreates the Indiana Jones experience to conjure up the franchise's former glory. Wiping Kingdom of the Crystal Skull clean from the memory slate with a few borderline "fridge" moments (the spider squeak), he's captured the essence of Indy with a later life tribute. Thankfully, the filmmakers have learned their lesson and created a character who doesn't have audiences distracted by the technology itself. Sneakily setting the sequel's opening gambit by night helps hide some of the nuance. While it's still far from perfect with some shots asking more questions than others (probably a good thing), it's one of the best examples.