Indiana Jones and the Third Best in the Series (so far).

Rating: 7/10 (4 July 2010)

For his third Indiana Jones adventure, Steven Spielberg once again pits his heroic, Fedora wearing, whip-cracking archaeologist against pre-war Nazis, who are up to their old tricks again, searching for religious artifacts that will grant them supernatural powers. This time around, Indy (Harrison Ford) must try and beat the goose-stepping Germans to the 'Holy Grail', the cup that held the blood of Christ, which is said to grant eternal life to those who drink from it.
Whilst it's admittedly nice to see Ford back in action against his old foes, the Nazis (who, let's face it, always make excellent villains), and director Spielberg does manage to deliver one or two well orchestrated, stunt filled action sequences, The Last Crusade fails to match either of its predecessors in terms of sheer entertainment value.
Raiders was a near perfect blend of action and adventure from start to finish, with great characters, flawless direction, and excellent visuals; the less immaculate Temple of Doom still managed to be a hugely enjoyable effort overall, thanks to its sheer exuberance; but Crusade is a far less fulfilling experience.
Much of the blame can be laid at the feet of whoever came up with the idea to introduce us to Indiana's father, a superfluous character (played by a terribly miscast Sean Connery) created to give our hero emotional depth where none was required, whilst also delivering a few cheap laughs; but the film also suffers from poorly considered moments (Indy takes a flaming torch with him down a tunnel swimming in petrol; Indy frees the guardian of the grail who, moments earlier, had tried to kill him; Indy and his pals can only see a giant 'X' on the library floor by climbing up a staircase and looking down), some risible effects (the Nazi zeppelin looks terrible), and a rather disappointing climax involving three 'tests' for Indy that equate to a well timed duck and jump, a spelling bee, and a quick jaunt across a stone bridge.
6.5 out of 10, which I'll generously round up to 7, because it's still marginally better than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.