Has all the elements but lacks some bite

Rating: 6/10 (19 May 2008)

It seemed strange- In my memories I recalled Last Crusade being the most solid of the three Indiana adventures, capturing the Raiders sense of epic , historical adventure and Temple's humor and flair. Imagine my surprise that in retrospect, the third installment plays out less convincingly then the others.
It's hard to say why time has been less kind to Indiana's last undertaking as opposed to the two before it, though it generally seems to stem from an authentic lack of inspiration. Many scenes, whether they are of the exploratory or action-induced type, smell of mimicry, particularly the film's later sequences attempting to emulate Raider's desert action.
Thankfully Connery's elegant presence works wonders for the film's dynamic, who helps pull so many of the predictable but always impressive action sequences out of an impending mediocrity.