Dull

Rating: Null/10 (28 May 2003)

It never occurred to me just how long and dull this movie is until I watched it yesterday. Whereas "Raiders of the Lost Ark" is a B-movie through and through, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" tries to be a big-budget James Bond movie. The visual effects are worse than those in "Temple of Doom", the sound is atrocious (how did this win Best Sound Effects Editing), and the pacing is totally off. "Raiders" was almost nonstop and had some of the best action scenes committed to celluloid. "Last Crusade" tries to duplicate those sensational stuntpieces, but flunks in comparison due to the bigger budget and inferior score by John Williams. Lastly, the production design on this movie is very pathetic. None of the locals have the exotic look that "Raiders" achieved very early.
"Wow! Utah in 1912 is such an interesting place!"
Bigger is not always better, as displayed in here. Spielberg throws in his 'sentimental showman' trademark throughout to try and get emotion out of the audience with such matters as Dr. Henry Jones, the father-son relationship, the bigger emphasis on Nazism, etc. While detail buffs may have a field day with them, they are NOT in the confines of the Indiana Jones universe.

Having said my lot, I denounce this as yet another Spielberg abomination. Second worst in the series and far from the best. It's not as fun and tries too hard to be humorous. Bring back the sadism! Overall, 2.5 out of 5 stars.