don't call me junior

Rating: 9/10 (3 September 2006)

I remember being so excited when this movie came out. My parents thought that the first two Indiana Jones movies were too violent for me so I never got to see them in the theater. But at 14 I was finally deemed old enough for Dr. Jones.
At 14 I also remember, shall we say, youthful naivete about movie conventions. When Indy went over the cliff near the end, I thought that he was actually dead. Had I first seen this movie as an adult, I no doubt would have said to myself that he'd be climbing back up any moment.
Last Crusade loses a little bit of its luster as an adult viewer. Although the interplay between Ford and Connery is often very funny, I'm not sure that the character or the story called for the added depth of the whole Spielberg estranged father thing. It feels a bit tacked on, as if Spielberg wanted it there just because that's his thing. It doesn't necessarily detract from the story, but I'm not sure if it needed to be there. Indiana Jones movies aren't really about depth of character. This is more of an observation than a criticism though. Last Crusade is still a wild and fun ride.