"I should've mailed it to the Marx Brothers!"

Rating: 9/10 (30 December 2006)

This is my favorite Indiana Jones movie, because it features great action, cool locations (ah...Venice!), and a highly interesting and amusing father-son relationship.
Thanks to the presence of his dad, Indiana Jones becomes a much more well-rounded character in this film than he was in "Raiders" and that clumsy disaster, "The Temple of Doom." Sean Connery gives a great performance as Henry Jones Sr.; he's a little camp and silly, but it works perfectly, especially since he's playing against his James Bond image.
This movie also benefits from some great jokes, one of which I quoted in my summary line. Other hot ones include "they don't come any closer than that!" and "you call this archeology?" It's really a quite witty script. My only reservation about the humor is that Denholm Elliott's character becomes a little too dumb to be believed, but that's just a minor complaint.
Some people criticize this film because it borrows too heavily from the formula of "Raiders." I can see their point, but I don't really agree. I think "Last Crusade" refines the formula and improves it by adding more character development. Also, the ending of this movie is much more satisfying and thoughtful than the deus ex machina conclusion of "Raiders." Oh, and the Holy Grail is really the ultimate artifact - thanks to the King Arthur legend, I think it has even more resonance in our culture than the Ark.
This is one of the last populist action movies that I really care about. It comes from a time when plots and dialogue were considered as important as special effects and spectacle. I guess you can blame Spielburg and Lucas for inspiring a lot of dumb imitators, but it's hard to criticize them when their actual work is so good.