Maybe a slight redemption

Rating: Null/10 (17 November 2003)

In my March 2002 review of the ridiculous "Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom" I call this third installment somewhat of a redemption, but, after seeing the third one on DVD I would have to say that it is a very slight redemption. While "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" is more sane than "Temple of Doom," it lacks the adventure of the first and second Jones films. I would say the third one is, overall, better than the second one, but it still isn't a good movie or even close to "Raiders," which itself isn't all that great. The big problem with "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" is that the plot is simply too thin, and after Jones teams up with his father the movie just becomes the Joneses constantly evading the Nazis who are on their tale, and the movie just goes from action scene to action scene with no development at all. To put it bluntly, this third Indiana Jones film is a near-disaster until the end at the Holy Grail, which makes the movie somewhat more interesting. To sum up the series, "Raiders" is an adventurous, light fantasy take on the archeology profession, "Temple" is an outrageously absurd, over-the-top, but highly adventurous take on archeology, and "Last Crusade" is a barely-adventurous, quite-absurd take on archeology. Make your choice.