Indiana Jones and the Welcome Return to Form

Rating: 7/10 (4 February 2011)

"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" was the third and final instalment in the original Indiana Jones trilogy. Whereas "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" was a prequel to "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Last Crusade" is a true sequel. Apart from an opening scene relating an adventure of the teenage Indy as a Boy Scout in 1912, the action takes place in 1938, two years after "Raiders". (In this opening scene we learn how the hero got his nickname; Indiana is not, as I had always assumed, his home state, but a name borrowed from his pet dog).
Whereas "Raiders" was a great commercial and critical success, "Temple of Doom" received considerable criticism, both on account of its dark, gloomy atmosphere and its racist treatment of Indian characters. Steven Spielberg, therefore, was determined to make the third film lighter in tone, closer in spirit to "Raiders". Once again the villains are the Nazis, once again the plot involves the search for a legendary relic with mystical powers (in this case the Holy Grail which caused such excitement among King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table) and once again much of the action takes place in the Middle East. (This must be the only Hollywood film ever to be set- ostensibly- in the short-lived Republic of Hatay, formerly part of French Syria and today part of southern Turkey, which enjoyed a brief independence for several months in 1938/9. Most of the "Hatay" scenes, however, were shot in Spain, with the ruins of Petra, actually in Jordan, standing in for the temple in which the Grail is housed).
The film also introduces us to Indy's father, Henry Jones, Sr. The James Bond films were undoubtedly one of the inspirations for this franchise, and it was possibly in their homage that Sean Connery was cast as the elder Jones, even though he is only twelve years older than Harrison Ford. (That speedboat chase along the Venetian canals also seems to be homage to Bond). Like his son, Henry senior is an academic archaeologist and has gone missing while seeking the Holy Grail. Indy believes that his father is in danger and sets out to find him, a quest that will take him to Venice, Germany and ultimately Hatay. The main female character is Henry's colleague, Dr. Elsa Schneider, a glamorous Austrian blonde whose loyalties are ambiguous.
There is more stress on character development here than in other episodes of the franchise, with emphasis being placed on the father-son relationship. The film is not just about the search for the physical Holy Grail. Even in the Arthurian legend the Grail was as much a symbol as a physical object, and today the phrase "holy grail" is used metaphorically for anything which is desirable and much sought-after. The film is also about Indiana's search for his lost father and their efforts to re-establish a relationship which in the past has often been strained- the story's metaphorical Holy Grail. Ford and Connery are both good at bringing out this aspect of the story. There are also good contributions from Denholm Elliott as Indiana's bumbling colleague Marcus Brody and Alison Doody as the treacherous, seductively sinister Elsa.
After the awful "Temple of Doom", "Last Crusade" represents a welcome return to form, both for Spielberg and for Ford, who seemed ill at ease in the earlier film but here is back to his old ebullient self. The film contains a better balance of suspense and humour than did its predecessor, much of the humour being at the expense of the hapless Marcus. There are some excellent action scenes, such as the train sequence in the opening scene, the escape from the Zeppelin and the tank chase though the desert. "Last Crusade" is a very enjoyable adventure film in the same tradition as "Raiders". 7/10