Indiana Jones and the perfect third movie

Rating: 9/10 (28 May 2008)

The second Indiana Jones film, Temple of Doom, was quite successful but received a lot of criticism for being overall too dark , much like Tim Burton's Batman Returns. No such complaints were needed for the third installment: whatever angle one looks at it from, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is perfect from start to finish.
As in the previous films, there's a mandatory opening scene that features great action and shows just how cool Indy is. However, there's a twist this time around: the prologue concerns the young Indiana (River Phoenix), and so the first fifteen minutes of the movie are spent revealing where he learned to master a whip and why he is so afraid of snakes. More crucially, though, the extended beginning shows a not-so-good relationship between the boy and his father, Henry Jones Sr., a theme that is brought up again with the more familiar Indy (Harrison Ford): he is asked to by an American millionaire (Julian Glover) to participate in an expedition whose aim is to retrieve the legendary Holy Grail. "You've got the wrong Jones" Indy quips, only to discover his old man (Sean Connery) is the leader of the expedition and has mysteriously disappeared. Enter a globe-trotting adventure that will involve rats, Venice, the desert, Nazis, the return of Brody (Denholm Elliott) and Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) and lots more, all told in the classic B-adventure style we're used to.
Last Crusade is considerably lighter in tone than its predecessor, and therefore much more fun, with one set-piece after another, state-of-the-art visual effects and brilliant characters (Temple of Doom basically had only Short Round to brag about). In particular, Dr. Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody), while no match for Marion Ravenwood, is a more intriguing presence than the quite one-dimensional Willie Scott from the second flick, being at the center of one of the terrific script's greatest inventions (and given the film was released in 1989, it's some achievement they actually got away with it - you know what I mean if you've seen the movie).
Ford is, of course, as excellent as he was in the other two Indies, but Crusade's real treat is Connery. His casting started as an in-joke (Spielberg said Indiana Jones was his version of James Bond, therefore Bond should be his father), but he lives up to expectations engaging in one hell of an acting duet with "Junior", their conversations being packed with wit and warmth. Given the director's recurring use of father/son themes, there was a slight risk those scenes could come off as too schmaltzy for an Indiana Jones picture, but thankfully the Henry-Indy relationship feels completely natural and unforced, never once overshadowing the massive sense of fun that derives from the movie.
Perhaps the best way to describe the spirit of these films is a wonderful scene where Jones Sr. and Jr. react to being hunted by Nazis. "These men are trying to kill us!" the elder Jones remarks. "I know, Dad!" comes the answer. "It's a whole new experience for me!" Henry adds. "Happens to me all the time" Indy says before heading out to continue seeking the Grail. That's Indiana Jones: always in trouble, always willing to go all the way. And he pulls you in with him.