Dripping with Ignorance

Rating: 2/10 (3 August 1999)

While not nearly so bad as Temple of Doom (which showed that the real genius of Raiders of the Lost Ark was Philip Kaufman and/or Lawrence Kasdan, not Spielberg, much as Batman Returns showed that the real genius of Batman was Sam Hamm, not Tim Burton), this film just drips ignorance. To give just one example, the name "Iehovah" (or "Jehovah") for God arose as a confusion in the Renaissance; Knights Templar would not have made this mistake because they predated it, and God would not have made this mistake because He doesn't get confused -- especially not about His own name! Now, such things may seem like mere pedantry to those unfamiliar with the history of the Grail myths and so forth, but the fact is that the real story of the Templars is much more fascinating than the weak plot of this movie, and decent pulp fantasy informed by the real story would have been just awesome. A waste of very fine actors and of wonderful special effects.