10 across the board

Rating: 10/10 (23 May 2007)

This is my favourite out of the trilogy.
One of the reasons is River Phoenix who plays the young Indy. He was just amazing, you can tell he studied Harrison Ford as he has all of Ford's mannerisms and it is almost like you are looking in the mirror at the younger Indy. It is a shame that he died because he would have made a very good successor to the role of Indiana Jones.
The other reason is introducing the Father/son relationship which was really well written and acted. The chemistry works really well between Harrison Ford and Sean Connery. There are some very funny moments between them and it adds another layer to the story especially when there is confusion about which Dr Jones the evil guys are talking about.
What is interesting about the start of the film is it shows the audience how Indy got his scar, where the influence came to dress the way he does and where his fear of snakes come from. We also find out why he is called Indiana which is funny when it turns out he named himself after the family dog.
I like the fact that Elsa (Alison Doody) is working for the Nazis in this one because in the others Indy went off into the sunset with his heroine but she is working for the bad guys so she has to be punished for choosing the wrong side and does when she falls to her death and instead of riding off with his heroine, he rides off with his father and friends.
The magic is still there and again the stunts just make the film what it is, an entertaining romp that never slows its pace and keeps the audience interested with its amazing stunts.
It works on all levels and there was no part of it that I didn't like. It is just the best.
It was nice seeing more of Marcus Brody (Denholm Eliott) in a different way, he is slow at getting out of danger and just walks into the enemies hands. The audience is also told he got lost in his own museum once which we didn't see any indication of in the first film, he came across as very knowledgeable and competent man.