Indiana Jones' Last Crusade is Pure Escapist Entertainment!

Rating: 9/10 (5 May 2015)

Justifiably one of the most indelible adventure films in cinematic history, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is pure escapist entertainment of the highest caliber. In his third adventure, whip- smart archaeologist Indiana Jones has to rescue his dad rather than a damsel in enduring distress, a cunning ploy that deserves a tip of the fedora to those shrewd storytellers – a certain Mr. Steven Spielberg and Mr. George Lucas.
Opening with a fantastic prologue revolving around one of Indy's early escapades, the movie immediately takes us to 1938, when Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) discovers that his curmudgeonly father Henry Jones (Sean Connery) has disappeared while tracking the Holy Grail - the cup that legend holds Jesus used at the Last Supper and now contains his blood. But as we soon find out, he is not alone in his quest. He has company in American millionaire Walter Donovan, who believes that a drink from the cup will confer immortality and a slew of Nazis who will kill anyone to win the prize. Soon we find Indy travel halfway around the world to swash-buckle his way through a company of Nazi brutes, to unite with his tweedy, mildly befuddled father. The duo teams up to begin Indiana's last crusade, as they endlessly elude the Nazis in race to capture the Holy Grail. Can the father-son duo save one of the world's most precious relics from Hitler's minions?
Steven Spielberg has the truest instincts for keeping an audience visually engaged and at his natural command of the simple mechanics of storytelling, it enables him to evoke a kind of pop transcendence that comes close to the effect of the higher, classical arts. Here, he delivers the action with breathless enthusiasm in a movie bursting with thrilling action set-pieces - Indy discovers catacombs, sways through rat-infested tunnels, finds himself right beside the Fuhrer and even manages to reach the coveted Holy Grail, making the pursuit wonderfully perilous.
But it's not the relentless action that you eventually prize in this lavishly executed entertainment. It is the amazing chemistry between its two lead actors that makes it so thoroughly entertaining, never allowing the film to lose sight of the contentious but charming relationship between Indiana and his father. As soon as Connery's Henry welcomes his son's first rescue attempt by addressing him as Junior and they discover they have bedded the same gorgeous Nazi spy, the right note of cantankerousness and grudging affection on both sides is struck. Connery playing against type as a book-wormy professor is solid-gold as Indy's crotchety father. He also brings out the very best in Ford, who is at his charming best as the rugged, macho Indy. The snappy by-play between them adds a wonderful facet to the adventure and together, their timing is impeccable.
When Steven Spielberg takes off his serious hat and channels his inner-child, there's no one better at making sheer entertainment. And that is what Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is - pure entertainment!