Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
Steven Spielberg had always stated that the Indiana Jones Franchise was his own personal attempt at doing a James Bond like film character whom he could call his own. The original (Raiders) was the most obvious in this regard when it came to doing a homage, with Indy being entrusted by The United States Government to carry out a top secret, classified mission of critical importance with the very outcome of the war itself hanging in the balance all while mostly working alone and utilizing his archaeology skills to his advantage. The second (Temple Of Doom) used a completely different (yet still effective) approach, portaying Indy as more of a “soldier of fortune” type whom when dropped into a remote Indian village learns that he is a “Chosen One” of sorts on an unpaid, yet still righteous mission to rescue kidnapped children from the clutches of slavery, but even better still was Harrison Ford’s noticeable shift in acting style here, going from playing it pretty straight and humorless in Raiders into making Indy more of a bumbling fool, a supremely goofy, arrogant assclown who nonetheless always kept his wits about him and would always find a way to win (a style of playing the hero that was clearly emulated by Bruce Campbell in the Evil Dead series). When it came time for Ford, Spielberg, and producer George Lucas to pick up the reins for the third film, the Bond connection / homage became more abundantly clear than ever with the surprisingly brilliant casting of the original Agent 007 himself, Sean Connery, as Indy’s much more mild mannered father, Dr. Henry Jones (Sr.). The story itself is more like a halfway faithful retread of Raiders, with The Nazis (along with a rich American who openly admits to using them as a means to an end) chasing after another fabled Biblical artifact in The Holy Grail, but only this time with Connery onboard and the film clearly being advertised as a teamup with Ford playing his son, many expected to see something great, and indeed it was, combining the escapism of Raiders with the sense of humor (that had successfully leveled off the darker horror movie elements) that had defined much of Temple Of Doom. Furthermore, what raises it several notches above the much loved, Best Picture nominated but still utterly mindless Raiders was that this story actually had themes (a moral so to speak) that actually made it be ABOUT something other than just an elaborate treasure hunt. To this end we also get both Denholm Elliot and John Rhys-Davies returning from Raiders as Indy’s friends Marcus Brody and Sallah, and these two actors are not only given much more screen time here but more importantly as well, seem a lot more loosened up and relaxed while playing their roles obviously for laughs and comic relief purposes, although the sickly at the time Elliot (who had just been diagnosed with AIDS shortly before filming) does make most of his comedic bits seem a bit forced. But amazingly despite the number of flaws and cracks and chinks in the armor that the film possesses, the mere presence alone of Connery and what he brings to the film virtually surpasses all of that. The movie opens with an extended flashback showing a young teenaged Indy played by the ill fated River Phoenix (who actually does a good job with doing an impression of Ford’s personality despite sporting his own real life unruly long hair in the role which doesn’t seem like a style that Indy would have ever sported in reality) stumbling across and recovering his first artifact from a group of scavengers before a wild chase scene that explains how 1. He came to be afraid of snakes. 2. He learned how to use a bullwhip. 3. How he got the scar on his chin. 4. Most importantly, how he got his trademark fedora hat, given to him by the leader of the scavengers whom it was revealed in the original script to have actually been Abner Ravenwood, referred to in Raiders as Indy’s mentor and the father of Marion who must have ostensibly admired the kid for having both heart and balls and thus took him under his wing in order to teach him the rough and tumble side of archaeology (even as it’s unfortunate that this segment singlehandedly inspired the entire Young Indiana Jones Adventures, a non canon, ridiculously overwrought TV show that not only managed to place Indy at the scene of every real life major historical event that had taken place in his youth but really just proved that only Harrison Ford can truly play the role). Cut to the modern day (1938), where Indy is given news that his father has disappeared while apparently getting close to finding The Grail, then flying over to Venice (with Brody in tow) and teaming up with the superbeautiful blonde female assistant to his father (Alison Doody), bedding her down while taking some major steps towards finding The Grail itself (and being chased down by a mysterious group that would seem like radical extremist types but are really uber Christian sorts intent on protecting the secrets of The Grail) but alas, Indy learns that this girl is herself a Nazi who helped to set up his father (and slept with him too), thus putting him in a bind but at least it reunites him with Connery as the old man, as it turns out that the two of them are actually somewhat estranged from each other. Ultimately they escape, and the movie then turns into a VERY high concept buddy action movie with Connery and Ford having chemistry to spare and the true themes of the story coming to light. The Grail here is but a mere red herring, which although it is found, we learn that it can never leave its final resting place within the temple, but at least Indy and his Dad do manage to find peace both with each other and with their fractured relationship, something that proves to be much, much more important than just mere fortune and glory or some important old artifact, thus instilling the entire film with a real HEART that none of the others in the series seemed to have, and Connery is wonderful here as the elder Jones who is clearly NOT a man of action but instead relies solely on his brains and obvious deep sense and understanding of various cultures to get himself by, while his (clearly tougher) son still feels a deep sense of respect, admiration, resentment and nervous uncertainty around his dad (since Raiders had made it pretty clear that the aforementioned Abner had been more like a father figure to him), but watching these two legends play off of each other in the name of superior entertainment is just a joy to watch, since Connery was the only real choice of both Lucas’ and Spielberg’s for the role, since they probably knew that any actor of lesser stature in the part opposite Ford may very well have been a backbreaker for the whole affair. In other roles, Julian Glover is a big letdown in the primary villain role of the rich American who allies himself with The Nazis mainly because he sees himself as being the one to drink from it daily and have eternal life instead of Hitler himself, but not only does Glover play the role like a 40 something man talking about The Grail as if he were a beatific schoolboy, the overall writing and character development he gets is pretty flat as well, as at least Paul Freeman’s bland Belloq in Raiders was exquisitely well written even if the actor also dropped the ball in that case. Then we have Kevork Malikyan as the proud leader of the guerilla like Grail protectors and Robert Eddison as the still living Arthurian Knight that protects The Grail (a role originally intended for the then dying Laurence Olivier, who had turned it down for obvious reasons). But in the end this is a film that successfully transcended the themes of both Raiders and Temple Of Doom, not necessarily being about finding the artifact itself but rather instead of strengthening the really important bonds of love and family, with the important revelation coming at the end (i.e. Indy’s real name) being something that was notably retained for continuity in the next film in the franchise even as this one still stands tall as being the best in the entire series, an action packed adventure that finally at long last brings the much welcome element of depth to what was a bunch of fun popcorn extravaganzas…
9/10