Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, or, as I will be calling thus forward, The Second to Last Crusade serves as a fitting end to one of the best trilogies of all time. While it doesn’t beat Raider’s, it’s a huge step up from the flop that was The Temple of Doom, and brings the life back into this franchise. Not only does it do this through it’s globetrotting adventure story line, brilliant shots, and callbacks, but also through making the pre-established characters deeper and more meaningful. So, while I had some massive problems with the script, there is enough here for the movie to be exactly what it needs to be. Interestingly, it does so in a way that pays homage to classic Western movies, which has been touched on lightly in previous instalments, but never to this extent. This was clearly Spielberg’s and Lucas’s way of saying goodbye to this franchise, for now.
As I had mentioned, there are elements of this instalment that are better than Raiders of the Lost Ark. For example, Spielberg’s shots feel a lot more inspired here. Don’t get me wrong, he’s always had an eye for the best possible shots. However, it seems that The Last Crusade had a certain element that was special to Spielberg. This is also evident in the story, elaborating on Indiana Jones’s history. Although I enjoyed this element, I will admit, some of the acting was pretty bad in the flashback. And, while not to the same extent, there was still some pretty bad acting throughout. Take, for example, Sean Connery. I didn’t feel that there was a lick of emotion from him. Part of that, of course, is the tension between Ford and Connery on set. I did enjoy the overall relationship between Indiana and his father nevertheless. As for Harrison Ford’s performance, I’ve come to a point where I realize that Harrison Ford doesn’t really act as much as he does put on an Indiana Jones costume and be Harrison Ford. One of the best lines is when Jones does a callback after asked if he can fly the plane, responded with “Fly, yes. Land, no.” Which brings me to another thing I loved about this one, all of the callbacks to previous movies, not even just in the Indiana Jones movies.
Overall, The Last Crusade was the perfect ending to this trilogy of movies. While there were some blatant acting and script problems, it was still enjoyable. 7.8/10
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