To many Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade is what represents the perfect Indy movie being action packed, light in tone and a romp from start to finish. But to me it's always been the weakest instalment...and yes, that even includes Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. Now I'm not say Last Crusade is a bad film...far from it...but in comparison to Raiders Of The Lost Ark and Temple Of Doom which preceded it in the 1980's, it's something of a let down.
Why? Well virtually everything and everybody in it is doing a half arsed job. It's like everybody was bullied into doing a third Indy movie rather than be immersed in the passion and excitement that the film makers possessed on the last two films. Let's list them:-
1/ Harrison Ford. At his peak Ford was the greatest leading man in cinema. Han Solo. Legend. Indiana Jones (up until 1989)...amazing. Then Harrison gave up. He started to fall asleep on the job, and that lack of energy and enthusiasm began creeping into his work around about now.
2/ Julian Glover. Really? Is this the best they could come up with for a villain? The same crap corporate dullard that faced off against Moore's Bond in For Your Eyes Only. They'd have been better off promoting Michael Burn's Nazi General as the big bad for a more menacing adversary.
3/ Sallah and Brodey. After the backlash against Temple Of Doom, producer George Lucas was quick to employ sequalitus techniques and bring back trusted characters from Raiders. But rather than reincarnate John Rhys Davis and Denholm Elliot's sidekicks with the intelligence and integrity they had before, George turned them into clueless buffoons. Tragic.
4/ The story. After the unexpected choice of ritualistic Hindu sacrifice in Temple Of Doom, George Lucas played it safe with Last Crusade returning to a MacGuffin rooted once again in Judea/Christian mythology. It's like what he dis with the classic Star Wars trilogy...after taking a risk with Empire he returned to the same formula with Return Of The Jedi (start on Tatoine and end with a Death Star battle).
The Indy formula no longer feels cutting edge and the whole script has a vibe of playing it safe with silly gags, comedy music themes (the German music cue is straight out of a Mel Brooks film) and a general feeling of scenes being lumped together rather than a natural progression of story.
5/ The climax. There isn't one...or not one worthy of an Indy film. While I completely agree that the 'real' ending of Last Crusade is the moment Henry and Indy resolve their quarrel, the film still needs a kick ass supernatural moment laced with spectacle, tension and excitement to send the audience out on a high. Alas, an earthquake straight out of a Disneyland ride doesn't cut the mustard.
6/ The direction and the action. Like most other things in Last Crusade, Spielberg was seemingly on auto pilot here as well. The big man doesn't seem to be trying hard enough to compose shots that thrill the audience, instead relying on too many wide, master shots that distance the audience from the action. Tonally the film is the lightest of the three, feeling much like that of a Roger Moore Bond film much of the time, sharing the same unsophisticated jokes and comical action scenes which undermine the reality and tension of the escapes and battles. The dialogue scenes too, especially the big exposition dump in Donovan's office is static and uninvolving.
7/ Everything else. John Williams, while still composing some of the best themes in movie history, had lost his edge by this point and the music is less bombastic and urgent than before (he also relegate the Indy theme throughout most of the film...a huge mistake). Michael Khan's action editing is too slow, Douglas Slocombe's photography is pleasant, but the flattest looking of the films and Elliot Scott's set designs are shadows of the genius he produced for Temple Of Doom.
So who comes out of this with any credit? Well Connery obvious as it's his scenes the crackle with wit and energy, Alison Doody's face deserves acclaim for being stunningly beautiful (unlike her damp, lifeless Nazi sympathiser), River Phoenix is to be congratulated for a quirky Harrison Ford impression and the Tank Chase is to be applauded as it's the only white knuckle action set piece in the entire film.
In some ways I'm glad Last Crusade had a light, frothy tone as it means that each Indy film has a unique style and identity; there's an Indy film for everybody. And that's fine, but it's gist not the tone that pushes my buttons.
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