Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, Alison Doody, River Phoenix, John Rhys-Davis, Julian Glover
After the somewhat darker second installment of Indiana Jones films (Temple of Doom), the series returns to lighter, spirited adventure with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Dr. Jones (Ford) involves his distant, somewhat estranged father Dr. Henry Jones (Connery) in this film, in which the Jones' must thwart the Nazis from stealing the Holy Grail. What the Nazis want to do with it is anyone's guess, but since they desire it so, that is all the motivation we need to root on the two doctors in their quest.
The Last Crusade opens in 1912, in which the teenage Indiana (Phoenix) attempts in vain to stop smugglers from possessing a rare gold crucifix once owned by Coronado. He fails, but learns how to use his trademark whip and we witness the genesis of his hatred of snakes and how he obtained his trademark fedora. Fast forward to 1938, with the world on the brink of World War II and once again Jones is pressed into service against the Nazis when his father, whose lifelong obsession with finding the grail caused their relationship rift, is kidnapped and held captive. Indiana now is on a dual quest to save his father and discover the grail.
Ford and Connery have a smooth chemistry while suggesting a multitude of regrets and hurts from their strained relationship. They are friendly, to be sure, but not quite reconciled. Because they play this stuff straight, it lends credibility to the action. Like the two previous films, Last Crusade does not suffer from a lack of events. The Jones' are under constant assault across three continents from various enemies by air, land, and sea. They manage to escape through skill, pluck, improvisation and sometimes good fortune.
Spielberg maintains a sheer love for this type of throwback cliffhanger, which clearly hasn't waned in this third installment. He and screenwriter Jeffrey Boam continue to be inventive and fresh without retreading old jokes and action scenes. There is a funny allusion to the first film deep within the Venice catacombs in which Indy and his associate/future lover Dr. Schneider (Doody) look for clues while treading in waist-high water and fending off thousands of rats. We see chases and battle scenes aboard dirigibles, motorcycles, planes, boats, cars, and tanks. Pretty soon, we start looking for the kitchen sink, and that's a wonderful thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment