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Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Ian Nathan, Empire 105
The third whip'n'hat episode and it's back to basics: religious iconography, Nazis, deserts and the rat-a-tat pacing. The twist is that instead of a skittish babe (although evil Alison Doody flirts in and out of the story) or verbose kiddy, Indy's dad is the sidekick. What's more, Indy's dad is Sean Connery. Preposterous but perfect. Although it plays more like Abbot And Costello.
As adventure, Crusade is the trilogy's weakest, a piecemeal assemblage of past glories as dad and son follow the Grail trail from Venice to Berlin to the Middle East and a lame, mystical showdown. The Nazi's sneer, the stunts are vibrant (top-ho bike chase) and it thunders along with due spirit. And Phoenix's young Indy explains the origins of hat, whip and the snake phobia. Despite all, however, it's the comedy that sparkles.
Connery relishes the chance to poke fun at past personas as bumbling academic, drumming up a juicy repartee with the punchbag hero. Much of the film's pleasure is founded on Jones Sr.'s unwitting sabotage of Jr.'s now-familiar physical ingenuity. Most unexpectedly, this turns out to be Spielberg's funniest film. Amid the turmolic actioneering there is a perfect moment - Indt having pulled himself over the edge of a cliff staggers over to his pals seeking signs of his splattered body. As pop discovers his son's miraculous escape his reaction is irritation. For one of the few times in the Spielberg pantheon, the director is upstaged by his two stars. ***

Indiana Jones
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