PhantomKnight Goes Spielbergian

Typically when it comes to third films in trilogies/franchises, there’s a sort of “back to basics/return to form” approach, wherein the third movie hearkens back in some way to what made the first so beloved to begin with; such is the case with Last Crusade. After the noticeably much darker Temple of Doom, Last Crusade returns to the lighter, more adventurous tone of Raiders, and does so to very rewarding effect. That’s immediately made obvious with the film’s opening sequence, a flashback (and TV show tie-in?) to a young Indy played by River Phoenix. Once it gets going, this whole sequence is a blast and really gets the movie off on the right foot. The chase that occurs on the circus train has a good feel to it, aided in no small part by the playfully exciting bit of John Williams music that accompanies it, but it’s not simply a throwaway action sequence. It also provides a nice glimpse into what Indy was like as a teen while also offering up a bit of character building as we see the makings of who he would later become. It’s a refreshing little change of pace instead of exclusively opening with the tail-end of one of Indy’s other adventures, though there is that, too. But most importantly, this opening establishes what will be the heart of the film: Indy’s relationship with his father, played wonderfully by Sean Connery.

And with this being a Steven Spielberg movie, the theme of fatherhood -- specifically a character coping with having a mostly absent father figure in his life -- feels appropriate and expected. Also, having Indy’s father being his main companion on this adventure is a way that Last Crusade shakes up the formula just a little in an interesting way. For the first two films, it was mostly a female sidekick: Marion in Raiders and Willie (plus Short Round, so the movies were already shaking things up) in Temple of Doom. At first, Last Crusade seems to do the same by introducing Dr. Schneider (Allison Doody), but halfway through, bucks convention refreshingly by making her one of the Nazis -- and revealing so in a very fun way, I might add. That right there is an interesting change in dynamic, but on top of that, you throw in Henry Jones Sr. being the main sidekick, and not only does that put Indy in a slightly different but no less interesting light/position, it also sets up tons of great humor and gives the film a solid dose of heart to build its foundation off of. That’s not to say that neither of the first two had heart -- they did -- but having Indy deal with his daddy issues while also trying to be the cool action hero we know him as illuminates a side of him we haven’t seen before. The movie wisely doesn’t treat this as overly sappy or anything, instead it’s actually pretty matter-of-fact about it. But that’s why it’s so effective. This is highlighted by the simple yet effective scene between both characters on the blimp where Sr. lays out how his method of fathering may not have been the typical sort of warm father-son bonding, but no less valuable in the way it helped shape Indy as a man. And credit has to be given to Harrison Ford’s and Sean Connery’s performances in this movie for how they so vividly communicate this sort of relationship between the characters while not falling victim to the overly sentimental tropes one might expect from a set up like it; credit also goes to Jeffrey Boam’s script for the same thing.

Instead of going for angsty father-son drama, it builds out the relationship by finding the honesty in it through humor, and boy does this movie have some great humor. A lot of it does indeed come from the interaction between the “Jones boys”, but much like in Raiders, a lot of it comes about naturally through the situations Indy gets himself into and the characters he interacts with. Does the movie rely too much on comedy? Absolutely not, in this case, because the humor doesn’t feel forced whatsoever, nor is it ever in any danger of becoming a farce like 1941 (and we all know how that turned out). There are some great comedic bits here, from simple dialogue exchanges and/or character interactions (honestly too many to single out) to physical bits and simple reactions to things that happen (the look of amazement Indy has after shooting a bullet through four Nazis at the same time will never not be priceless). The humor also works because it feels like it’s the franchise tonally staying in its sweet spot. Not that I object to the darker tone of Temple of Doom, but the Indiana Jones movies were born from those old school, over-the-top adventure serials, and there’s just something about seeing Indy dispatch Nazis while going after priceless artifacts that feeds so well into the tone that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were going after from the start.

On top of all that, Steven Spielberg once again directs with the same enthusiastic energy and skill for crafting both great set pieces and character-driven scenes that made the first two so awesome. He’s a big part of the reason why so many of the strengths I’ve highlighted land as well as they do, and he directs Last Crusade with the same amount of enthusiasm and heart that he brought to the first two. And that helps ensure that it’s one of the rare third movies that doesn’t disappoint. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is the perfect capper to such an excellent trilogy, sticking the landing tremendously.

And one of the many ways this movie blends together action and comedy so well.

That's what makes it work so well.  Most of the time when a movie or franchise tries to embrace the comedy they can't balance it at all and it really drags things down.  Last Crusade is certainly more comical than Raiders and Temple of Doom but it really complements the movie.

Found it at the library

I’m jamming to the Raiders score. Let’s get John Williams that vaccine. I need the man to stick around another 10 years at least.

That would be the heart of the problem; it wildly overestimates how interesting aerial firefighting is and probably greatly exaggerates how dangerous it is, at least in comparison to second world war dogfighting.  A Guy Named Joe is very much a movie that exists to make sense of wartime sacrifice and to act as a sort of romantic and optimistic take on losses so many people were experiencing.  That just doesn't work when applied to a niche and likely not nearly as dangerous job like aerial firefighting.  The whole idea behind this remake was intrinsically flawed from the onset. 

I watched Always a few years back and aside from the general plot I don't remember a whole lot of it, nothing about it really stuck with me. One thing that did though was that there were a few times that it tried to be funny and each time it was just really out of place. I don't know if Spielberg was trying to make it more lighthearted here and there but I remember a couple times I just thought 'what?' It's one of those movies that for some reason doesn't really try to be anything other than mediocre. It doesn't try to elevate an average premise, it knows that it's average and just flounders in it. It's a weird thing coming from a Spielberg movie.

It's Hook.  Gotta pull out all the stops.

There are two kinds of people. Those that recognize Hook as the fantastic fun that it is, and those that are wrong.

I knew there was a reason why I liked you.