Show Arts Entertainment fl l Indiana Jones ones ones- The Final Crusade Mike Richan Contributing Writer Indiana Jones faces sewer rats nazis aerial dogfights lots of snakes mysterious spiritual powers and even Adolph Hitler in this third and final segment of the Raiders story With The Last Crusade Steven Spielberg tops off the trilogy with some grand action and new interesting characters which combine for an enjoyable view view- ing This time Indiana Jones is on the hunt for a chalice The purported holy grail said to offer the powers of eternal life to those who drink from it Its It's not hard to imagine whether or not he Indy fail Nevertheless less the film does not falter and with the irony gods as my witness its it's because because because be be- cause of old age Not the sort of hubbub hubbub hubbub hub hub- bub caused by by the later Roger Moore-Bond Moore films no both Harrison Ford and Sean Connery Cannery playing his father seem agile enough The oldness oldness oldness old- old ness perhaps staleness come from the L nagging sense of having seen this same brand of action before Theres There's really nothing new here and while the suspense machine is almost perfectly tuned this time around the i product it churns out is beginning to taste moldy t i The film begins with a ten-minute ten prologue which takes us back to Utah in 1912 for Jor one of Indy's first archeological archeological archeological ar- ar experiences that is to say one of Indy's first elaborately choreographed chase scenes scenes scenes-in in which River Phoenix helps us learn how Jones developed a fear of f snakes and pr prowess with a bullwhip But even when the adult Indy rights the wrongs of his childhood in a retribution scene immediately following the prologue it doesn't feel like youve you've gotten to thereal the thereal thereal real film yet and what do you know you It It takes another 20 minutes before you learn that Jones' Jones father off on a hunt for the holy grail has disappeared just when it appeared he was close to finding Indy is employed by a Donald Trump look look- alike to find both his father and the grail By the time he locates Connery in a castle inhabited by nazis it seems like half the movie is over And it is Connery does add a new dimension dimension dimension dimen dimen- sion to the story but not with the flair you'd expect Too often Ford and Connery are left simply staring at each other Many claim cHUm this paring has chemistry but Ive I've detected no evidence of fusion What's more more Indy's female interest this time around a Dr Elsa Schneider p played ayed by Alison Doody turns out to be one of the bad guys A nice twist too but its it's not like the friction heat caused byFord byFord by byFord Ford and Karen Allen in the first film Perhaps I am being a bit harsh on what is definitely a good film but most assuredly not a great one this flick does have its moments underground in Italy looking for Sir Richards Richard's tomb and the missing engravings or during a perfectly paced tank horse battle that easily rivals the a action ion scenes of 1 L the first film But why do these scenes not generate the magic or sense of fun that Raiders elicited Probably because because because be be- cause they are too much like the first one eight years late I must confess that I am one of the three people who enjoyed the second film Temple of Doom After Raiders' Raiders wonderful story I was perfectly perfectly perfectly per per- happy to let Indy race all over the screen in the se second ond one dragging ridiculous characters after him engaging engaging ing in ridiculous but STOP NON-STOP thrills I was content to let his search be for something so unromantic and uninteresting as those three glowing potatoes And although this may sound barbaric of me I also enjoyed the squeamish mish violence of the T Temple of Doom obviously car- car toony and nd overdone f The 1 whole film seemed to me to be a rolli rollicking roller coaster ride through an amusement park Terror Ride and a lot of fun I think The Last Crusade could have used a great deal more of that But hey if were we're spending this much money on a film you'd think someone could have spent a little littlemore littlemore littlemore more time on the blue screen effects Superimposed airplanes substitute for forthe forthe the he real thing in the dogfight scenes and boy do they ever look fake Indy's image shakes snakes back and forth unrealistically unrealistically unrealistically in a final bridge crossing scene where the entire background is a big matte painting suddenly Indiana Jones becomes Harrison Ford faking a balancing act Director Steven Spielberg said he made this third film for two reasons to honor his commitment to Lucas and to make up for the second film It is altogether too bad he simply didn't make the film because he really wanted to You know theres there's something something something some some- thing wrong when you go through a a dozen scripts before shooting begins Still the film is edible and recommended recommended recommended mended for a quick thrill or the missing missing missing miss miss- ing of one It is however good t to know know that Indy's hat is on the hook ook permanently and just t in time e |