Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) review

Many consider it the best of the Indiana Jones films, praising the addition of Sean Connery as one of the best casting choices. Many praise the story and action sequences as being superior to the great Raiders of the Lost Ark, but I for one, prefer the first two instalments over the conclusion to such a fantastic trilogy.

Indiana Jones’ father, Henry Jones Sr, goes missing whilst on his life long quest for the Holy Grail. Leaving to Indy, his diary which contains all his research of the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones realizes that the Nazis are once more after the Holy Grail and will stop at nothing to retrieve it. Realizing that immortality is a powerful and corruptive thing that the Nazis cannot get their hands on, Indy goes on a quest to retrieve his father and ensure the Nazis don’t get caught up with Henry’s diary, which has disappeared.

Once more, the story is very powerful and truly entertaining however I didn’t see it surpass the previous two instalments. The addition of Henry Jones is the wisest choice made in this entire franchise. The goofiness and fun he brings cannot truly be described in words. Sean Connery absolutely perfects that role and gives one of the most entertaining performances I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, it does take a fair bit of time for his character to truly make an entrance in one of the greatest ways. His immediate reaction to smashing Indy with a bottle followed by proving that the bottle is a fake is timeless comedy. Not just funny, but it is simply able to define his character through his first few minutes. The relationship that builds throughout the film between Indy and Henry is one of the funniest yet most realistic ever in some ways.

Supporting characters include Ilsa, who I didn’t particularly care about in the film. She just wasn’t as memorable as Marion or Willie from the first two instalments and her character was someone that I wasn’t attached to. It is, however a pleasing sight to see Marcus Brody return for a bigger role in this film. He is surely one of the best aspects of this film. He is hilarious, lost and is basically one of us being on this great adventure. The best sequence of the film is one involving a lost Marcus Brody attempting to communicate with locals, but is incredibly lost! This scene was comedic perfection for the film, especially realizing that this followed Indiana Jones telling the Nazis about Brody’s whereabouts! Sallah too returns in the film, in possibly a shorter role than Raiders of the Lost Ark but he too is placed perfectly in the story.

Much like Ilsa, there is another forgettable character and he is the main antagonist, Donovan. Belloq is one of the most memorable villains put to film. He was perfect for Raiders of the Lost Ark, Mona Ram was perfect for Temple of Doom however Donovan doesn’t strike out any real threat or motivation with this film. Thankfully, this is laid aside by some fantastic entertainment thanks to Sean Connery and Harrison Ford, who shared such amazing chemistry. Just like the previous two films, the entertainment is sky high and makes this a fantastic conclusion to a great trilogy…until 2008 came!

Grade- 9/10

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) review

To this day, I cannot quite put together the criticisms laid to this film. Surely, it isn’t the best Indiana Jones film but it comes so mighty close. One of the best aspects of the film for me, is what is considered the biggest issue of the film which would be the drastic change in tone from a rather light hearted film with dark moments to an extremely dark film, containing light enough moments.

Indiana Jones, following an escape from Lao Che, finds himself crash landing a plane nearby an Indian village. Here, he is told that the children have all but being taken from them to work at Pankot Palace, where evil has once more being brewing. During the kidnapping of all the children, it is said that a sacred stone called the Shankara was taken from their village. Indiana vows to return the Sankara stone back to the village as well as all of their children as he ventures with his young friend, Short Round and the irritating singer, Willie.

Whenever people refer to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, they always list the complaints about the film which truly sickens me. It’s excessive dark content and the irritating Willie. I personally loved both. Willie is most definitely an irritating character and about as irritating as one could get but thankfully, Speilberg and Lucas were well aware of this before hand and as a result, to add some great comedic moments have her character constantly punished. As for the dark content, I can only praise Lucas and Speilberg from taking a completely different view for this film and their bravery to make a prequel to a beloved film be one with a completely different tone. Even with the incredibly dark content, this is most definitely still an Indiana Jones film. It has the same wit, same humour and the brilliant stunt work and action sequences that make this a very, very worthy prequel to the great, Raiders of the Lost Ark. In terms of action, Temple of Doom surpasses Raiders of the Lost Ark however, in terms of the plot and characters, Raiders is clearly superior.

John Williams created a truly memorable musical score with Raiders of the Lost Ark. His iconic soundtrack featured the fantastic score following Marion Ravenwood’s death, which was a very powerful piece of music. In Temple of Doom, he creates an even more powerful and epic musical score featuring the March of the Slave children. This score is such a brilliant piece of work by the legend John Williams, that I happen to prefer it over the score in Raiders.

The underground tunnel chase and the sequence on the bridge is the greatest climax put onto an Indiana Jones film and is one of the most memorable in my opinion. It features brilliant comedy, very gritty and dark stunt work and some incredible action sequences which are just a delight on screen. The parody of the swordsman in Raiders of the Lost Ark works perfectly as one of the film’s finest comedic moments. 

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is the most controversial of the franchise but is better than the original in some ways. Even if the film isn’t overall, nearly as perfect as Raiders of the Lost Ark, it is nevertheless a brilliant piece of entertainment and one of master director, Steven Speilberg’s finest films. 

Grade- 10/10

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) review

To put it in simple terms, Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the greatest and most revolutionary films ever made and is quite possibly, legendary director Steven Speilberg’s masterpiece which says a lot. 1981 introduced us to who is quite possibly, the greatest movie character ever put to film. To that, I am ever so grateful

Indiana Jones is an archaeologist who goes after rare artefacts as a means to try and return them where they need to be. He finds himself having to go on an adventure to relocate the Lost Ark of the Covanent and take it away before the Nazis, who are looking for it in order to have complete dominion during the ongoing war.

There is the story and there is an unforgettable storyline that every man on the planet knows about. The opening scene in the film, involving Indy, his whip and the search for the Golden Buddha is definitely, one of the greatest introductions ever put to film. The moment you see a long shot of Indiana Jones, you are immediately felt a presence and his entrance into the film with the whip and emerging through the smoke, is to this day, one of the most iconic entrances made by a character. Up there with the one from The Third Man and possibly Darth Vader, in Star Wars. John Williams creates a fantastic opening theme, that is before the action starts taking place, that itself is full of purpose and tension. There is a certain mystery about the character that is felt through the brilliance of that score. The opening scene is so perfect but the most perfect aspect of it is how it added no development to the basic plot of the film but is simply used as a method to get to know various characters and their actions and motivations. We see Belloq through this opening scene and we are immediately given a hint as to who he may be. We are fully exposed to Indiana Jones and we already feel a certain charm about his character and we are already taken in by the atmosphere created by Speilberg and Lucas. 

Much like the original Star Wars trilogy, despite being amazing films, the performances aren’t the strength of those films like in other films such as The Godfather. It is purely in the story, characters and atmosphere created. Whilst the majority of the performances are undoubtedly fantastic, especially those by Harrison Ford, John Rhys Davies and Paul Freeman, the strength to Raiders of the Lost Ark lies solely in the story and character department. The action sequences in this film to this day, are breathtaking. Whilst even my favourite movie, The Lord of the Rings, has a few action sequences where I tend to take my eye off the screen, when watching Raiders of the Lost Ark I feel like Malcolmn McDowell’s character from ‘A Clockwork Orange’ when he is receiving his treatment to emerge a better man to society! They are some of the best put to film and is the pure definition of entertainment. The truck chase sequence towards the end of the film, to this day, is the greatest chase ever shown on film. The John Williams score, once more, adds it to another level and is one of the most iconic pieces of music made. Most iconic scores are made by this legend and all are unforgettable, taking the film to another extent. They dance around to the film, as if they are its own thing yet they fit perfectly with the context of the film and its overall tone.

Speilberg’s direction is absolutely flawless. This is indeed, one of the few ‘perfect’ films I’ve ever come across, a few others being Pulp Fiction, Empire Strikes Back and The Godfather. The story and dialogue is once more, flawless. I cannot praise enough how much I just love this film. Other cast members, especially Karen Allen does a great job as the lovely Marion Ravenwood, who is without a doubt, the best sidekick of a girl that has possibly being put to film. Just like Ford, she brings a real charm to the screen and her presence feels like an adventure of its own. That’s what a brilliant film does!

Raiders of the Lost Ark is quite possibly one of the top ten greatest films ever made. It is absolutely hilarious, action packed, full of tension, a sense of awe and wonder and displays the mythical element of the film flawlessly. To keep it short, Raiders of the Lost Ark can simply be described through the word ‘flawless’ 

Grade- 10/10 all the way!!!

Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) review

When a franchise has been dormant for a long period of time, especially a beloved one such as Star Wars or in this case, Indiana Jones, it is usually evident that a remake or a sequel usually results in an unnecessary addition to a franchise which ends up ruining it. This is evident with Star Wars and even Superman. 

However, as bad as some films may be considered, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is considered the most disappointing film next to The Phantom Menace. I disagree

Based around the crystal skull, this film tells the story of a much older Indiana Jones who is once more on a search for a crystal skull as he must ensure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands of the Nazis….oh wait, the Soviets. This is my biggest concern of the film right here, not the story in general but the idea of using Russians as the main villains. Each previous Indiana Jones film had a memorable villain, with the first and third using Nazis and the second using terrifying Indian people. The villains in this film are so stereotypical and bland that they immediately pass off as forgettable. Whilst Harrison Ford is as brilliant in the role as he always is, bringing in the same endearing characteristics that made him one of the most loved heroes, Cate Blanchett is horribly miscast as the main villain. When you take into consideration how great an actor she is from various films, to the point where she has won an Oscar, you’d expect her to deliver a truly great performance in such a film. Absolutely not in this case. She comes off as an irritating and very unintimidating villain who comes off as a rather laughable person never providing tension when it is needed. This is partly due to some of the poor writing and some of the poor story involved with her character but Blanchett herself is at fault in this particularly case. When you realize every other villain has cast an image in this franchise and she doesn’t, there is definitely something wrong

One of my favourite scenes of the film is the fantastic sequence early in the film in the warehouse where a fantastic and old school looking action sequence takes place as John Williams’ legendary musical score starts bombastically dancing to its own! This scene, despite the obvious CGI backgrounds, had a lot of great action and some great humor and was an overall fun sequence. Ford immediately ensured that we wouldn’t view this film the same as the Star Wars prequels as he is able to bring in an endearing personality towards Indy once more. Then the film certainly slows down and whilst some hate Shia LaBeouf, I certainly didn’t mind him. I thought it was rather clever having him be Indy’s son which goes well with Sean Connery being the father. Both Indy and Henry Jones Sr are wreckless fathers who try to love their children but are too busy getting caught up in their own world and life.

The story itself is presented rather well even though it doesn’t follow the same Indiana Jones structure. Most of the story is intriguing unlike the prequels to Star Wars and come off feeling like an adventure that Indy could go on some day. The script in this film is generally fantastic with some great moments and lines but at the same time, does have some bad dialogue. This is George Lucas’ involvement.

Karen Allen returns as Marion Ravenwood from Raiders of the Lost Ark and whilst her character is present to bring back the feeling of the previous films, comes off rather irritating and doesn’t do too much to help move the story. Whilst her character was great in the first film, this is where it should’ve left with her final known fate being having started a relationship with Indy as shown at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. When she meets Indy once more after a long time, it felt forced and rather awkward despite the two having been in a film of the same franchise, a further 25 years earlier.

Steven Speilberg is a legendary writer and whilst this is critically claimed as one of his least successful films, I personally found it a joy to view the first time. Surely it is full of flaws, more so than the previous films and doesn’t contain the same magical and nostalgic factor, but Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is able to overlook these issues thanks to a fantastic performance by Harrison Ford and some great action sequences early on, as well as an overall good and engaging storyline with a relatively good script.  However, it is truly evident that this instalment never needed to be there for this franchise. 

Grade- 8/10