After the horror film, Spielberg and Lucas decided to return to the adventure format when they made Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Once again, Jones is racing against the Nazis to find an ancient artifact, and travels across multiple continents in the process. He also reteams with Sallah and Marcus Brody, and has a scene in his classroom. However, unlike Raiders, there are definite comedic aspects of the film, as opposed to a few jokes here and there to lighten the mood. Both Brody and Sallah have their characters tweaked to make them funnier; 
Brody especially turns into comic relief when he is changed from a respectable museum curator into a bumbling man who "once got lost in his own museum". But most important is the addition of Prof. Henry Jones, Sr., Indiana's irritable father. The rocky relationship between the Jones boys could have been used for dramatic purposes, but is played mainly for comedy.The title has, until now, held a double meaning. As the last film in the trilogy, it was the last (filmed) crusade of Indiana Jones, but the story tells of the search for the Holy Grail, which was involved in the crusades. The man who hires Jones tells him that this quest will fulfill the ones that began 10 centuries ago in medieval Europe. At first, Indy is reluctant to take the job, until he learns that his father, who has dedicated his life to researching Grail lore, has disappeared while performing the same mission. For this adventure, Jones is paired with Dr. Elsa Schneider, a German historian who proves to be a significant break from the mold of past Indy girls. Let's just say that unlike Marion and Willie, she's not exactly what she initially seems.
Even though this movie is the most comical of the three Jones movies, it is still an Indiana Jones movie, and is full of action and adventure. Fortunately, the comedy never tries to be over the top (although it comes close a couple times with Brody), and usually stems from characterization as opposed to jokes for the sake of jokes. And the action sequences are still great.
The opening sequence of this movie is a fun look at how Indy came to be who he is today (I like how the young Indy makes a fellow boy scout feel silly about being afraid of snakes, only to develop his fear not 20 minutes later). And of course, there is the scene of grotesque horror.An interesting thought has just occurred to me (SEMI SPOILER ALERT); the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the story of an older Indiana Jones (it takes place in the 50s, and Soviets have replaced Nazis) trying to continue his extraordinary adventures despite his age. However, this would seem to go against a VERY IMPORTANT plot point from this movie! I am not going to say it, but it's kind of obvious if you think about it.
The Indiana Jones series was more of an anthology than a trilogy telling one large story. They were all about the incredible exploits of a seemingly average archaeologist, but each had little to do with the others. Last Crusade could be seen both as a fitting ending to the series as well as the gateway to a new beginning of Jones' life. With less than a week until the fourth one opens (nearly 20 years after this one), I am wondering how Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will take the established story and build on it.
Up next: Some television one-shots...
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