You know, going by "Hank" wouldn't have been bad: "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"

Maybe it was the wannabe feel of "National Treasure," but something moved me to pop the last of the Indiana Jones trilogy into ye olde DVD player the other night. It's not like I'm down with anything Harrison Ford has done recently, and just what was with the earring and overall creepy vibe in that Super Bowl pre-game segment, anyway?

Most agree that No. 3 is the second-best of the trilogy. It goes without saying that nothing comes close to "Raiders." (Of course, I just said it.) As for "Temple of Doom," sure, it seemed cool enough when I was a kid. But it's really more one-dimensional and full of gross-out stuff vs. clever scenes. Even with the fun opening -- a staple for these movies -- "Doom" runs out of gas and doesn't capture the grandeur of "Raiders."

Neither does "Crusade," but the father-son thing with Sean Connery and the quest for a mystical object -- this time the Holy Grail instead of the Ark of the Covenant -- keep things interesting. The movie certainly gets off to a rousing start, with River Phoenix (rest in peace) playing a young Indy in the 1910s and providing insight on how Dr. Jones got his chin scar, whip fetish, hat and fear of snakes. It's really kind of neat, I think.

From there, we find the 1930s Indy summoned to search for the Grail ... and his missing dad while he's at it. This takes us to Venice and Austria before we find out who's behind Connery's disappearance and serving as the Jones' rivals for the Grail. Who, you ask? The Germans, of course. That Hitler ... something's not right with him.

We eventually end up in the Middle East for our finale, which is a little overdone but not too bad. Alas, it's also not enough to cover some annoyances in the plot and among characters. One, the esteemed Marcus Brody -- Indy's dignified curator at the university/museum -- is turned into a cartoon, which is a little sad. Second, how exactly did Sallah from Egypt get to the Republic of Hatay? And maybe it's just me, but wading around in a pool of petroleum probably will leave you at least a little burned if said pool is set on fire. But hey, what do I know?

Still, the movie is mostly fun, with decent adventure scenes on boats in Venice, planes over Germany and tanks/horses in Hatay. It also seems like Ford and Connery are having fun. In short, it's not a bad end to the trilogy. And I really hope it remains a trilogy. This business doesn't sound good to me at all. Especially if Ford still has that damn earring.