Temple of Doom

According to James Rolfe, "Raiders of the Lost Ark is the peak of adventure cinema. It redefined the action genre and put Indiana Jones on the map as one of the greatest heroes in film history. The first three films showcased Harrison Ford in his prime, and pushed the limit on how much *** an action movie can kick. Back in the 80's, there wasn't much else to compare them to. What a lot of people don't know is that Lucas and Spielberg made Indiana Jones as a tribute to the classic old film serials and classic adventure films. Even the poster for Raiders of the Lost Ark says, "The Return of the Great Adventure." These movies were about treasure hunting and exotic locations. For the heroes, even the fedora, khakis and jacket were common attire. If you thought Indy was so original, look at Charleton Heston in Secret of the Incas, or Humphrey Bogart in Treasure of the Sierra Madre, or Alan Ladd in China. Even Ladd's character shares the same last name. These guys were rugged adventurers, sometimes cold and womanizing. Whether they used a gun, a whip or a sword, they would always overcome farfetched obstacles and pitfalls. In essence, Indiana Jones is like a big budget B movie, not meant to be taken seriously."

Now onto another prequel review to a very beloved franchise, which I haven't reviewed since I did my Star Wars blog. Today, I will look at "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," which came out in 1984. The film is set in 1935, a year before Raiders of the Lost Ark. I will say that even though this film isn't as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark, it's still a very good movie. Despite its flaws, and the really high risks it took, it's still a watchable, loveable movie.

The film opens up in Shanghai, China, with some sort of a Broadway musical being shown to the Chinese crowd in a restaurant. Where they got that giant stage in the restaurant, I can't say. I wouldn't blame anyone for thinking that they had put in the wrong movie at first before getting through those first few minutes. While making negotiations with some Chinese gangsters, led by the evil Lao Chi, played by Roy Chiao, Indiana escapes their clutches with the help of singer/actress Willie Scott, played by Kate Capshaw, and Short Round, played by Jonathan Ke Quan, who you might remember from the classic 80's film, The Goonies. I do have to say, that is a strange name to give to this kid. Short Round, really? That's the best name you could think up for the kid? When they are at the airport getting away, we see Spielberg, Lucas, Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy, and Dan Aykroyd make cameos before they fly off.

When I mentioned the one silly moment from Raiders of the Lost Ark, there are a handful of silly moments in this one. The first one comes when the pilots of Lao Chi's plane jump out when they are over the Himalayas, leaving all of their cargo. The trio are stuck on the plane without gas, so they escape the plane with a deflatable rubber raft. They survive the fall, and they go for a ride down the mountains. James Rolfe comments, "The composite shots are pretty obvious, but that's what characterizes 80's action cinema" (Rolfe). Next thing you know, they go over a cliff into a river. Now that's unrealistic. When they arrive at the village, they find out from the locals that their government has taken the holy Sankara Stones and the children are forced into labor, leaving the water to dry up and the crops to die. This looks a job for....INDIANA JONES!!!

Why does Indiana bring Willie and Short Round with him? They contribute nothing to the film. Marion was at least a strong love interest, but Willie throws a fit over everything, and Short Round shouts all of his lines. They are just the worst damsel in distresses to rescue, and are not even worth it. LET THEM DIE!!! Another ridiculous moment is when they are at their camp ground for the night, and Willie just keeps screaming whenever she sees an animal. Whether it is a bat, an owl, a snake, or a monkey, it's just an animal Willie, not a slasher villain like Jason Voorhees, Mike Myers, Leatherface, or Freddy Krueger! SHUT UP!!! Also, Indy and Short Round are playing cards, Short Round says Indy cheats until Indy finds a card in Short Round's sleeve. Who cares if they cheat, don't they have bigger worries? With the ridiculous female stereotype and slapstick humor, I believe they just threw this scene in just to be funny when it actually isn't. Not one bit.

When they come to the palace, they are welcomed by the Maharajah Zalim Singh, played by Raj Singh, and the Prime Minister Chattar Lal, played by Roshan Seth. They throw them a banquet of baby snakes, large beetles, eyeball soup, and chilled monkey brains. Wait, this is supposed to be a PG film, right? What's with all of these disgusting things they are making them eat. But then, they find out that behind the statue in Willie's room, there are a series of tunnels that lead them to a Thuggee cult worshiping the Hindu goddess Kali with human sacrifice. Just like how the evil men in Raiders of the Lost Ark were melted by looking at the Ark, this cult in this film goes darker by ripping people's hearts out of their body, burning them in the fire, and the heart is burned as well. Who is this film made for, adults or children? This cult is lead by Mola Ram, played by the late Bollywood actor, Amrish Puri. When Indiana tries to fight them off, Zalim Singh starts to cheat by using a voodoo doll of Indy, which is another dumb moment. That is until Short Round notices, wrestles with Zalim Singh, and puts a torch in front of his face, which knocks him out of Mola Ram's spell. Really, a torch?

Anyways, I believe this film's strength is shown when Indy fights his demons when he falls under the spell, Short Round does help out by freeing Indy from the spell and helping to return the stones, unlike Willie, who was probably only around to just scream and shout, which got old extremely fast. Spielberg himself didn't like this one, but I believe that this film still has the Indiana Jones feel to it, and that it's still a film worth checking out. Nostalgia Critic himself criticized Kate Capshaw and Jonathan Ke Quan's performance, "the campy and unpleasant nature, stereotypical characters, plotholes and bad choreography, though he does give a pass on the infamous culturally insensitive Indian dinner scene. However, he does like the movie's mine car chase and does agree that while the film is technically bad, whether or not it is the worst in the series is debatable, and that it is at least memorable and that it at least took risks."

Final verdict: go watch it for crying out loud, it's an Indiana Jones film, you'll love it a lot. If you liked Raiders of the Lost Ark, then you'll love this one as well. I understand if you like this the least in the series, as I do as well. However, it's not as bad as everyone says it is. It's the silliest in the series, but it's also really enjoyable and you'll love it a lot. Just give it a chance and don't hate on it, it doesn't deserve all the unjustly hate that people give it. It was pushing an R rating, so shortly afterwards, Spielberg said to have a rating between PG and R, and the PG-13 rating was born. Now look out, because next week I am going to review the best film in the Indiana Jones series.