Movie Reviews

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is one of those nostalgia-infused movies that I can't help but like if only because I used to watch it over and over when I was a kid (on a poor-quality, recorded-off-television video cassette, no less). Having now just watched it for the first time in many years, I really enjoyed becoming familiar again with certain scenes and moments that I still (vaguely) remembered from all those years ago.

Watching it now from a more "mature" perspective, however, has revealed to me that The Temple of Doom has about as much of an interesting plot to it as does the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. The story is a mish-mash of silliness starting with a diamond-exchange gone awry, then something involving a trio of stolen mystical rocks worshipped by a poor Indian village, then some stuff about a cult of human-sacrificing devil-worshippers. Oh, and then there's the part where Jones is forced to drink some cursed blood, which turns him into a brainwashed lackey to the devil-worshippers.

Okay, sure it's all pretty goofy, but it is also kind of fun. There is a certain amount of really good stuff in the film, amidst all the goofiness. The opening scene involving the diamond-exchange (Indy has found some kind of very precious diamond that he plans on selling to a really shady-looking group of Germans) is quite well done. A lot of "action" happens in a busy restaurant as he's dealing with the Germans (including a poisoning and a hostage-taking), but it's all very restrained and low-key, such that no one else in the restaurant realizes what's going on. Until the shooting starts, of course.

As I mentioned in my write-up of Raiders of the Lost Ark, most of the good stuff in an Indiana Jones movie is based on cool locations and set-pieces. The Temple of Doom doesn't disappoint in this respect. Consider the disgusting feast at the Maharaja's temple ("chilled monkey-brains!"), the booby-trapped room full of giant insects, the mine-cart chase sequence, the suspension-bridge fight at the end of the film, and the Temple of Doom itself, with its fiery sacrifice-pit.

Aside from this, however, there are a couple of truly memorable characters. Memorable, unfortunately, for how annoying they are. Yes, of course I'm talking about little Short Round and Indy's female companion, Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw, who married Stephen Spielberg after they met on the set of this film).

If it wasn't for the nostalgia-factor, I'd probably have rated The Temple of Doom slightly lower. It's definitely the least-inspired of the Indiana Jones trilogy, but still, it's not without its merits.