Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy QuanRuntime: 118 minutes
Synopsis: In 1935, Indiana Jones arrives in India, still part of the British Empire, and is asked to find a mystical stone. He then stumbles upon a secret cult committing enslavement and human sacrifices in the catacombs of an ancient palace.
Performances: 7/10
Screenplay: 7/10
Editing: 6/10
Cinematography: 7/10
Score/Soundtrack: 8/10
Entertainment Factor: 8/10
Screenplay: 7/10
Editing: 6/10
Cinematography: 7/10
Score/Soundtrack: 8/10
Entertainment Factor: 8/10
Verdict: To this day, I still have no idea how that movie received a PG rating despite containing some of the most frightening and traumatizing scenes in any mainstream adventure film. But that never stopped me from watching it over and over again as a kid, and quite frankly my most recent rewatch of it was quite a pleasant one despite it being nowadays labeled as the weak link of the trilogy.
The prequel takes place a year prior to the events of "Raiders", and sees Indiana Jones on a quest to retrieve a sacred stone that was stolen from a poor village in India. In other words, it's the movie whose plot was pretty much parodied in the live-action adaptation of "Scooby-Doo", released in 2002. It's a much more mature adventure than its predecessor and the darker tone adopted, which made the narrative infinitely less cheesy, worked like a charm to me. It still contains many clichés but not nearly as much as one would expect from an Indiana Jones movie. The main issue with it, however, are the supporting characters. While the antagonists were pretty great and scary in general, Indy's sidekicks did not live up to Marion and Sallah featured in "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Short Round was a bit of a caricature, but his chemistry with the lead made their relationship a pleasant one, but Willie, played by Kate Capshaw is, to me, one of the most infuriating and annoying characters in cinematic history. I'm puzzled as to how Spielberg thought that including a character like her would enhance the experience for viewers. She doesn't work as comic relief, she doesn't work as a love interest, and most of all, she doesn't belong in that gripping adventure whatsoever. Her arc was an uninteresting one that was poorly developed throughout the film and only drags it down.
Having said all that, and believe it or not, I enjoy watching "Temple of Doom" almost as much as I enjoy "Raiders of the Lost Ark". If it wasn't for Willie, I even would've gone as far as to say that I enjoyed it a little more. But overall, I definitely wouldn't call it the weak link of the trilogy.
The prequel takes place a year prior to the events of "Raiders", and sees Indiana Jones on a quest to retrieve a sacred stone that was stolen from a poor village in India. In other words, it's the movie whose plot was pretty much parodied in the live-action adaptation of "Scooby-Doo", released in 2002. It's a much more mature adventure than its predecessor and the darker tone adopted, which made the narrative infinitely less cheesy, worked like a charm to me. It still contains many clichés but not nearly as much as one would expect from an Indiana Jones movie. The main issue with it, however, are the supporting characters. While the antagonists were pretty great and scary in general, Indy's sidekicks did not live up to Marion and Sallah featured in "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Short Round was a bit of a caricature, but his chemistry with the lead made their relationship a pleasant one, but Willie, played by Kate Capshaw is, to me, one of the most infuriating and annoying characters in cinematic history. I'm puzzled as to how Spielberg thought that including a character like her would enhance the experience for viewers. She doesn't work as comic relief, she doesn't work as a love interest, and most of all, she doesn't belong in that gripping adventure whatsoever. Her arc was an uninteresting one that was poorly developed throughout the film and only drags it down.
Having said all that, and believe it or not, I enjoy watching "Temple of Doom" almost as much as I enjoy "Raiders of the Lost Ark". If it wasn't for Willie, I even would've gone as far as to say that I enjoyed it a little more. But overall, I definitely wouldn't call it the weak link of the trilogy.
FINAL GRADE: 7/10
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