Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Set before the events of 'Raiders', Dr. Jones is in Shanghai doing business with Chinese crime boss Lau Che. Losing the upper hand in a night club he barely escapes with his life (and baggage in the form of Willie Scott and sidekick kid Short Round) to the airport. But little does he know the plane he gets on is owned by Lau Che and the pilots sneak out in mid-air while they are sleeping. After jumping to safety in an inflatable dinghy Indy, Willie and Short Round drift by an Indian village that has been stricken with bad luck since the theft of their magical Shankara stones. Encouraged by the villagers to go to Pankot palace and retrieve the stones, Indy has no idea that what he will find involves an evil cult hellbent on taking over the world with their lunatic new religion. Temple of Doom is, without a shadow of a doubt, the best Indiana Jones film. I know a lot of nerds are going to disagree with me but I do think it superior to Raiders of the Lost Ark because I prefer the darker, nastier tone and the fact that it just doesn't let up from the word 'go'! Two hours of Temple of Doom's running time pass in a breeze of sheer adventure as Spielberg takes us from one memorable set-piece to another. The opening musical number, the fight in the Obi-Wan Club, the chase through Shanghai, the plane crash/dingy ride, the journey to Pankot Palace, the dinner scene, the human sacrifice, the freeing of the slaves, the mine-cart ride, the water rush, the rope bridge, the cliff-hanging...wow! How much more can you pack into a film? It's physically impossible! Originally criticised on it's release for being too dark, Temple of Doom still ends up being a classic. I guess the audiences of 1984 were expecting Raiders of the Lost Ark 2 and were taken aback when they got something else. If you watch it with the others you can feel how different the film is with no scenes taking place in America, no University and no Sallah or Marcus Brody. John Williams' brilliant music is also at it's best. He even received an Academy Award nomination despite already being nominated for his work on Raiders of the Lost Ark, which is quite rare. The film did win an Oscar for its visual effects (beating the equally impressive effects of Ghostbusters) which, when viewed today, at least might seem a little bit dated, but still hold up quite well. Or course, there's nothing really important about the film. I mean it won't beat Schindler's List or Munich in terms of drama but if you want escapism and soaring, thrill-a-minute adventure his name is Indiana Jones and the place is the Temple of Doom.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was fun to watch when I was young, but now that I've seen it again, I must say this is the worst Indiana Jones movie. The film had great potential (murderous cults, eating bugs&brains, mineshaft chase scenes), but there were two things that killed it. First there's Short Round. Spielberg takes some random orphan and injects him into the story. His dramatic lines with Harrison Ford did nothing but cause an awkward bout of laughing. Then there's Willie Scott. She doesn't contribute a thing to the survival of the characters (at least Short Round helped Indie snap out of the hypnotism). All she does for the whole damn movie is scream and whine. The 2 hours of hours of hearing "indieeeeeeeee" was a difficult thing to sit through. 1/10 because of the annoying and unnecessary characters.