Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Year: 1984
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Kate Capshaw, Harrison Ford & Ke Huy Quan
Runtime: 118 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 17/05/23
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Kate Capshaw, Harrison Ford & Ke Huy Quan
Runtime: 118 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 17/05/23
Raiders of the Lost Ark is an all-time classic of the adventure genre, and it was a huge critical and financial success upon its 1981 release. Creator George Lucas has always envisioned telling more tales of Indiana Jones, and following their great collaboration of the first film director Steven Spielberg was eager to return to a world of ancient treasures and mystical curses.
But following a series of unfortunate events in both of their lives, the sequel to Raiders became significantly darker in tone and generally meaner spirited, prompting some of Raider’s most prominent collaborators such as Lawrence Kassandra to turn down working on the sequel.
On its release, Temple of Doom was met with a mixed reception because of this darker tone, even prompting the creation of the PG-13 age rating in the United States. Over time opinion of the film has warmed, but for me it remains a dark chapter in the saga of Indiana Jones.
Set one year before the events of Raiders, Temple of Doom opens with Dr. Henry ‘Indiana’ Jones (Harrison Ford) in Shanghai trying to obtain payment for a job he completed for a crime boss. When things expectedly turn south, he, his partner Short Round (Ke Huy Quan), and entertainer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) are left stranded in remote regions of India.
To obtain information as to how to get to Delhi, Jones agrees to help some villagers whose children have been stolen by evil spirits housed at the nearby Pankot Palace. Once there, the trio uncover a sinister cult that appear to be trying to please some ancient deity through barbaric means.
But following a series of unfortunate events in both of their lives, the sequel to Raiders became significantly darker in tone and generally meaner spirited, prompting some of Raider’s most prominent collaborators such as Lawrence Kassandra to turn down working on the sequel.
On its release, Temple of Doom was met with a mixed reception because of this darker tone, even prompting the creation of the PG-13 age rating in the United States. Over time opinion of the film has warmed, but for me it remains a dark chapter in the saga of Indiana Jones.
Set one year before the events of Raiders, Temple of Doom opens with Dr. Henry ‘Indiana’ Jones (Harrison Ford) in Shanghai trying to obtain payment for a job he completed for a crime boss. When things expectedly turn south, he, his partner Short Round (Ke Huy Quan), and entertainer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) are left stranded in remote regions of India.
To obtain information as to how to get to Delhi, Jones agrees to help some villagers whose children have been stolen by evil spirits housed at the nearby Pankot Palace. Once there, the trio uncover a sinister cult that appear to be trying to please some ancient deity through barbaric means.
What made Raiders such a charming adventure film was how it pulled from classic adventure serials that George Lucas grew up on and presented that on a grand scale worthy of a Hollywood action movie. It managed to weave historical fact with fantastical legends to create a story that in spite of all its supernatural elements felt as though it had a decent grounding in reality. Plus, the main character was a likeable, witty, intelligent, and charming man who despite ultimately having his own interests at heart, was a compassionate human being who didn’t want people to suffer.
In Temple of Doom however, that’s totally different. Jones is almost an entirely different character. He doesn’t really care for the welfare of other people, apart from perhaps Short Round. He doesn’t want to help the villagers find their kids; he just wants to know if the palace has any decent treasure worth claiming. Plus, the film doesn’t balance the fact with the superstition like Raiders did, it’s just all superstition and the whole film comes off as a bit nasty and mean spirited as a result.
The film also doesn’t have the same momentum that Raiders does. Raiders took place over multiple countries and felt like a genuine treasure hunt. But Temple of Doom takes place almost entirely within one setting, and the pace has slowed significantly to compensate for that. The environments themselves aren’t as interest either, but considering most of the film’s first half takes place in the Pankot Palace, and the second half is predominantly set in the mines beneath it, the sets consist of generic Indian palace or cave, and it just gets kind of stale.
I’ve already addressed my feelings about the changes made to Jones’ character, but I haven’t yet touched on Short Round or Willy.
Short Round feels like Lucas is throwing a bone to kids, and really only serves to be annoying in the way only a child can be. He asks questions all the damn time, and it’s clearly there just to make sure that anyone who’s got bored and stopped paying attention can keep up with the story. The idea of having Indiana Jones partner up with a child is interesting, but it’s not ever given much attention, and the few times it is the nastiness of this younger Jones just gets in the way. Ke Huy Quan isn’t given anything particularly complex to do, which given his age makes sense, but it feels like such a waste of potential with a character that’s genuinely interesting.
Willie Scott meanwhile is a straight up disaster with no redeeming qualities. It’s as though Lucas just decided that it couldn’t be an Indiana Jones movie without a female companion for some eye candy and to be the damsel in distress, but rather than give us a halfway competent character like Marion Ravenwood, instead Willie just spends the whole film screaming at anything that enters her line of vision, complaining that everything smells, and dropping all sense of self preservation the moment she sees any kind of shiny rock. Oh…and she spends all film trying to get Jones to have sex with her because clearly, she has nothing else of value to offer to the plot. Capshaw’s performance is lacklustre too, but she’s also given absolutely nothing to work with here so I’m not of the opinion that it’s her fault that Willie is so insufferable, but it doesn’t seem like she’s trying to rectify that very much either.
The film also lacks an antagonist in the same way that Raiders has one. Raiders had this sense of urgency because it was an archaeological race between Jones and his competitor Belloq. But all Temple of Doom has is the priest Mola Ram (Amrish Puri) who’s only purpose in the film is to be the guy performing the sacrifices. He has no character, no motivation, no reasoning for doing what he does…he’s just the evil priest that shows up in a couple of scenes and I feel like that is a crucial element of what made Raiders fun and Temple of Doom such a slog.
In Temple of Doom however, that’s totally different. Jones is almost an entirely different character. He doesn’t really care for the welfare of other people, apart from perhaps Short Round. He doesn’t want to help the villagers find their kids; he just wants to know if the palace has any decent treasure worth claiming. Plus, the film doesn’t balance the fact with the superstition like Raiders did, it’s just all superstition and the whole film comes off as a bit nasty and mean spirited as a result.
The film also doesn’t have the same momentum that Raiders does. Raiders took place over multiple countries and felt like a genuine treasure hunt. But Temple of Doom takes place almost entirely within one setting, and the pace has slowed significantly to compensate for that. The environments themselves aren’t as interest either, but considering most of the film’s first half takes place in the Pankot Palace, and the second half is predominantly set in the mines beneath it, the sets consist of generic Indian palace or cave, and it just gets kind of stale.
I’ve already addressed my feelings about the changes made to Jones’ character, but I haven’t yet touched on Short Round or Willy.
Short Round feels like Lucas is throwing a bone to kids, and really only serves to be annoying in the way only a child can be. He asks questions all the damn time, and it’s clearly there just to make sure that anyone who’s got bored and stopped paying attention can keep up with the story. The idea of having Indiana Jones partner up with a child is interesting, but it’s not ever given much attention, and the few times it is the nastiness of this younger Jones just gets in the way. Ke Huy Quan isn’t given anything particularly complex to do, which given his age makes sense, but it feels like such a waste of potential with a character that’s genuinely interesting.
Willie Scott meanwhile is a straight up disaster with no redeeming qualities. It’s as though Lucas just decided that it couldn’t be an Indiana Jones movie without a female companion for some eye candy and to be the damsel in distress, but rather than give us a halfway competent character like Marion Ravenwood, instead Willie just spends the whole film screaming at anything that enters her line of vision, complaining that everything smells, and dropping all sense of self preservation the moment she sees any kind of shiny rock. Oh…and she spends all film trying to get Jones to have sex with her because clearly, she has nothing else of value to offer to the plot. Capshaw’s performance is lacklustre too, but she’s also given absolutely nothing to work with here so I’m not of the opinion that it’s her fault that Willie is so insufferable, but it doesn’t seem like she’s trying to rectify that very much either.
The film also lacks an antagonist in the same way that Raiders has one. Raiders had this sense of urgency because it was an archaeological race between Jones and his competitor Belloq. But all Temple of Doom has is the priest Mola Ram (Amrish Puri) who’s only purpose in the film is to be the guy performing the sacrifices. He has no character, no motivation, no reasoning for doing what he does…he’s just the evil priest that shows up in a couple of scenes and I feel like that is a crucial element of what made Raiders fun and Temple of Doom such a slog.
I’ve already established that Temple of Doom isn’t as visually interesting as Raiders, but it does have some pretty good special effects. Appearing to be a mix of practical and early digital effects, some moments in Temple of Doom do look very good. The sacrifice scenes are a highlight, and whilst they are quite gory and unpleasant for what is technically a family film (more so than the Ark of the Covenant scene in Raiders), the effects are well made. Seeing Mola Ram pull out a guys heart from his chest is really cool. Seeing the swirling inferno pit that the sacrifices are lowered into is also another cool moment. But these cool looking special effects are ultimately few and far between, and the rest of the film looks so bland that it’s tough to allow the visuals to draw you in.
The score is of course amazing, the best part of the film. With John Williams returning to score Temple of Doom, it would have been tough to mess up what worked so well with Raiders. The score is of a darker tone, much like the film, but it retains that Indiana Jones DNA that makes it feel adventurous. It’s just a shame then that the visuals don’t match the music very often.
Temple of Doom is not the sequel (or I suppose prequel) that many Indiana Jones fans wanted, and whilst it has gained a larger following since leaving the theatrical circuit, it is often seen as the black sheep of the original trilogy considering the superb quality of both its predecessor, and its successor The Last Crusade. Personally, I don’t even rate Temple of Doom as highly as Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and that’s really saying something because that film was a hot mess.
To put it simply, Temple of Doom just isn’t for me, and I think it’s a real downgrade from almost any other Indiana Jones film.
The score is of course amazing, the best part of the film. With John Williams returning to score Temple of Doom, it would have been tough to mess up what worked so well with Raiders. The score is of a darker tone, much like the film, but it retains that Indiana Jones DNA that makes it feel adventurous. It’s just a shame then that the visuals don’t match the music very often.
Temple of Doom is not the sequel (or I suppose prequel) that many Indiana Jones fans wanted, and whilst it has gained a larger following since leaving the theatrical circuit, it is often seen as the black sheep of the original trilogy considering the superb quality of both its predecessor, and its successor The Last Crusade. Personally, I don’t even rate Temple of Doom as highly as Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and that’s really saying something because that film was a hot mess.
To put it simply, Temple of Doom just isn’t for me, and I think it’s a real downgrade from almost any other Indiana Jones film.