Review of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) by Kai82 — 24 Nov 2020

It is for many the weakest movie of the original trilogy but you will hear almost never a complain that it is a bad movie. Instead of playing it save with a more of the same sequel they tried some new things.

It is chronological the first movie and a bit more grim and darker. After again an intense introduction I wont spoil Indianan Jones, his (eleven year old) sidekick Short Round and American singer Wilhemina Scott crashed in India.

Here they will experience a dark and intense adventure. Many people hear that it is the weakest movie and expect an awful disaster and are surprised afterwards how good it was. I just repeat myself it is a really good movie that is weaker than Raiders of the lost Arc which is by all standards one of the most acclaimed and cherished movies of all times.

Storywise it fully delivers. I cant remember many boring moments and it has some really intense and memorable scenes. The action scenes are also well done and are breathtaking. There is the complaint that it is too dark by many and that it has no humor.

While I see the validity of the first argument I think it is not too dark and it delivers and intense atmosphere and immersion. For the humor I think that is a wrong statement. There are many humorous scene that often come up in discussions for the movies.

Lets talk about the strong cast. Harrison Ford delivers again a great performance as Indianan Jones. However I think that Jonathan Ke Quan as Short Rounds made an even better performance. He is the hidden star of the movie and became a favorite character, Lets talk about Kate Capshaw as Wilhelmina (Willie) Scott.

I know that many think that I dislike her character and start a rant. However it is the opposite. She gave a great performance and delivered. Many find her annoying but that is her role. It is a trope or stereotype and she nailed it.

I recently discovered that this movie hurt her career and I am sorry for this. Then there is Amrish Puri as Mola Ram. He is a great antagonist and so intimidating that it will give you nightmares. One of the most underrated villains in movie history and on a side-note winner of many best villain awards.

This movie has a great cast and I see no real flaws here. I want also praise the sets and visuals. Everything looks great and realistic (=as you expect it to look). They nailed the temples, jungle and mines.

I read that they wanted to film in India but after some difficulties filmed in Sri Lanka. Visually and stylish there is also not much to criticize. It creates or helps to create the atmosphere and immersion.

Then there is of cause again the legend himself John Williams who is one of the best film music composers of all times. Again a great soundtrack as expected. Overall this is a great movie and without Raiders of the lost Arc it would be appreciated more.

While I agree it was the weakest of the trilogy it is still remarkable. Look at Kingdom of the Crystal Skull how a terrible Indianan Jones movie looks like.