Review of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) by Sean L — 18 Jun 2013

A divisive chapter among fans of the series, Temple of Doom is easily the silliest of the initial Indiana Jones trilogy. While I've heard the argument that this character thrives on fantastical situations and traces of lore, for my money the envelope is pressed just a bit too far in this instance.

Sure, Raiders used the power of the ark to melt the Nazis' skin and Crusade showcased an immortal knight with a collection of stand-in grails, but in each case those represented the climax of a long, grounded adventure - a mere taste of supernatural payoff.

Temple shows no such restraint, diving straight in with voodoo dolls, mysterious brainwashing liquids and, memorably, bare-handed heart removals. It also tinkers with the formula of Jones as a loner, with mixed success.

Indy's de-facto sidekick, Short Round, plays up every stereotype of a kid tagalong. He's shoehorned in, no doubt about it, but also adds a new dimension to the larger-than-life lead character via their rapid-fire rapport.

The additional presence of a blonde love interest, Willie, seems redundant and unnecessary - her constant shrieks and clueless nature gives the impression Indy's babysitting two kids. Of course, it's not all bad news: Harrison Ford works wonders with his shadier lines and knocks the good ones right out of the park, the comic relief scenes (though over-applied) work surprisingly well, and the action / adventure elements the series is best known for hit all the right buttons.

There's no shortage of that old, familiar formula here, but I wonder if Spielberg and Lucas may have overreached in an effort to make the film more palatable to the Saturday morning cartoon crowd.