I first saw Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in the theater back when it first came out thirty five years ago this week. I was nineteen in the summer of 1984, and I loved the Temple of Doom so much then that I promptly watched it three times in the theaters (movies coming out on home video at that time was a little sketchy; so if I really liked a movie, I usually had to see it as often as I could in the theater). I was a huge fan of Raiders of the Lost Ark (and still am), and, back in 1984, I considered watching Temple of Doom almost like revisiting an old friend.
I’ve seen Temple of Doom several times since on home video, first on VHS and then DVD, and I have to admit that each time I re-watched the film my love for it has lessened more and more. When I recently saw it again in preparation for this 35th anniversary review…well, to be honest, while I still enjoyed certain aspects of Temple of Doom, overall, the film is not one of my favorites. One of the reasons that it doesn’t stand the test of time is the fact that Spielberg and Lucas break with the globe-trotting formula that made Raiders of the Lost Ark so much fun.
Like the Bond films, Indiana Jones dashes all over the world in Raiders (as well as in The Last Crusade, and Crystal Skull) and by having the series take place in the 1930s, Indy’s travels felt even more exotic and exciting because they occurred during a now-lost age. But Temple of Doom only has two locales: Shanghai, China, and then India, where Indy spends the rest of the movie clashing with a resurgence of the real-life Thuggee cult (they arose in India back in the 19th century; they were defeated by the British Army). The lack of world-wide travel in Temple of Doom makes it feel stagnated, and this only helps to slow the pacing of the film.
And I haven’t even mentioned the tone. Despite the wild and cheery opening in Shanghai, where we’re introduced to singer Willie Scott (played by the endearing Kate Capshaw) during a chaotic gun fight in a night club (called Club Obi Wan, of course), the film’s pacing slows to a crawl once we arrive in India, where Indy is pressed into service helping a village whose children have all been abducted. The villagers’ holy man claimed that Indy was sent to them by their god, a story element that robs Indy of his free will, which goes against the grain of who and what the fiercely independent Indiana Jones is supposed to be.
Led by the wonderfully intimidating Mola Ram (superbly played with great menace by Amrish Puri), the revived Thuggee cult practices a human sacrificial ceremony where Mola Ram rips out the still-beating heart of his victim, all on camera. In trying to invoke a more horror movie feel, Spielberg goes dark here, really dark. Temple of Doom was one of the movies released during the summer of 1984 (the other one being Gremlins) that created such an outcry over the violence and gore on display--all within its deceptive PG rating--that it resulted in the formation of the PG-13 rating, which we still have today.
But thanks to its overly dour storyline, which clashes with its air-headed popcorn film aesthetic in the first part of the film, as well as its latter half, Temple of Doom is my least favorite of the Indiana Jones saga. Its depictions of child slavery, with children being whipped and chained up onscreen, are still extremely hard to watch. It definitely feels like Lucas and Spielberg have taken things way too far in their quest to emulate the heart of darkness aspect of this story. Add to this the juvenile humor of the “chilled monkey brains” sequence, and Temple of Doom ultimately feels cheap and hollow in how it consistently aims for the lowest common denominator.
Fortunately, the Indy saga would correct itself very nicely with the next two films (and yeah, I actually enjoyed Kingdom of the Crystal Skull very much)--and with any luck, we’ll get the long-gestating fifth and (probably) final Indiana Jones flick with Harrison Ford very soon. One more adventure with the swashbuckling archeologist played by the actor who originated the role would be really nice to see before Disney starts making changes when they inevitably re-cast Indy with a younger actor down the road. --SF
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