Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) directed by Steven Spielberg
Shanghai, 1935. Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones (Harrison Ford) is in town to swap the ashes of a Manchu emperor for a large diamond of historical and personal interest to him. Unfortunately, gang boss (and shipping magnate) Lao Che (Roy Chiao) wants to keep both items and poisons the famed archaeologist so he will swap back the diamond for an antidote. Except that the criminal decides to keep that too. Mayhem ensues, and Indy barely escapes the nightclub with the antidote and singer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) who’d gotten caught in the crossfire because she too wanted the diamond. They are driven to relative safety by Doctor Jones’ young sidekick Short Round (Ke Huy Quan).
Unfortunately, the airplane they take to escape Shanghai turns out to be owned by Lao Che, who orders the crew to bail out over the Himalayas to doom the passengers. Quick thinking allows the trio to survive using an inflatable raft (yes, this stunt is probably impossible in real life, roll with it) and they are able to float downriver to India.
The village they arrive at is dying. It seems there is a new maharajah at the long-abandoned Pankot palace, and the minions of the maharajah have stolen the lucky rock from the village shrine. Oh, and the children. The villagers prayed to Shiva for relief, lo and behold, Indiana Jones has arrived. Indy’s not initially interested, but soon learns that the “lucky rock” may in fact be one of the legendary Sankara Stones of Shiva, the possession of which will bring fortune and glory.
As the trio approaches Pankot palace, there are various clues that something’s not right, including that the day skies are filled with bats instead of birds. (Indy misidentifies these fruit bats as vampire bats–he’s an archaeologist, not a zoologist.) Even though they’re given a warm welcome to the palace by the prime minister Chatter Lai (Roshan Seth) and child maharajah (Raj Singh), the weirdness continues with a banquet of things no orthodox Hindu or Muslim would ever eat. Not that fellow guest British Captain Blumburtt (Philip Stone) seems to notice.
That night, circumstances lead Indiana, Short Round and Willie to discover that the palace is built above a mine/catacombs which include the titular Temple of Doom, home to a somehow surviving sect of Thugee led by the sinister priest Mola Ram (Amrish Puri). Time for the action to move into high gear!
This second Indiana Jones movie was made a prequel so that there would be a break from Nazis as villains, and to avoid having to follow up on some plot threads from Raiders of the Lost Ark. This does create a bit of suspense as while we know Indy will survive, none of the other characters are around in the future and are thus possible casualties. On the other hand, the events here make Dr. Jones’ rock-hard skepticism about the supernatural in the first movie seem a bit weird.
Good: After the Broadway musical-style opening number, we get action and plenty of it. Amazing stunts and practical effects make for a movie that will please the excitement junkies in the audience. The mine cart chase is very much a thrill ride.
Ke Huy Quan is very good as child actors go, and it’s obvious that he and Harrison Ford have good chemistry. Short Round is in the tradition of pulp kid sidekicks and performs his duties admirably.
Kate Capshaw does the best she can with Willie Scott, who spends most of the movie being dumped on and mostly useless, between passive-aggressive flirting with Indy.
Amrish Puri is top-notch as sinister Mola Ram, and went on to be one of Bollywood’s favorite villain actors.
Less good: There are reasons scenes were shot in Sri Lanka rather than India. The movie tends towards a Thirties pulp treatment of natives of India, which can come across as kind of racist. (Especially since there are deliberate missteps in cultural portrayal.)
The flirting between Indy and Willie is painful. I can see why they didn’t stay together even a full year.
Content note: Lots and lots of violence, often lethal. Most parents might be especially concerned about the part where Mola Ram pulls the heart out of a man’s chest while he’s still alive, and then the man is burned alive. Child endangerment and abuse. Slavery. Torture. Indy is poisoned and drugged. There’s a scene that will freak out anyone with insect phobias. Male shirtlessness. The banquet is deliberately designed to gross out Western (and Indian) viewers. Dubious religious practice for the Kali cultists.
Odd: Mola Ram has a personal grudge against “the Hebrew God” and there’s a painting of the Ark of the Covenant on one of the Temple walls. Hmm.
This was the darkest of the Indiana Jones movies, a deliberate choice by producer George Lucas. Afterwards, both he and director Steven Spielberg admitted that they’d maybe gone a bit too dark. (Between this movie and Gremlins, the MPAA was inspired to create the PG-13 rating to have a step between PG and R-rated films for just such movies.
It’s still a very good movie; you just might want to watch something lighter afterwards to cleanse your palate. Recommended to Harrison Ford fans and lovers of pulp adventure.
