THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Early into the 1980s, audiences were blown away with the adventure classic Raiders of the Lost Ark, filled with top notch chases and fight scenes that had us fall in love with the protagonist Indiana Jones, played by Harrison Ford. Considering how big it became, there was no way it wouldn’t be a franchise. So when we returned to familiar territory, it was more than what we bargained for in a good way.
PLOT
The prequel dubbed the Temple of Doom takes place in 1935 and follows the infamous archaeologist survive a murder attempt in Shanghai. He is hired to retrieve the remains of Nurhaci by Lao Che. When he flees from his crime boss employer who tries to kill him after doing the job, he does so with orphan accomplice Short Round and nightclub singer Willie Scott. They leave the country by plane, unaware that their plane is owned by Che. When the pilots dump the fuel and parachute away, the trio survive by using an inflatable raft, riding down the slopes of the Himalayas and falling into a river near the village of Mayapore. There, Jones is plead by villagers to retrieve a sacred stone stolen along with the village’s children by evil forces of the Pankot Palace. Hypothesizing that the stone is one of the Sankara stones given by the Hindu gods, Jones agrees to help. When heading to the palace, he and his group are welcomed to attend a banquet hosted by the young maharaja (Raj Singh). At night, he is attacked by an assassin and survives the attack. This would lead to him and his group explore through a city of tunnels underneath the palace. During the investigation, they find thuggee cultists with three of the stones and committing human sacrifices, while also using the abducted children mining for the rest. They try to take the stones, but all get captured in the process. Jones would be forced by high priest Mola Ram to drink a potion that puts him in a trance to prepare Willie for a sacrifice. Short Round is able to escape the tunnels and free Indy from the trance, who would in turn free Willie. Together, they free the children and retrieve the stones. As they fight thuggees on the way out, they avoid getting drowned by Ram. As the trio tries to cross a bridge, they get ambushed by more thuggees including Ram. Indy would cut the bridge in two, causing thuggees to fall into the river below and get devoured by crocodiles. When Ram still tries to take the stones while hanging on to one half of the bridge, Jones would invoke the name of Shiva causing the stones to briefly burn. Ram would lose his grip and devoured by crocodiles as well, losing two stones in the process. As Indy and his group reach the top of the bridge, the British Indian Army would arrive to defeat the remaining thuggees. Returning to Mayapore, Jones would return the remaining stone and the film would end with the village celebrating the return of the children.
THOUGHTS
Ironically, I recall watching this before Raiders, unaware of the connection between both films. Even though I would end up admitting the predecessor is the better film in comparison, it doesn’t really diminish this one’s quality completely. In general, Director Steven Spielberg and the writing team of George Lucas, Gloria Ketz & Willard Huyck deliver in creating another high octane experience of an adventure. The cinematography by Douglas Slocombe was so impressive it made about every scene memorable in their own way: Going from the opening shootout, to the inflatable raft crash landing, to the mine chase and to the climactic bridge fallout, you’re glued to each scene as they progress. Whether or not you knew it was a prequel, it’s that investing. Since this was the first film in the series I would see, I felt so ecstatic hearing John Williams’ score because that is what made me feel part of it all. My soft spot for this film remains attached because of its way to tell you something that gets more important every time you think about it: Just because something isn’t your problem does not mean you can’t do anything about it. When you see something wrong, there is no crime to take a stand. Ford embraced that in Jones because his respect for history pushes him to do right by Mayapore. It became more of a want in doing so than having because he knew no one else was gonna save those children. He couldn’t have the guaranteed the danger that would come his way, but it wasn’t gonna stop him from moving forward, further proving what a brave hero he’s always been. Interestingly, he was able to pass down these morals to one of his most unlikely friends. Breakout Ke Huy Quan stole our hearts from every scene he appeared in. He was arguably the best thing about this movie for making Short Round a smart kid who was always able to work with his surroundings. I think Indy took a liking to him for seeing how manageable he was on his own and respected it. Their lives were different from each other but he still saw himself in the kid because how much of a thrill seeker if he was willing to pick pocket strangers when they first met. After that, Shorty built himself to be another loyal friend and proved so every time he defended him. For that, I wish he stuck around more. When it comes to having love interests, no one is gonna top Miriam, but it was interesting that Indy had another woman in his life before finding the Ark of the Covenant with his future wife. It’s easy to hate Kate Chapshaw as Willie as she quickly annoys us for hating the adventure throughout with nonstop complaining. But I believe she is us the audience in a certain state because it’s not like we can all drop everything for an adventure like so. She never planned for any of this to happen, which makes it hard for her to adjust. Her fame had her living however she identified as simple, so it does get easier to understand we wouldn’t be onboard either to eat eyeball soup, live eels or a monkey head. Looking back, I think she had her own intimate feelings for Jones because she did admire someone was willing to put himself out there and try to see her as an equal. The titular protagonist would briefly come around with her because he appreciates the honesty when he’s mostly surrounded by dishonest enemies. Since this is a prequel, we accept some things weren’t meant to last and I do believe once they headed to Delhi afterwards, I’m sure they parted ways on good terms. When you make a franchise, you know you gotta keep changing up the danger with various villains. Back then, Mola Ram scared shit out of me as a kid and he still does as I re-watched it. It’s hard to not be scared of a guy who can rip our hearts, the scene that inspired the PG-13 rating. That action alone represents what a shallow and remorseless man he was to be as power hungry as he sought after. Thankfully, Jones ended his reign of terror in shocking fashion. I mean falling to your death and having your remains eaten by crocs is just as much as overkill as being destroyed by gods as shown in Raiders. I’m always gonna have a good time watching this, but even I can admit this has a handful of issues that aren’t easy to ignore. Like for instance, the opening shootout was exhilarating, but was it really smart for Indy to drink something passed to him by Lao Che’s men, knowing that he’s ripping him off? That is asking to get poisoned man. And trying to poison him is kind of a pointless obstacle because since this is a prequel, it’s too predictable for him to overcome this and too early for him to be put in a dangerous scenario. I’m even thrown off on how one his henchmen knew when to shoot at Indy’s ally Wu Han on cue when he couldn’t have known people would pop champagne in synchrony. That creeps me out more than the continuity error of not seeing a bullet hole on his vest. The henchmen also could’ve gotten closer to shoot at Indy to get a better shot at him rather than shooting at the gong. I’m also confused on how sure Lao Che was on trying to outsmart Indy with the plane, because that again makes the poison attempt pointless. It even gets harder to accept the pilots would pull off escaping just by relying for Indy & company to be asleep. They could’ve just shot them an hour into the flight and then ditch the plane. I got nothing against Willie, but did she really have to be part of the adventure by the time they make it to Mayapore? She could’ve been taken to Delhi immediately and she would’ve avoided danger. There’s no point in Indy to have another love interest if she doesn’t really affect the story as much as his allies. And why take the chance to have Willie in a room with the secret passage to the tunnels? The last thing the thuggees want is to get caught, and it happens in such ridiculous fashion because it’s possible she could've found out on accident before Indy. Also, how does Indy only hear one child screaming? There’s at least a hundred of them there, so I’m tripped out that not at least a dozen giving more commotion. I don’t want to see/hear kids go through torturous slave labor, but I do prefer a fair amount of realism for the audio alone. On top of that, the guards mess up by not keeping their eyes on Short Round when he escapes. And let’s be honest, it’s a little ridiculous for the maharaja to dress up Indy’s voodoo doll for it to work because it’s not like he has more than one of its kind. I also refuse to believe Mola Ram is sure the stones would be found if Indy were to drop them in the river below the bridge. Even if he has his goons kill the crocs, you can’t guarantee they’d be there afterwards, whether or not it’d be eaten by the said reptiles. I even thought it was ridiculous for the thuggees on the other side to miss like stormtroopers when shooting their arrows at Indy. Even if there is one with legit bad aiming, it’s crazy how bad they all miss. However, I’m still sure you can enjoy the film for what it is once ignoring all said flaws. To wrap up, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is still an adventure classic for pushing boundaries to create a new form of excitement. If you saw Raiders first, I hope you have a soft spot for it like I have.
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