If it’s not that easy to write about Raiders of the Lost Ark as this movie is mostly perfect and it seems futile to try to add something new to the discussion about it, there’s no consensus about Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It’s as loved as it is hated, but most people would probably find themselves in the middle of this large spectrum of emotion.
Personally, I kinda love it, but I rarely think about it. I always have a great time rewatching it as there are a lot of great action scenes and funny moments, but overall, it felt short when it came to achieving greatness. Everything didn’t gel together in the best way possible.
After arriving in India, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is asked by a desperate village to find a mystical stone. He agrees—and stumbles upon a secret cult plotting a terrible plan in the catacombs of an ancient palace.
When I watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as a kid, two things evade me completely. First, that it’s a prequel. I’m not sure that it was conceivable for me at the time. Second, that I shouldn’t have watched it. It’s not a children movie.
Having the young Short Round (Ke Huy Quan) as the main sidekick of Indiana Jones can easily fool you into thinking that it’s a kid-friendly movie. The opening sequence with its Busby Berkeley-type musical mixed with a touch of James Bond is also quite right for a family movie. But then, things get violent, darker, more and more discussing and visually disturbing, culminating with a man putting his hand in the chest of another man to take his heart out before sending him to burn in the pit of Hell!
I’m sure some parents were more afraid of the perspective of having Indiana and Willie (Kate Capshaw) having sex after exchanging funny innuendos than with the snake surprise or the monkey brain. Personally, the insects are what’s always got to me.
The point is that the cute little Short Round is the guide that takes us in the middle of a nightmarish adventure. I can excuse him. After all, for a kid in a 1980s movie, Ke Huy Quan was a pretty great actor. It helps that he is a really good sidekick and not just a comic relief whose only presence is there to attract young viewers. He is useful. Willie, on the other hand, is not—and she’s the comic relief.
I still like her a lot. Kate Capshaw was really charming and expressive, her chemistry with Harrison Ford was great, and her screams were voluntarily annoying to Indy—it’s a bit of the function of the character—but not to the point that they became annoying to me. Clearly, she was to be the archetype of the damsel in distress just to have this trope slightly subverted by the fact that Indiana Jones is rarely interested in saving her. She tagged along and he barely cared for her. He cared for Short Round instead. Willie was the baggage they tried not to lose. The thing is that she seems well aware of that. What people seem to have against her is that she’s not Marion. But there’s only one Marion.
A few years back, I watched Gunga Din, the 1939 colonialist movie starring Cary Grant and directed by George Stevens. I was surprised to discover how much it had an influence on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and not necessarily in the right way if you wanted the movie to be culturally sensitive. It’s one of the pleasures to watch old movies, you discover what inspired those not-as-old movies you like. I’m also pretty sure that Frank Capra’s Lost Horizon was one of the small influences on this movie.
Anyway, the whole cult can be a bit of an icky affair, but as I grew up watching culturally insensitive movies, I’m not that bothered by anything of the sort. It’s what it is. This movie is a fantasy adventure after all, not propaganda. I just would have loved fewer snakes and insects. And there are still some throwaway lines sent in the direction of the British Indian Army officer to evoke the horror of colonialism. It’s not much, but it’s at least there. I hope nobody thinks there’s something to learn about Indian culture here.
It seems that Steven Spielberg was quite proud of his villain and I have to agree with him. Amrish Puri was great in the role of the cult leader, I hated him from the first reel he appeared to the last. I loved those ritual scenes though, they are visually stunning. The sets are gorgeous and the lighting is perfect. They are almost on par with some of the action scenes. That’s clearly there that Spielberg’s heart was. He didn’t take time to stage a lot of shots full of shadows and didn’t block too many scenes just to add some humor like in the previous movies. But he gave us that great musical opening that faded into pure chaos before leading to a car chase. A truly brilliant introduction that is surpassed only by the famous mine cart scenes.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a rich movie that had a high bar to clear. It missed the mark, but not by too much I’d say. My main problem may be the moment between the crash of the plane and the arrival at the temple. It’s not that long of a trip, but it was clumsy—and I’m not talking about Willie’s misfortunes with the elephant—and too distracting. That’s when the main plot is introduced, but it almost took me out of the movie after the high-adrenaline shot that was the opening act.
That’s it. Indiana Jones will be back in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade!
THE ON MY SHELF COLUMN LOOKS BACK AT ALL THE MOVIES IN MY BLU-RAY COLLECTION.
