Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

Directed by Steven Spielberg. Starring Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri, Roshan Seth, D. R. Nanayakkara, Philip Stone, Raj Singh, Roy Chiao, Pat Roach. [PG]

Raiders of the Lost Ark prequel is another slam-bang action/adventure in the classic tradition, this time more of an exotic, blood-curdling thrill ride than a piece of globe-trotting commercial entertainment. After a sensational opening sequence in a Shanghai bar—replete with a song-and-dance number, a wild getaway, and introductions to two new companions: nightclub singer Willie Scott (Capshaw) and orphaned Chinese sidekick Short Round (Quan)—Indy arrives (not by choice) in India, where he seeks “fortune and glory” by helping a victimized village recover a missing Sankara stone and a horde of enslaved children from Thuggee cultists. Although its dark, violent, even nightmarish elements were a turn-off for some viewers and critics (not to mention the movie’s own director), this frenzied brand of extravagant, “one thing after another” escapism is nearly its predecessor’s equal in terms of sheer excitement and craftsmanship, operating like a feature-length version of arguably its most indelible sequence, the mine cart chase—hang on tight, and try not to get sore from grinning so much. Even during the lulls in action in the second act, the filmmakers keep coming up with goofy humor, gross-out gags, and atmospheric foreshadowing. Quan’s Short Round makes for an ideal pint-sized companion, and Capshaw’s oft-derided portrayal of Willie is actually wonderful—a pulpy throwback to adventure movie love interests who were as much comic relief as sex symbol (why would you want someone to try and replicate Marion Ravenwood when Karen Allen was already a perfect Marion Ravenwood?). The villains have less to do this time, but they each manage to leave their marks, and Amrish Puri’s Thuggee priest is possibly even more sinister and imposing than Ronald Lacey’s Gestapo agent from Raiders. Since it’s all treated as heightened, gruesomely funny fantasy, most accusations of racial insensitivty and stereotyping don’t hold water—the Thuggee cult was real, but no intelligent person would truly believe in a correlation between ethnicity and the black magic, the over-the-top human sacrifice rituals, or the feast of eyeball soup and chilled monkey brains and “snake surprise”. From the slapstick race for an antidote to the tremendous rope bridge finale (“Mola Ram, prepare to meet Kali…in hell!”), it’s an exceptionally well-designed wind-up toy of abundant thrills, chills, and spills. Visual effects won an Academy Award. Next chapter: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Be on the lookout for Dan Aykroyd in an unbilled cameo near the beginning.

91/100