Hype: In honor of the opening of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I am watching the three previous Indiana Jones films. After enjoying The Raiders of the Lost Ark, its time for The Temple of Doom. I have no idea what the plot of this movie is, I'm guessing there is some sort of Temple of Doom, whatever that is. Lets see if this movie is comparable to Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Initial Review: Two words: MINE CARS!!!!!!!! My initial thoughts towards The Temple of Doom are that I enjoyed it a lot more than Raiders of the Lost Ark. Is the story as good? No not really. Is the acting amazing? Nah. But its a lot more fun and action packed. I felt like the Temple of Doom was filled with wall-to-wall action that never really let up. I mean it had a mine car chase scene for crying out loud, I've always wondered when a movie would have one of those.
The Temple of Doom starts out in a Shanghai night club where Indiana Jones, once again played by Harrison Ford, was trading Nurachi's ashes for a diamond. Indy ends up being poisoned and the entire club gets shot up by the gangsters that Indy is trading with. While exiting the club, he grabs hold of the clubs singer Willie, played by Kate Capshaw, who has taken the cure for the poison. Indy and Willie end up landing in a car that is being driven by Short Round, Indy's young assistant. Short Round, Indy and Willie hop on a plane that ends up being piloted by two thugs that are part of the gang that Indy encountered in the club. The pilots cause the plane to crash and Short Round, Indy and Willie end up in the jungle of India.
While in India they come across this village that has been struck by a curse because their sacred stone, the Sankara Stone, has been stolen. Not only was the stone taken but all the children of the town were kidnapped. Indy is told that the stone was taken to the Pankot Palace and he must go there and recover the stone. While hanging out in the palace Indy stumbles upon a secret ritual that requires a human sacrifice. Once the ritual is over Indy sees the Sankara Stone and attempts to retrieve it. Once he acquires the stone he hears screaming. The screaming ends up being the kids from the village and they are being enslaved and must work in a mine.
Indy, Short Round and Willie end up being captured by Mola Ram, who is the leader of this crazy group. Ram forces Indy to drink the blood of Kali, the God that the human sacrifice was for. The blood causes those that drink it to go into a nightmare that allows their minds to be controlled. Since Indy has drank this blood he is under the control of Ram and is forced to assist in the sacrifice of Wille to Kali.
Indy snaps out of this mind control and helps save Willie. Along the way he saves all the children, but the fun doesn't stop there. Ram's thugs chase after Indy, Short Round and Willie in mine cars and then have an interesting stand-off on a bridge over crocodile invested water.
Doesn't that just sound like the ultimate movie: mine cars, croc invested water, human sacrifices, and mind control. I don't find the plot to be extremely interesting, but the action scenes were great and made up for the weak story.
I found Willie and Short Round to be slightly annoying at first, but over time you realize that is what makes them enjoyable. The interactions between Indy and Willie felt a lot like Han Solo and Princess Leia from Star Wars. Short Round just idolizes Indy, often mimicking his movements while fighting.
Overall I felt like The Temple of Doom was a pleasure to watch and more entertaining than Raiders of the Lost Ark. After seeing this one Indy is way cooler than I originally thought after watching Raiders of the Lost Ark. If you are looking for a fun, action-packed movie that holds your attention the entire time, look no further than Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Repeat Viewings:
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