When Steven Spielberg and George Lucas came together again to release Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, the prequel to their astounding Raiders Of The Lost Ark, it's release was met with what can only be described as an ambivalent critical response, at best. It's the cinematic equivalent of a big bag of Liquorice Allsorts, on the one hand you get to look forward to the spogs (those pink and blue knobbly things) of Steven Spielberg's direction, Harrison Ford's classic hero and a wonderful performance from a future Goonie, but unfortunately it's mainly filled with the Liquorice Wheels (those little pieces of liquorice with that horrible sherbert thing around the edge) of a horrible script by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, an excruciating performance by Kate Capshaw and an uneasy alliance between gory horror and slapstick comedy.
Still paying homage to the Saturday matinee serials of old, this time the plot revolves around Archaeologist Indiana Jones attempts to reclaim a stolen gem, as well as the enslaved children of a small village, from a terrifying voodoo cult.
Once again the story has come under a lot of criticism, but this time even more so. A common complaint as to why this film doesn't live up to the original is that it's racist, and portrays shallow cultural stereotypes, as opposed to strong, well rounded characters. This is absolute rubbish! Sure the Indian characters amount to little more than the creepy tribal leader, the insane occultist and the crying mother, but this is once again the point of Indiana Jones. Raiders Of The Lost Ark didn't exactly portray any fleshed out, complex Nazis, it featured the same stereotypes that we have here. The only difference is that people seem to take offense at stereotyping any nation outside of Germany. I have also heard it argued that intending shallow characters shouldn't excuse shallow characters, the old if a chef intends to cook you a plate of crap, then it's still a plate of crap. However I come in with a different, and much more appropriate illustration, if you want caviare then don't eat at McDonald's. This is the view that you should have when considering any of the Indiana Jones movies, because as throw backs to the serials of the 50's they are going to rely on ultra camp 2 dimensional characters getting into all sorts of action.
This time though, the list of characters is a bit of a mixed bag. Indiana Jones is the same everyday rogue that we loved so much the first time around, and once again Harrison Ford imbues him with more of that wonderful roguish charm and unstoppable courage. However he's the only returning character, with an all new line up to support him. Jonathan Ke Quan (who went on to play an identical character, Ke Huy Quan, in The Goonies) plays Indy's comical sidekick Short Round. A character who can easily take the position of one of, if not the, best characters in any of the Indiana Jones films to date. he's funny, unique and charming in a way most sidekicks never manage and he adds a degree of emotion to the story by sharing a father/son style of relationship with Indy.
In comparison Kate Capshaw's Willie Scott is one of the worst characters in the series. I understand that The writers didn't want to copy Raiders Of The Lost Ark by casting another Brunette, but I would have hoped they could have at least given the character a little strength. Willie wouldn't know how to look after herself if she was sitting in a self defense class. She spends 90% of the film screaming at a few bugs, a few dead mummies and the sight of a man having his heart ripped out (actually that one may have been justified) and the other 10% attempting to be a spoiled little princess. Capshaw doesn't underplay any of this though, instead intensifying every scream and uttering every line in the same, horrible, whiny little voice. Spielberg later went on to marry Capshaw, so you can only assume that he gave her the role because of a crush he had on her, there can be no other explanation. Though to be fair, she does look good and used to occupy a large portion of my own adolescent mind.
It's the main villain of Mola Ram that is the cause of arguments though. My own personal stance is that he lacks the sheer amount of character displayed by Toht, but that he's over all a much scarier character. Played by Amrish Puri (Chori Chori Chupke Chupke) Mola Ram is the chief priest of the Thuggee cult. The elaborate design of this characters costume, combined with Puri's icy glare and the tone of voice as he chants "Kalima" constantly gave me nightmares as a kid, and is still unnerving to me now.
He fits into the darker style though, as The Temple Of Doom, is a much darker film then Raiders Of The Lost Ark ever was. The screenplay lacks the sheer amount of fun action scenes that filled Raiders, and instead fills itself up with the kind of imagery designed to scare the kids. There's a torture sequence, a scene where a poor man watches in horror as his heart is ripped out before he's lowered into a fiery pit, and plenty of scenes where Indy is attacked with Voodoo dolls. However unlike the majority of film critics, I don't have a problem with the darker atmosphere, in fact I praise them for not attempting to remake Raiders Of The Lost Ark. What I do have a problem with is the inconsistencies of these scares, and the way they are forced to sit uneasily next to an almost equal amount of slapstick comedy.
Raiders Of The Lost Ark had comedy, but it was a quieter, more down to Earth comedy. There was certainly nothing in the same style as Short round running from a group of dancers, for no other reason than they are dancing. It's this kind of humour that permeates most of The Temple Of Doom and it's just not funny when it's following a scene of a man having his heart ripped out. That's the problem with the script though, it's really inconsistent. The scares themselves are great the first time you see it, but the humour doesn't work and for this reason the horror lacks the impact on subsequent viewings. It lacks the sheer re-watchability of Raiders, and as such is not as good a film. However like the aforementioned Liquorice Allsorts it's worth enduring the bad, because those spogs are just so good. At the end of the day The Temple Of Doom is an Indiana Jones film, and as such is still fun to watch. The later action scenes, such as the often imitated mine cart chase, are as deftly handled as anything in Raiders, and Spielberg infuses the entire final act with similar levels of fun. For that reason alone it's worth the price of purchase.
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