Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is one of the greatest blockbuster films to have ever been made. Throughout the film, we are riding on a roller coaster of action and emotion. With this film, we are given everything a great blockbuster could ask for.  We are given the wonderful love interest of Willy and Indiana, the comical relief of Short Round, and the anticipated action that we wish to see in any Indiana Jones film.  Over the last 20 years of my life, there are very few movies that hold up their reputation, no matter how many times that you are going to see it.  Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is exactly one of those movies. 

The film opens with a scene of dancers, including the love interest, Willy Scott, performing in a night club for a man named Lao Che.  Quickly, the scene becomes a business transaction gone wrong between Indiana Jones and Lao Che.  The opening scene is fantastic as it invites the audience into the adventure.  We are introduced to new characters and immediately thrown into the action as the two parties engage in an armed conflict.  Escaping by the skin of his teeth, Indiana Jones and his posse are able to escape.  This scene not only sets up the story that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg wanted to tell, but also hooks the audience deeper into the film.  In fact, the death of Indiana’s associate Wu Han, really influenced my emotions to the film. While he was not a large character within the film, his death plays a large role in captivating the audience.  “In ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ he still insists upon showing up in all the wrong places.”  The author, Kathleen Carroll, talking about Indiana Jones points out the fact that this film is very much a series of unfortunate events, as he is constantly finding a spot in the worst situations.

This continues throughout the film, with him finding himself on Lao Che’s cargo plane, his bedroom when he is attacked by the Thugees, and even on a rope bridge surrounded by groups of enemies.  The film provokes the adrenaline within the audience by placing Indiana Jones in these very suspenseful situations, especially the mine cart scene, where Indiana, Short Round, and Willy find themselves on an unsafe mine rail being chased by the evils of Mola Ram.  On top of this suspense, we are influenced by the wonderful comical relief of Short Round.  In fact, Christian Toto says “His allegiance to Indy adds texture to the crusty archaeologist. Visually, Spielberg shows Indy and Short Round battling with quick comparison shots heighten the film’s giddy appeal. The character also helps advance the story, allows younger viewers to see the adventure through new eyes and gives Indy a softer side that expands his persona.”  Toto is one hundred percent correct. Short Round is just fantastic from the moment we meet him.  Waiting outside Club Obi-Wan, Short round is Jones’ escape driver, using stilts to reach the peddles, providing comic relief with his hilarious banter and awful driving skills. After a large action filled fight scene, this scene provides much needed comic relief that all blockbusters must contain.

Later in the film, Indiana and Short Round find themselves in a deadly room in which the roof is collapsing while containing spikes that would soon stab the two characters.   However, while most films would stick to a serious version of this scene, Spielberg does it perfectly. He mixes the fear with comic relief.  As the roof collapses, Indiana Jones and Short Round are frantically trying to save themselves while arguing about who set it off in a hilarious fashion.  On top of this, Willy, as germaphobe, is forced to stick her hand in a bug infested hole to free them.  Her reaction is priceless as Capshaw, the actress, plays the perfect city girl who who freaks out at the sight of a little bug.

On top of her germaphobia, the love interest between her and Indiana Jones sparks enjoyment in the crowd.  During the course of the film, the two grow as companions from strangers to lovers.  Within this transformation, we are given some of the best scenes throughout the Indiana Jones film. In fact, my favorite scene from the film is an interaction between the two.  The scene is an argument which is started by the fact that Indiana Jones didn’t come to her room to hook up due to the fact that he was attacked.  After finishing off the attacker, Indiana Jones is completely stunned.  He walks into her room, which she thinks is for her, but instead, his mind is completely lost.  He grabs a statue’s breasts, to which Willy responds, “Hey, I’m over here.”  This one liner is classic, as I’m sure many of the kids who watched the film didn’t fully understand.  This scene is just so funny as she believes that Indiana would replace her with a statue.  From love interests to comic relief to action packed scenes, this film invokes a sense of imagination from 1930s and 40s films.

The film invokes the essence of early 20^th century serial films and pulp fiction, stressing the ideas of science fiction and one’s imagination, according to George Mast. From the satanic rituals of Mola Ram to the protagonists falling out of a plane in a life raft and successfully landing in a river, we are given a large variety of fictional scenarios that excite the audience and give it that blockbuster feel.  “Watching it is like spending a day at an amusement park, which is probably what Mr. Spielberg and his associates intended.”  This observation by Vincent Canby is correct.  The film is a series of ups and downs that capture our attention as viewers.  We feel the thrills and the calm within the film, giving it the character of something extraordinary.

After reading many reviews on the film, I found that many critics, such as Vincent Canby, Kathleen Carroll, and Roger Ebert, made strong comparisons to the film Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Mainly, the authors wrote that the film was different and didn’t meet the same standard as Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Contrary to Carroll and Canby, Temple of doom is by far my favorite of the four Indiana Jones films.  Roger Ebert seemed to have a similar comparison as I did.  “This is the most cheerfully exciting, bizarre, goofy, romantic adventure movie since “Raiders,” and it is high praise to say that it’s not so much a sequel as an equal. It’s quite an experience.”  While sporting the title of Indiana Jones, Temple of Doom explores new parts of Indiana Jones life without regurgitating the previous film like many blockbuster series find themselves trying to do.  The film is entirely different from any story about the famous archeologist, while keeping his personality and bravado intact.