Where Raiders of the Lost Ark got everything right, the sequel (which actually takes place a year before the events of the first film) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom gets everything wrong. With the daredevil role of Jones already established, all of the adventure in this film is piled on, not for the sake of an interesting storyline, but merely to place his character into as much action as possible. Resultantly, the plot is largely forgettable, and the supporting characters don’t add much to the history of Indiana Jones. Although it’s no secret that director Steven Spielberg was intentionally paying homage to the classic adventure B-movies and pulp cinema that inspired the famous adventurer, the laughable title doesn’t help audiences take Jones more seriously either.

Famous archeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) appears in Shanghai in 1935 (a year before Raiders of the Lost Ark) to trade with a nefarious Asian gangster, Lao Che, for a priceless diamond. When their dealings in a nightclub end in death and destruction, Indy escapes with one of the singers, Willie Scott (Cate Capshaw), and boards a plane that unknowingly belongs to Che. During their flight the pilots abandon the plane, leaving Indy, Willie and their getaway cab driver sidekick Short Round to land in India via an inflatable raft and a perilous waterfall.

The trio is taken to a village that suffers from drought and famine due to a sacred stone having been stolen by a secretive cult. They journey to Pankot Palace to discover the secrets behind the once-extinct cult that revels in human sacrifice and child slavery. Indiana Jones must fight the likes of the diabolical Mola Ram and his minions, win the girl, and save a dying civilization in this roller-coaster adventure.

And roller-coaster adventure is literal, as one of the lengthier action sequences finds Indy in a high-speed chase through mine tunnels aboard a cart on a ridiculously hazardous track. But this second Indiana Jones episode makes the mistake of basing nearly every scene around the action. While the first film sustained itself with a unique story, perfect dialogue and awesome villains – and then applied wondrous action sequences around that – Temple of Doom instead is a string of action scenes with bits of story filling in the cracks.

And with that heavy focus on action comes cheesy dialogue, annoying characters and a level of disbelief that challenges even that of the supernatural powers of the Ark. Falling out of an airplane in a raft, tumbling down a waterfall, wrenching out a human heart with bare hands, and weaving around the sharp curves of mine tracks are not only ludicrous ideas, but present more questions about realism than the many supernatural religious elements in the previous film and in the third (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). Even if these outrageous stunts were trivialities, the supremely irritating Willie Scott (intended to be comedic, but interpreted as annoying), Indy’s less than noble pursuit of fortune and glory, and the generally atrocious dialogue (often inserted just to get a laugh) are unforgivable in comparison to the brilliance of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The signature physical comedy, action, memorable villains, yucky bugs (but definitely not the opening dance sequence) and riveting theme music all return for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, but the film as a whole feels like an insignificant episode in Indy’s adventures, instead of an overwhelmingly wholesome chapter in the evolution of action films.

- Mike Massie

Read the Review for Raiders of the Lost Ark

Read the Review for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Read the Review for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull