Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was the first sequel ever made by Steven Spielberg (although this film is technically a prequel).
Let's face it, making a continuation of the wonderful film Raiders of the Lost Ark seemed practically impossible, because although the film had a lot to do more stories in, it had a practically perfect argument, and it was almost impossible to do something equally good or better, and although this film is not really as good as the first, it is still very good!
First of all, it is important to mention that this film was one of the first films in history to create the PG-13 classification, due to its violence that exceeded that of the first film (which was not too little), therefore, this film is not very recommendable. for people under that age, being the only film in the Indiana Jones saga that can really scare young people due to its violence and dark theme.
As for the argument, the film starts with a scene quite different from the beginning of the other films, while the other films start with a scene of mystery and suspance, it begins with a relaxed dance scene, followed by a very fun action scene ( and a very hidden reference to Star Wars that almost nobody notices when seeing the film for the first time and a clearer one to James Bond films), where we are introduced to the characters of the film, and one thing that I found quite curious in this film is that none of the characters we know in Raiders of the Lost Ark, with the exception of Indiana Jones of course, do not appear in this film, which is not a good thing, but it is also not a bad thing.
The opening scene of this film is simply fantastic, firstly because it is very very long and also because it is full of action and more action, a lot of it is unrealistic, but it doesn't matter when the film amuses us like that. The beginning of this film is really full of adrenaline and fun action scenes, and in my opinion, the characters in this film help a lot in the development of these scenes.
After these unrealistic but fabulous action scenes, we arrived at the scene where the adventure begins, deep down that whole beginning was just to get to know the characters. The adventure of this film has a very dark, even macabre plot, as the people of a small village in India need help to recover one of the three stolen sacred stones and to recover all the children from the village that had been kidnapped and think that Indiana Jones and his two companions arrived there to help them sent by the gods, and something that says a lot about the character of Indiana Jones, is that he just decides to help this village because he realizes that these stones are very valuable. This is a story with much less potential than that of the first film, but it is fun, captivating and interesting, not leaving the audience bored or sad for a single moment, moreover, this scene gets to be intriguing, although unrealistic.
And this is where the story starts to get sinister, when during the trip to the place where they need to arrive (which is done in a montage that shows several scenes that make us love the characters and at the same time remind us of the first film) , the guide is frightened by a statue that Indiana Jones is going to investigate and ends up discovering that it is a demonic statue for the Hindu religion full of human fingers ... this is really being macabre! Which is followed by a horrible but super cool dinner scene where we are told all about the evil Hindu legends about that palace and that whole situation, where we see our dear characters eating insects, snakes, monkey brains, eye soup and other disgusting things (I know this is not really relevant to the final evaluation of the film, but it is impossible to talk about this film without mentioning this scene), it is also in this scene where we meet those who will end up being the villains of the film.
And after one of the best romance scenes I've ever seen (whoever saw the movie knows what I'm talking about), the action begins! Indiana Jones and friends find the entrance to the Temple of Doom, go through some traps that would not look good in any other film. Then discover the great villain of the film in the best possible way, dressed as a demon from the Hindu religion and tearing someone's heart out to offer to the god Kali. And as if that were not violent enough, we still saw children being enslaved, scenes of torture and macabre cults, with voodoo dolls and blood drinks ... yes, this film is not for everyone, it is true that the films of the years 80's and 70's were much more violent (which is a good thing), but this is undoubtedly one of the worst in that sense, which is not a bad thing!
The rest of the film consists of the characters correcting everything and saving everything, with great action scenes, full of intensity, such as the singing scene of the bridge and the scene of the mine trains and of course, the scene that appears in all the films of the Indiana Jones saga, the scene in which Indiana Jones fights a man much bigger than himself!
To sum it up, the film has a story that despite being the weakest story in the Indiana Jones saga, it is a fantastic and fun film, being a film that despite being violent, it is a film that everyone can enjoy, whether by the action, for the suspanse, or for the short comedy scenes!
I also want to mention that this was the last Steven Spielberg film that has free violence, which makes me sad, since that was a milestone in the classic films of Stiven Spielberg, especially in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jaws. I think Steven Spielberg just started using violence as something serious and more reasonable due to the bad reviews that this film has, but I have to argue with those criticisms, this film only works because of the constant violence that we see in this film, and Spielberg if you are reading this remember that this is one of the best films of the 80's and that you did a great job and this is one of the films that made me fall in love with cinema and made me consider you the best director ever!
In more technical parts, the film has a fantastic collection of special effects, but this is not surprising since it is a Steven Spielberg film! The film also has a great soundtrack made by John Williams and I am not just referring to the classic March of the Raiders! The clothes used in the film were realistic and the editing of the film fabulous! As for the actors, Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones was fine as always, although many consider Short Round to be an irritating character, I think he is a really fun character and could come back in a future film, and I think this character just works because of the Actor Ke Huy Quan, although actress Kate Capshaw is a good actress, the character Willie Scott that she plays is not a character that I like and I think this could be better worked.
Everything in this film is good, but it cannot be compared with the other members of the original trilogy of the Indiana Jones saga (Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), so I will give an evaluation to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom of 8/10.
Let's face it, making a continuation of the wonderful film Raiders of the Lost Ark seemed practically impossible, because although the film had a lot to do more stories in, it had a practically perfect argument, and it was almost impossible to do something equally good or better, and although this film is not really as good as the first, it is still very good!
First of all, it is important to mention that this film was one of the first films in history to create the PG-13 classification, due to its violence that exceeded that of the first film (which was not too little), therefore, this film is not very recommendable. for people under that age, being the only film in the Indiana Jones saga that can really scare young people due to its violence and dark theme.
As for the argument, the film starts with a scene quite different from the beginning of the other films, while the other films start with a scene of mystery and suspance, it begins with a relaxed dance scene, followed by a very fun action scene ( and a very hidden reference to Star Wars that almost nobody notices when seeing the film for the first time and a clearer one to James Bond films), where we are introduced to the characters of the film, and one thing that I found quite curious in this film is that none of the characters we know in Raiders of the Lost Ark, with the exception of Indiana Jones of course, do not appear in this film, which is not a good thing, but it is also not a bad thing.
The opening scene of this film is simply fantastic, firstly because it is very very long and also because it is full of action and more action, a lot of it is unrealistic, but it doesn't matter when the film amuses us like that. The beginning of this film is really full of adrenaline and fun action scenes, and in my opinion, the characters in this film help a lot in the development of these scenes.
After these unrealistic but fabulous action scenes, we arrived at the scene where the adventure begins, deep down that whole beginning was just to get to know the characters. The adventure of this film has a very dark, even macabre plot, as the people of a small village in India need help to recover one of the three stolen sacred stones and to recover all the children from the village that had been kidnapped and think that Indiana Jones and his two companions arrived there to help them sent by the gods, and something that says a lot about the character of Indiana Jones, is that he just decides to help this village because he realizes that these stones are very valuable. This is a story with much less potential than that of the first film, but it is fun, captivating and interesting, not leaving the audience bored or sad for a single moment, moreover, this scene gets to be intriguing, although unrealistic.
And this is where the story starts to get sinister, when during the trip to the place where they need to arrive (which is done in a montage that shows several scenes that make us love the characters and at the same time remind us of the first film) , the guide is frightened by a statue that Indiana Jones is going to investigate and ends up discovering that it is a demonic statue for the Hindu religion full of human fingers ... this is really being macabre! Which is followed by a horrible but super cool dinner scene where we are told all about the evil Hindu legends about that palace and that whole situation, where we see our dear characters eating insects, snakes, monkey brains, eye soup and other disgusting things (I know this is not really relevant to the final evaluation of the film, but it is impossible to talk about this film without mentioning this scene), it is also in this scene where we meet those who will end up being the villains of the film.
And after one of the best romance scenes I've ever seen (whoever saw the movie knows what I'm talking about), the action begins! Indiana Jones and friends find the entrance to the Temple of Doom, go through some traps that would not look good in any other film. Then discover the great villain of the film in the best possible way, dressed as a demon from the Hindu religion and tearing someone's heart out to offer to the god Kali. And as if that were not violent enough, we still saw children being enslaved, scenes of torture and macabre cults, with voodoo dolls and blood drinks ... yes, this film is not for everyone, it is true that the films of the years 80's and 70's were much more violent (which is a good thing), but this is undoubtedly one of the worst in that sense, which is not a bad thing!
The rest of the film consists of the characters correcting everything and saving everything, with great action scenes, full of intensity, such as the singing scene of the bridge and the scene of the mine trains and of course, the scene that appears in all the films of the Indiana Jones saga, the scene in which Indiana Jones fights a man much bigger than himself!
To sum it up, the film has a story that despite being the weakest story in the Indiana Jones saga, it is a fantastic and fun film, being a film that despite being violent, it is a film that everyone can enjoy, whether by the action, for the suspanse, or for the short comedy scenes!
I also want to mention that this was the last Steven Spielberg film that has free violence, which makes me sad, since that was a milestone in the classic films of Stiven Spielberg, especially in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jaws. I think Steven Spielberg just started using violence as something serious and more reasonable due to the bad reviews that this film has, but I have to argue with those criticisms, this film only works because of the constant violence that we see in this film, and Spielberg if you are reading this remember that this is one of the best films of the 80's and that you did a great job and this is one of the films that made me fall in love with cinema and made me consider you the best director ever!
In more technical parts, the film has a fantastic collection of special effects, but this is not surprising since it is a Steven Spielberg film! The film also has a great soundtrack made by John Williams and I am not just referring to the classic March of the Raiders! The clothes used in the film were realistic and the editing of the film fabulous! As for the actors, Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones was fine as always, although many consider Short Round to be an irritating character, I think he is a really fun character and could come back in a future film, and I think this character just works because of the Actor Ke Huy Quan, although actress Kate Capshaw is a good actress, the character Willie Scott that she plays is not a character that I like and I think this could be better worked.
Everything in this film is good, but it cannot be compared with the other members of the original trilogy of the Indiana Jones saga (Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), so I will give an evaluation to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom of 8/10.