Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the franchise’s awkward middle child. The one that tries a little too hard to be edgy and ends up being, well, just plain weird. It’s like that one cousin at Thanksgiving who shows up with a new piercing and a faux-hawk, desperately trying to be cool but just coming off as cringey.
But hey, Quentin Tarantino thinks it has one of the greatest openings of any action movie ever, so it must be good, right? Right?
Well, not according to The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael, who preferred Temple to Raiders of the Lost Ark because it fully embraced being “preposterous” and “implausible.” Though let’s not forget, her friends labeled it “heartless” and “overbearing.” Ouch.
Even Roger Ebert gave the film a perfect four stars, but People magazine warned that children may be traumatized by it. Maybe because it’s dark, problematic, and features Harrison Ford’s hero white savior-ing an Indian village. Because that’s definitely something we want to see in our action movies.
But let’s not forget, this is a prequel, so Indy’s character arc takes two steps backwards. Confusing, right? I mean, who pays attention to dates and years in each film’s opening title cards? Not us, that’s for sure.
Sure, Temple of Doom has that trademark Spielbergian flair, but let’s talk about the subject matter and its depiction of Indian people. Not exactly easy to stomach. No wonder Spielberg himself called it his least favorite installment. Ouch again.
But hey, it’s not all bad. According to Spielberg, Temple of Doom was ahead of its time for his own sensibility, but right on schedule for George Lucas. Because apparently, Lucas was going through a “dark period.” Must have been all that divorce drama from his marriage to Marcia Lucas, who famously edited the original Star Wars and Return of the Jedi. Who knew divorce could inspire such dark and twisted ideas?
Speaking of twisted, let’s talk about that original idea for the opening scene. Indy driving along the Great Wall of China and discovering a dinosaur-inhabited land. Wow, just wow. Thank goodness the Chinese government shut that down. Can you imagine? Indy battling dinosaurs a decade before Jurassic Park? Thank you, Chinese government, for sparing us from that disaster.
But alas, we ended up with a religious cult dedicated to the goddess Kali that used black magic and sacrificed children. Because that’s much more appropriate for a fun, family-friendly action movie.
And let’s not forget how Temple of Doom was a great outlet for Lucas and Spielberg to channel their feelings about their failed marriages. Because nothing says “I’m over it” like ripping someone’s heart out of their chest. Metaphorically, of course. Or maybe not. Who knows?
But hey, at least Spielberg’s marriage to Kate Capshaw came out of it. Makes sense that the movie is a constant reminder of their early flirtation days. And let’s not forget, it was a “learning exercise” for Spielberg to “throw himself into a black hole.” Because that’s what we all want to do in our personal lives, right? Right.
In the end, Temple of Doom may be strange, dark, and twisted, but hey, it all worked out for Spielberg in the end. And that’s all that really matters, right? Not the fact that it’s a problematic mess of a movie. But hey, at least they got rid of the screaming, one-dimensional female character in the next installment. Progress, am I right?
