Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom Film Review

When it comes to action franchises Indiana Jones surely has to be one of the best ones out as the original three films helped to make the character and icon. With both The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull and The Dial Of Destiny all but destroying the franchise however there is one film that does belong with those other two films as being one of the more weaker films in the series and it's that very film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today and so then join me as I review the film that is a prequel to Raiders Of The Lost Ark with the film in question being called simply just "Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom" enjoy.

The plot of this film is Indy his friend Short Round and a night club singer called Willie all find themselves being tasked with recovering a mystical and rescuing a villages children from a cult. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty OK at best. To be frank this films plot whilst it is still a decent plot it just doesn't hold a candle to that of the plot of Raiders Of The Lost Ark as that film had a plot that was yes pretty dark in places but was also a fun adventure plot whereas here in this film the plot is to dark for an Indiana Jones film. With the plot of the film having a lot of darker elements which in all fairness was also in The Empire Strikes Back but that film had an inbuilt reason for it being dark as it was about the empire getting revenge on those that defeated them in the first films and therefor it could be more darker but with Indiana Jones because each film is episodic in nature you don't have that inbuilt reasoning for it to be more dark and therefor when the film does go to those more dark places with it's plot it does feel out of place and it doesn't work with the rest of the films plot, look to be fair to this film with it being a prequel to Raiders you could argue that Indy was in a more darker place in this film and maybe that's why the plot of the film is more darker a the film is being told from his perspective and that would be a fair point to make but just interms of the quality of the plot both Raiders and Last Crusade trump this film by a mile as they know what works for an Indiana Jones plot and make those the centre pieces with the plot of this film being really rather entertaining and a well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. 

Starring in this film is Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones , Ke Huy Quan as Short Round and Kate Capshaw as Wilhelmina "Willie" Scott. Also starring in this film is Amrish Puri as Mola Ram , Roshan Seth as Chattar Lal , Philip Stone as Captain Philip Blumburtt , Roy Chiao as Lao Che , Chua Kah Joo as Chen Khan , Ric Young as Kao Kan , David Yip as Wu Han and Ghostbuster star Dan Aykroyd as Earl Weber.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty OK at best. As while Harrison is still acting his best in this film and does turn in  really good performance this is more due to the fact that he is reprising the character as well as him being a really good actor in his own right but it's when we come to the films new characters that the acting does become of a mixed bag a while Willie is annoying as anything in the film Kate Capshaw is still really good acting wise in the film but while we know him to today to be this really good actor Ke Huy Quan isn't that good in the film this is of no fault of his as he was just a kid when this film was being made and that is something that people do need to think about when there judging his acting in this film. With the best actor in this film being Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones which might be a cliche thing to say as he is the franchises main star but it is also something that is true especially in regards to this film as he does act circles around every one in the film with him showing that he really does have a better handle on the character that the writers of this film Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz do as everything that Harrison does for the character does feel very true to how Indy is as a character with Harrison clearly taking everything that he learned about the character from Raiders and putting to good use here in this film with him making the character more charming and likable which is something hat really does shine through in his performance in this film. With the acting that's in this film not really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so bad as it gives none of this films actors absolutely anything to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does hurt the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

Doing the CGI for this film is Industrial Light & Magic , Dream Quest Images and Visual Concept Engineering. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. As while there isn't a whole lot of CGI in this film as this still after all an eighties film what little effects work there is in this film does really good not just for the time that these film were first being made but even by the standards that we have today with there being some decent fire effects in the film which granted can at times look a little bit but does mostly hold up really well with the same thing also kind of being true for the rest of the films effects as well. As while the film does have some impressive looking matte painting in certain alot of the blue screen and projection work for leave a lot of be desired as you can tell right away when the characters where filmed against a blue screen or when they were using projection as alot of the time there characters do have a a thin blue line around them which is never a good sight to see but given the fact that blue screen was still in it's early days it is understandable that the makers of this film didn't really know how to use it that effectively with the only effects that is pretty bad being the shot of Mola Ram falling to his death as there is something about it that just feels off show and even then that effect does look more better then the CGI monkeys in Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull with the makers of this film not really going that overboard with the effects as really they don't use any effects until we arrive in India and even then there used very sparing. 

While the first film had the great Marion Ravenwood as the main love interest for Indy this film gives us Wilhelmina "Willie" Scott. Someone who this films director Steven Spielberg wanted to be a complete and total opposite to Marion which apparently also means making the character more annoying and less likable as this character never shuts up screaming quite literally alot of her dialog in the film is just her either complaining or screaming and that's it and while having a character scream is good to get across how scary the situation is when it's alot of what the character does in the film that it not only becomes super annoying to listen but it also makes the moments where the character should scream at a seriously scary situation loose all impact. As that's what she's been doing for alot of the film just to be clear Willie on paper isn't a bad character as if you remove all of the times where she does scream there are hints of a good and funny character there nothing to groundbreaking but something that is alot more interesting then what we ended up with as when the character is used for more comic purposes she is entertaining to watch like her pooring perfume of an Elephant for example yes it's a dumb joke but it is one that works for her as as is the one where she faints at the thought of having monkey brains for dessert and yet if the character was kept like that but still had her be a strong character who did have flaws then the character would be more loved then what is now and yet due to the fact that the makers of this film had alot of actual good scenes be short and sweet and have screaming and complaining for the vast majority of the film she does end up being this annoying character that makes you wonder why Indy brought her along with him in the first place as outside of being a love interest for him she adds noting to the film and even then the character has zero romantic chemistry with Indy.

Much like how a certain cut of Superman II this film does have alot more comedy moments in it then what the previous film had. With working just as well as did it n that film then it does in this film as while yes the first film had some comedic moments in it it also had more of a lighter plot and therefor the serious and dark moments and the more comedic moments didn't feel out of place where as here in this film due to the fact that the film does have a more serious tone to it having these more comedic moments be it Willie and Indy trying to get the other to visit them in bed or Willie fainting at the sight of Money Brains does feel out of place with the films more serious and more dark tone with quite frankly feeling that alot of the films jokes where added in at the last might as none of them add anything to either the films plot or the films characters and are just there for kids to laugh at something. Quite frankly this film would have worked alot more better if they stuck with the more light hearted tone of the first film as that film knew how to strike the balance between being funny and being serious with it feeling like n this film they tipped the scales far to much to the side of being dark and serious as they do go to some really dark places in this film and thy work because of the fact that the film had to earn it's PG rating but by sticking to much to being dark and serious the makers of the film did seem to have forgotten that the Indiana Jones films are meant to be nothing more then pure escapism and part of that does include having alot of light hearted moments with the characters and whereas in the first film those moments were in service to the films plot here it just felt out of place.

To be fair tom this film whilst alot of the film is pretty weak it's main villain Mola Ram certainly is one of the more better aspects of the film. With him being this dark and menacing threat that is capable of turning Indy to the dark side and be a villain for a small portion of the film which is something that no other villain was able to do and yet he does it within five minuets of meeting Indy that is just how powerful of a villain that he is with him being being one of the reasons that the film more then earn it's PG rating as we see him rip out a man's still beating heart with his bare hand that is something that would even be to much in a horror film and yet here it is in a film that was made with kids in mind however there is one major down side to his character. As while the character is pretty cool in alot of respects he's still not the best written villain in these films as we don't really find out anything about him with us not even finding out why he wants these stones so much in the place or why he's has possibly thousands of children digging in mines all of which are things that if they were explained would have made the character a much more better villain because without them we are nor given a reason to hate this character outside of the f act that he's the bad guy and that's it and for these films that is never enough as we know for a fact that they can give us some really good villains when the makers of the films put there mind to it and yet here in this film it does feel like the makers of this film didn't put there heart into making him a good and well written villain as it's all well and good having control and evil Indy but if we don't understand the character better then that cool act means nothing.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and fifty eight minuets and twenty six seconds. This is pretty much the bogstandard running time for these films with it being argued that this film really doesn't need to be that long as alot of the stuff prior to the characters arriving at the palace is just filler scenes with alot of it just being Willie screaming at things but at the same time it's in those scenes where we do get to see the romance blossom between her and Indy and while that does add up to nothing in the grand scheme of things it would make there kiss at the end of the film feel even more out of place if those scenes where cut from the film with the film having more then enough plot there to cover that amount of running time in the first place. However tho this film still doesn't quite use its running time all that wisely as the film doesn't take the time to fully develop it's plot as as was mentioned there are things about the films villain which are key to the plot of the film that never get explained and yet the makers of this film just expect us to buy into it and not question which in all fairness is something that that very well might have done in the eighties with it being made clear as day that the makers of this film cared more about giving us scenes with Willie screaming then they did about us giving us plot development. This is something that is also true for the films character development as outside of Indy none of this films characters get any kind of development at all with Willie still being the same annoying snob at the end of the film that she is at the start of the film and Short Round is still the same character as well with the only one who grows as a character is Indy as he learns not to look for things for fame and glory which was the only reason why he accepted the quest to go and look for this stone in the first place with it being made clear as day that the makers of this put alot more thought and effort into the films one and only musical number then they did the films character development but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is an action film that really does mean that I gave to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. The films action it could be argued is the best of the film as there is alot of thought an effort into making this films action feel more in line with the action in Raiders as while it is still fun and over the top it's also dark and disturbing with it being the perfect balance between something should have been the case for the films plot with the films action being the kind of the action that you'd want to see in an Indiana Jones film. With the best action scene in the whole entire film being the third act as we get the tension of Indy being bad and wondering if or how he'll be turned back to being a good guy again and when the he does get turned into a good guy it's just one amazing action packed fight sequence after the next all of which are fun to see and while yes it could be argued that it does go on a bit to long as we didn't really need to see the character struggling to get off the cliffside as the whole thing would have worked with that part of the film the fact that we do get to see so much action packed tightly into the films climax with it all climax with Indy chopping the ropes of the bridge they all on in half being such a cool to really kick it up a notch with the gruesome death of Mola Ram being the cherry on top with the rest of he films action being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall this film , Crystal Skull and The Dial Of Destiny are all tied for the worst film in this franchise as they all miss the maker on what it was really that made Raiders and Last Crusade so really good in the first place with it being slightly more forgivable here as this is the only the second film in the franchise but there really is still no denying the fact that this film is still pretty weak when compared to the good films in this franchise in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about al of the good and a swell as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and a such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Blogger , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images really from this very film being the really great Google Images this is really because of the fact that really all of the images that I really indeed got and really used from Google Images are all really high quality really with all of the images that really are all and of course really currently up and on the really great and the really solid Google Images really are all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.