With Raiders of the Lost Ark, Steven Spielberg and company rendered a B-movie homage that came out far better than it probably had any right to be; after all, Raiders is a smart and surprisingly weighty flick, its quiet, talkative scenes just as impressive as any of its gloriously rendered set-pieces. The inevitable sequel - or prequel, if you want to get technical - is far more in line with the sort of materials that Spielberg and Lucas set out to imitate with the original flick, however; there's less plot here, less intelligence, and lots more action. Truthfully, then, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a movie comprised mostly of set-pieces, each one employed with the clear intention of outdoing the previous. The story - paper-thin - has eminent archaeologist Indiana Jones crash landing in India and fighting against the long thought dead Thuggee cult in a battle for a mystical artefact€ and that's about it. The narrative here has little weight; the emphasis is on extensive action sequences, many of which - the mine cart chase, for example - were leftover from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Still, to discredit Temple of Doom entirely as "just action scenes" is to do it something of an injustice; set-pieces aside, it's a dark and unnerving thrill ride unlike any other, and arguably the most interesting of all the Indy movies as a result.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
