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1984
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INDIANA
JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM
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STARRING:HARRISON
FORD,KATE CAPSHAW,JONATHAN KE QUAN,AMRISH PURI,ROSHAN SETH,PHILIP
STONE,ROY CHIAO,REX NGUI
STORY
BY GEORGE LUCAS
SCREENPLAY
BY WILLARD HUYCK & GLORIA KATZ
PRODUCED
BY ROBERT WATTS
DIRECTED
BY STEVEN SPEILBERG
GENRE:ACTION/ADVENTURE
RATED:AUSTRALIA:M/UK:PG/USA:PG
RUNNING
TIME:118 MIN
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Prequel
to the highly successful Raiders
of the Lost Ark sees crusading archaeologist Dr.
Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) - along with his young companion Short
Round (Jonathan Ke Quan) and showgirl Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw)
- escape from the clutches of a Shanghai crime boss and inadvertently
finding themselves in a poverty stricken Indian village after their
airplane runs out of fuel mid-flight. When informed by the village
elder that their sacred stone has been stolen and their children have
been abducted. Dr. Jones is charged with a quest to find and return
the stone and children held by the evil high priest Mola Ram (Amrish
Puri) within Pankot Palace. Once there, Dr. Jones is confronted by
a world of black magic and human sacrifice.
Like Raiders…
the movie begins with a great opening sequence and does not stop cranking
out one heart raising scene after the other. These include a thrilling
mid-flight escape from a crashing airplane, a great rail cart chase
sequence and a heart pounding stand off on a wooden bridge.
Harrison Ford reprises the title role with much gusto, injuring his
back and delaying filming in the process. Kate Capshaw is also good
if not at times irritating as the damsel in distress. The sets are
excellent, as is John Williams' score and Steven Spielberg's deft
direction. The franchise's humour is ever present and there are also
plenty of creepy crawlies abound.
The main criticism towards ...Temple of Doom is that it is
too dark for an adventure film, and while it does possess a much darker
tone compared to the other films within the franchise, it does not
take away from the fact that this is a very good action/adventure
movie full of many memorable, thrilling moments. The darkness gives
the film much depth and emotion while not taking away from the adventurous
spirit of the series. The excessive gore, however, does stand out.
The film features a dinner scene where guests gorge on baby snakes,
eye ball soup and chilled monkeys brains. On its own it is a funny
scene, but within the film it is an unnecessary ploy to try and gross
people out. Same can be said about the human sacrifice scene, where
a high priest removes a still beating heart from a man's chest before
being burned alive in a well of lava.
Those instances aside, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
is a highly enjoyable film which more than stands up against the other
two more popular instalments. |
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