Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, 1984 (Harrison Ford) Paramount Pictures/Lucasfilm
“Are you trying to develop a sense of humor or am I going deaf?”
I wonder if it had ever occurred to Spielberg and Lucas that while Indiana Jones demonstrates heroic qualities and, more often than not, saves the day in Raiders of the Lost Ark, he never manages to effect any change for the better and that the story would have resolved on its own. If Indiana Jones had not been involved (in any way) with the story, Hitler would have recovered the Ark and quite possibly been slaughtered along with all of his men. The only change would have been the death of Marion Ravenwood, and I know that’s a sticking point. The hero must rescue the damsel. We know this.
With Temple of Doom firmly in place and a script by husband and wife writing team Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, Lucas made sure his story would revolve around the actions of Doctor Jones. This is a prequel, occurring a year before the events of Raiders. Like Jedi, we conclude one adventure before beginning another. Indy (Harrison Ford) is in China, or something, looking to retrieve a priceless diamond (a big one!) when he gets double-crossed and poisoned by evil, under-handed mob boss Lao Che.
Lao Che’s girl, the bratty Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) is an unwanted passenger on this ride when Indy escapes (with sidekick Short Round, played by soon-to-be-Goonie Ke Huy Quan), on an aircraft (chartered from Dan Aykroyd, evoking memories of 1941), which is then sabotaged by the pilots working for Lao Che. Temple of Doom begins with four action set-pieces. The first being in Lao Che’s restaurant, culminating in a car chase, which leads directly into the disastrous flight and crash in the Himalayas, and finally the raft on the rapids in India, all expertly shot and edited by Douglas Slocombe and Michael Kahn. These guys never get the praise they deserve.
Once “safely” in Mayapore, Jones and friends are told terrible stories of child abduction by the Thugee Cult that make sacrifices to their goddess Kali (the Mistress of death, time, and change—how about that?). This got dark in a hurry, but …. as I said, Jones takes affirmative action to actually be part of this story. He decides to go on to Pankot Palace, meet the young Maharajah and stick his nose where it doesn’t belong.
One of the bigger problems of Temple of Doom is the unlikable damsel, Willie. She is the polar opposite of a character such as Marion and, as such, is a terrible turn-off. Consider Marion. Tough-as-nails, classy yet street smart, fiercely independent. Consider Willie. High maintenance, whimpers when she breaks a nail … shall I go on? It’s like we took a major step backward in feminine characterization over the three short years between movies. The third movie would strike a compromise with an uncomfortable middle, but we’ll get to that when we get to that.
