Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

What’s the Story?

Set before Indiana Jones tangled with the Nazis over the lost ark, this installment finds the archaeologist-adventurer on a mission to recover another priceless artifact and rescue enslaved children. After a narrow escape from Chinese gangsters, Indy (Harrison Ford), nightclub singer Willie (Kate Capshaw), and precocious 12-year-old Short Round (Ke Huy Quan) are asked by humble villagers to take on the Thuggees, an evil cult that practices human sacrifice. Indy and his friends face trained assassins, mind control potions, enormous bugs, and a wild ride in a mining cart as they try to retrieve the village's sacred stone -- and their kidnapped children -- from evil Mola Ram and his gang of Thuggees.

Is It Any Good?

Despite superior chase sequences and dazzling stunts, this loud and frenzied sequel is mostly an exercise in excess. It's loud, creepy, violent and, at times, incoherent. While the pacing and tone of the first movie felt spot-on, Temple of Doom never really finds its rhythm. What the movie does have are some of the best stunts of the series, and outstanding chases.

Intrigue quickly disintegrates into endless pandemonium and the antics of two annoying sidekicks who never stop shouting and shrieking. Harrison Ford, so effortlessly heroic in Raiders, just seems mean in this film. Children will probably like Short Round and the movie's silly elephants, but parents should note that PG-13 rating was invented for this movie, after so many children went to see it had the living daylights scared out of them.