Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

The film is a relentlessly nonstop action picture and technical triumph that works as exhilarating, manic escapism in the tradition of an impregnable fortress adventure. It delivers a virtuoso mine-car chase and other set pieces that make it an equal to Raiders rather than a retread.

The critic praises the film's shift to a darker, claustrophobic tone with vivid stunts, humor, and lurid details that make it one of Spielberg's most underrated works. It notes the backlash over its intensity but highlights how the action and wit hold up as dazzling cinema.

The critic calls it the darkest and most opinion-splitting entry, with strong muscular action and daring sequences from Ford, but notes it is let down by the shrieking female sidekick and poorly aged child character.

Spielberg fuses thrills and laughter in a tall tale of happy disbelief, starting at full charge in the opening sequence and sustaining it without letdown through preposterous stunts and physical comedy. The John Williams score is the only real bother, as it oversells excitement.

Spielberg’s exuberantly tasteless and entertaining pre-sequel opens with its best, funniest sequence in a Shanghai nightclub before settling into a mix of thrills, barroom brawls, and darker adventures in Asia. The PG rating has caused a ruckus, but the film entertains despite its excesses.

The film embodies the dark, racist, sexist, and jingoistic elements of old serials that inspired it, serving as a kind of exorcism for Spielberg. Its darker tone and horrifying imagery ultimately overwhelm the director in a thrilling but nightmarish finale filled with intense action set pieces.

The critic finds plenty to admire in the action sequences and Spielberg's technical prowess but notes the film remains ungainly with leaden romance, gross-out comedy and cultural insensitivity.

The critic notes the spectacular set pieces but criticizes the desperate filler, loss of credibility, and problematic portrayal of foreign characters as savages. The thrills feel more hollow than in Raiders.

The nonstop action leaves no time for acting or a coherent plot in this sequel that fails to match expectations set by its predecessor.

The film comes as a letdown after Raiders despite packing even more thrills, resulting in an exhausting, numbing effect with more-is-less pacing and a taste of vulgarity and excess. The standout underground railway chase is a stunning set piece, but the overall sledgehammer approach and gruesome images are noted.

The critic finds the film darker, more uncompromising and better than remembered on rewatch, praising its fluid opening action sequence and refusal to pull punches on brutality and set pieces like the heart extraction and mine cart chase. They note narrative muddles, logic issues, dated problematic elements in its depiction of India, and its harsh tone that led to the PG-13 rating, while calling it a stark antidote to cookie-cutter blockbusters.

The critic finds the film an unnecessary and messy prequel that adds little to the series, with gratuitous racial issues and grating characters like the screaming Willie Scott. Action sequences and some slapstick provide entertainment value, but overall it is dismissed as a great B-movie at best.