---
title: "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom"
critics_score: 57
critics_reviews: 12
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984): what the critics said

Critics' score 57 from 12 reviews: 5 positive, 3 mixed, 4 negative.

## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 23 May 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.

[Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom-1984)

## Empire — Ian Nathan

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/indiana-jones-temple-doom-review/)

## Evening Standard — William Mata

Rating 3.5/5. 12 March 2024. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/indiana-jones-films-ranked-harrison-ford-b1091051.html)

## The New Yorker — Pauline Kael

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 11 June 1984. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1984/06/11/a-breeze-a-bawd-a-bounty)

## The New York Times — Vincent Canby

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 23 May 1984. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/23/movies/moviesspecial/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom.html)

## Slant Magazine — Eric Henderson

Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 22 May 2008. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom/)

## The Guardian

Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 23 May 2024. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/may/23/indiana-jones-temple-of-doom-anniversary)

## Time Out — JP

Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 26 September 2014. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom)

## The Telegraph — Patrick Gibbs

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 15 June 1984. 

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

[Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/10526437/Indiana-Jones-and-the-Temple-of-Doom-review.html)

## Variety — Todd McCarthy

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 16 May 1984. 

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.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/1984/film/reviews/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom-1200426218/)

## Den of Geek — Simon Brew

Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 28 January 2014. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/revisiting-indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom/)

## Collider — Allison Keene

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 26 May 2013. 

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.

[Read the review](https://collider.com/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom-review/)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom.md