OK, fine, you fucko's asked for it.
I've already banged on frankly about why I feel The Last Crusade isn't much of a movie, but let me elucidate a bit before going into my concise defense of The Temple of Doom. Trust me, I would love to openly love it as much as some of you here, but as RogueScribner says it's a film that only just about gets by on the central relationship between Indy and his father, which is wonderfully played by Sean Connery. The problem is what surrounds it. Outside of the lead pair, the rest merely feels like a flimsy, less powerful reference to the first film, only not as well made - astounding considering the gap between their productions and difference in adjusted cost - nor written.
Where Temple of Doom succeeded for me was because it actually tried to take the character somewhere else. I'd imaging creating it was a bit of a learning process for Spielberg, who at that time was trying to reject his more cynical nature in favour of straight family entertainment. Take Close Encounters, a movie most would agree as being an uplifting, almost spiritual experience as a man discovers a higher destiny. Well, as Spielberg later saw it, here was a man who destroyed his family on a selfish quest that didn't end in any particular redemption.
Temple of Doom continues with Spielbergs previous fascination with slightly flawed hero characters. Whereas in Raiders, Indy was a man who'd learned by his mistakes, in Temple of Doom, here was the man who was living them. Only through the course of the film, he learns by them and gains a chance to redress his character- unlike Close Encounters' Roy Neary. For me, that adds an extra dimension - a figure who can tell what's right and wrong, but lives in the grey areas whilst simultaneously trying to redress the balance, even if he has to get his hands dirty to do so. He's not simply a "grave robber", merely someone whose intentions are skewed on a journey that would lead him to become the rounded hero we find in Raiders. He's also someone who cares, as shown by his angry reaction to his fallen colleague, taking in of Short Round and seeing hiddne depth through his trust in the intentionally annoying Willie Scott.
As for his quest, it's not simply about "saving the world", but also saving himself. The whole world stuff merely comes by proxy, even if Mola Ram - who has ambition to retrieve the other Sankara stones - does present a deadly threat beyond those within the boundaries of Pankot. Initially, as he embarks from the village, it's about "fortune and glory", yet when he peeks over the top of the cliff (in a scene cleverly referenced The Last Crusade) he's become a man of integrity. In some ways, I find the Indy of Temple of Doom far more interesting than Raiders, even if the original is the better movie.
Outside of Indy, the character of Willie Scott is someone whose attacked quite regularly in Doom. But I find those who attack her for being annoying simply don't understand that she's meant to be - even Indy remarks on it;
"...the biggest problem with Willie is the noise."
Not only is she a reference to past screwball comedies, as Indy she's another character who begins the film quite selfish. Although doesn't totally redeem herself by the end, her powerful, abrasive personality acts as a foil to Indy and Short Round's seen-it-all-before attitude. She's a realistically sassy woman, confident and yet completely out of her element, and it's hard to argue against the fact that she's a fully fleshed, three-dimensional character. In fact, despite her slightly cartoonish (and I'll get onto that later) nature, she's a reasonably realistic portrayal of a theatrical prima donna. And she provides us with one of the finest character intro's in cinematic history. Without her the movie would no doubt had been quieter, but also lacking a backbone for which the others could play off.
Short Round too, is more than just a "whacky" sidekick. His love for his surrogate father shows through in his respect for him in the village, and later on in the darkest part of the Indy trilogy where our hero practically loses his mind. If it wasn't for Short Round, Indy would've probably been lost for good. He's even provided with his own enemy to overcome, the bewitched maharaja (a symbol of the power Mola could put over any political leader) which helps complete one of Temple's fine action scenes. Naturally, it helps that Ke Quan is a very capable comedic actor, even at this early age.
Temple of Doom also contains the series' most recognisable bad guy outside of the bald Nazi from Raiders, Toht. He was created by Lucas and Spielberg to represent true evil, and I think that Amish Puri's repulsive turn makes him possibly one of the finest cinematic villains ever created. Gleeful and fully aware of the power he wields, he manages not only to corner the kingdom and enslave the children from the surrounding villages, but he's also got the respected Maharajah in his hands (don't forget the English at this time didn't wield as much power, proven in the dinner scene). Plus outside of Blonde Nazi in the first film, he actually represents a real threat to Indy's life -and sanity. He's not meant to be the most complex character in the world, he really doesn't need to be. He's meant to represent nothing but the purest evil. He has no good traits nor detailed backstory, but that's purposeful in setting him out beyond the Nazi's in the first film. Here is a man willing to play with the Gods and do anything to gain power.
Overcoming him, and also overcoming his scepticism in the process, represents a big leap for Indy from his character in the beginning of the film. Redemption isn't an easy thing. In fact, you could say that the entire film is about redemption from beginning to end - those who don't redeem themselves are doomed to fall. Maybe this was intentional when creating the trilogy - if, as Lady Sheridan eloquently points out, the last of the first three films is about illumination, then Temple was about redemption. I'll leave it to you guys to figure out what the first was.
Naturally, I could now harp on and on about the action beyond the story, which is - and I have to be truthful - merely a caper. Then again, the films pacing and narrative is meant to be a ride of sorts, which is why I think it works. Although generally it keeps itself at quite an intense pitch, there's enough moments where the characters relax - be the stop in the village (which I think reveals Indy as being far more complex than his "fortune and glory" speech makes out), Pankot and later in the cave, where things are taken to a real low. That low actually make the highs seem more of a struggle to attain, which is why towards the end I feel like cheering, no matter how ridiculous the scenes become.
From the wonderful musical introduction, to the chase through the streets of Hong Kong and crash landing, all the way through to the insect caves, mine cart and run from the flood, pound for pound I don't think Temple of Doom has quite been beaten in terms of imaginative set pieces by any movie since. It helps that all the model work, for the time, are possibly the best in-camera effects ever made outside of Return of the Jedi and that the direction throughout is completely impeccable. Coupled with a score that's probably more powerful than the on in Raiders (for my money), everything rollocks along at such a pace it's hard to take a breath once the films kicks it up a notch.
Moving on, I've already defended its blatant orientalism to some degree - to my mind it's accepted as a fantasy, and the vast amount of indian actors would've probably had something to say about it during production. I also think it manages to encompass a lot of what I've seen of Bollywood cinema, where villains are blatant moustache twirling foes (literally) and characters are painted in broad colours, as is the canvas.
I'm pretty certain both Lucas and Spielberg were very aware of what lines they could and couldn't cross when creating it, and feel it manages to get away with what it does by tempering any classical stereotypes with either a counterpart, or by limiting them somehow. At the dinner scene, the British captain makes a point that he doesn't have any power as British rule was fading at that time, for example, and the Maharaja shows himself as a capable ally beyond being a cypher for Mola Ram. Besides, all the films take liberties with various culture, so any accusation of racism could probably be turned on each one.
Lastly, in its difference to Raiders - I think that makes it stand out on its own two feet. Don't get me wrong, I think it would be HALF the film if you were to replace the main character with anyone other than Indy, as much as I think The Last Crusade wouldn't be worth watching without the central relationship of Indy and his father. It not only manages to show how Indy was before he took on the Nazi's and the Ark, but progress his character from where he is at the start. The production design is incredibly high quality and the change of theme distances itself from the first, making it fresh - giving you an adventure with an old friend. For me, that's the mark of a good sequel - not the lazy "more is better" productions of late, but showing that there's enough depth and breadth in a loved central character to take them into new environment whilst simultaneously keeping the movie within the confines of what's expected. As an example of this, TOD has not since been bettered.
I hope The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull manages to live up to its promise.