Temple of Doom

The iconic Indiana Jones has been around for 30 years. To mark the occasion, the Gallivan Plaza downtown is showing all four Indy movies for their Monday Movies this summer. I unfortunately missed the first one, but last night my sister and I caught the showing of my favorite Indy movie, Indiana Jones and the Temple Doom.

Yes, it is my favorite. I remember first seeing it when I was a kid. Raiders of the Lost Ark was slightly above my understanding at that age, and something about Indy, Short-round, the kids, and everything else really appealed to me. Most fans consider this the weakest Indy outing (until the utterly awful Indy 4 came out) because of the very things I liked about it. It fell victim to the sequel curse supposedly, but it is really a trilogy's middle act, not a sequel. And as such, it is quite good.

As I watch it as an adult, I am sort of shocked at how dark it is. People's hearts are getting ripped out, Indy is 'posessed' for a little while, children are forced into slave labor. I have no idea why I enjoyed it so much as a kid (or how my parents let me watch it!) But as an adult, I still enjoy it. I loved hearing other people in the park laugh at funny parts, get grossed out by the wacky dinner entrees, freaked out by the bugs and creepy-crawlies, and clap at the end.

Indy is pretty much the coolest archaeologist out there. July 11th is The Last Crusade. Be there with me.