Simon's Movie Reviews

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) is somewhat of a black sheep in the Jones franchise. Instead of going after the always-reliable Nazis, here Indy goes after an extremist Hindu religious sect who is into human sacrifices, brain washing, and slavery. As to be expected, quite a few people in India took offense. Then there are the scenes of human sacrifices, which led to the creation of the PG-13 rating in the United States because believe it or not some kids don’t react too well to seeing a man get his heart ripped out of his chest. That being said, this second entry in the franchise is still worthy of admiration thanks to some incredible sequences, notably a mine cart chase and a standoff on a rickety bridge with crocodiles waiting below. My parents introduced me to Indiana Jones at a young age and I had a problem with a particular scene in every movie in the first three movies, whether the face melting scene at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark or the poor choice of c...

The Indiana Jones franchise is one of those rare series where the third entry is just as good, if not better, than the previous two. It follows the same formula as the other movies, based in part on the plot of the James Bond movies: the dashing hero is given a mythical object to recover, he must get to it before an army of villains, many international borders are crossed in order to find the object, and there many chases involving cars, motorcycles, horses, and even a tank. In “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989) the villains are once again the Nazis, after the misfire of having Hindu cult leaders in the previous film. A wise choice, since everyone loves to see Nazis getting their butts kicked. An even wiser choice by director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas was casting Sir Sean Connery, James Bond himself, as Henry Jones Sr. Twice the Jones for the price of one. My parents introduced me to the wild world of doctor Jones the same way they introduced me to the ...