Roger Ebert gave the film a perfect four-star rating, calling it "the most cheerfully exciting, bizarre, goofy, romantic adventure movie since "Raiders", and it is high praise to say that it's not so much a sequel as an equal. It's quite an experience." Vincent Canby felt the film was "too shapeless to be the fun that "Raiders" is, but shape may be beside the point. Old-time, 15-part movie serials didn't have shape. They just went on and on and on, which is what "Temple of Doom" does with humor and technical invention." Neal Gabler commented that "I think in some ways, "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" was better than "Raiders of the Lost Ark". In some ways it was less. In sum total, I'd have to say I enjoyed it more. That doesn't mean it's better necessarily, but I got more enjoyment out of it." Colin Covert of the "Star Tribune" called the film "sillier, darkly violent and a bit dumbed down, but still great fun." Pauline Kael, writing in "The New Yorker", said that "nobody has ever fused thrills and laughter in quite the way that does here" and claimed that the movie was "the most sheerly pleasurable physical comedy I've seen in years."