From the very start it's set apart from its predecessor with its musical number, and it's definitely not quite up there in quality to it. But this has grown on me to a huge degree, mostly because this is the film in the series I owned as a kid and would watch so much I still remember most of the dialogue. And I think that might be the reason why scenes like that and the whole dinner scene that people seem to dislike doesn't bother me at all. And while a lot of things feel different nothing feels out of place, at least to me, for the series as a whole. There are parts I really like, the India setting being one. Then there's parts that are decent but the worst part of it all is something I think pretty much everyone agrees on, the two side characters. Both annoying in their own unique way. And I can understand people who see this for the first time as adults having them completely overshadow anything else that they might otherwise have enjoyed. If there's one film I want a directors cut of it's this. Imagine if it could somehow be edited to not have those two in it, I think even the most dedicated cynics would change their minds.

The most noticeable change in its visuals is the different use of color. Where Raiders was mostly blacks, browns and gold this is split into steel blue or white and red. It starts off in the almost completely blue restaurant and starts changing to red as they get caught in the grasp of the Thuggee cult. And we can see as soon as Indy is free of their mind control that it changes back to blue. Even in the good/bad tunnel the good is blue and the bad is red. While I prefer the previous color scheme a new look to go along with the new setting isn't a bad choice. With at least one scene straight out of Gunga Din it's clear that its shift aesthetics and to a lesser degree tone is not to try and separate it from its serial roots. Even though there is a lot less blood and gruesome violence here, at least in most cuts. But then again most the situations are more ridiculous than the first and maybe closer to the serials.

While I can completely understand why people dislike this or even hate it I think if you don't just focus on the bad there is a lot of good and memorable stuff here. And it's no longer the worst in the series either.