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| Big Trouble in Little China - A heroic adventure into Chinese mythology. |
Written by: Gary Goldman & David Z. Weinstein (written by), WD Richter (adaptation)
Directed by: John Carpenter
Starring: Kurt Russell, Dennis Dun, James Hong, Kim Cattrall
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer
Plot
Truck driver Jack Burton is pulled into a battle with Chinese sorcerer Lo Pan over girls with green eyes.
Verdict
This movie is a lot of fun. We enter the Chinatown underground where black magic and grotesque creatures are real. Jack is the typical arrogant hero, but you soon realize he's mostly talk. This movie deconstructs the action genre so subtlety you may not notice, and it's infinitely quotable. It's a must see cult classic.
Watch it.
Review
This is one of my favorite movies. It's one of the few movies that I remember vividly from childhood so that i can do a proper retrospective. As a kid, I thought it was great, and I could never fathom why it didn't have a sequel. Jack Burton was the man's man, the all American hero. Lo Pan and the three storms were evil, but they looked so cool.
It was only watching later that I realized Jack is a bit of a bumbling hero. His sidekick Wang Chi does most of the heavy lifting. Jack doesn't understand the world he enters and he doesn't care. He has a job to do and he'll do it. He's brave, and he does have quick reflexes. "[He's] a reasonable guy. But, [he's] just experienced some very unreasonable things."
David Lo Pan is an amazing villain. All of the bad guys are awesome, just look at the three storms.
I never liked the first scene, and I was vindicated when I heard later the studio forced them to add it to make Burton seem more heroic. The second scene of Jack driving always felt like a better opening.
While you can't listen to the DVD commentary on Netflix, it's a good commentary, though it's Carpenter and Russell hanging out rather than commentary on the movie. I've watched this movie many times as a child and as an adult. It's a lot of fun. This was originally going to be a western. Jack Burton's horse was going to be stolen, not his truck. It was going to be Chinese mythology in the late eighteen hundreds.
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| Big Trouble in Little China - Lo Pan |
The typical movie would have Wang Chi as the hero, fighting for his girl, but this movie subverts that. A guy that doesn't know where he's going tells everyone, "Hey, follow me!" Everyone follows Jack.
Jack is bewildered just like the audience. He continually states he doesn't get it. He's told it's Chinese black magic and to go with. I went with it too.
Kim Cattrall's acting is wooden, but I can't help but think it's part of the joke. The female characters in action movies are often present just to prop up the hero. Her exposition is laughable. With a movie that so cleanly deconstructs the genre, this is intentional.
The pacing is excellent, and maintains a great balance between action, plot, and character development. When Jack shoots a guy he looks stunned, and he's asked if it's his first time. He responds no, of course not, but we know it is. He's largely ineffective when it comes time to the fights, but when it counts he's on his game.
The big fight contains many super human feats but it's easily dismissed because the good guys drank a secret potion and the bad guys use magic. There's substantial use of trampolines to make the fights fantastical. As crazy as it sounds, it's easy to suspend your disbelief. The movie does an excellent job of providing an explanation for common action movie tropes that typically are ignored.
The very beginning of the movie showcased Jack's reflexes, and they are paramount in the finale. After the battle is won, Jack rides off into the sunset.
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