Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
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Big Trouble in Little China Movie Review
Big Trouble in Little China is a 1986 fantasy martial arts comedy film directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell, Dennis Dun and Kim Cattrall. It’s a messy, but very memorable flick.
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“I’m a reasonable guy.
But, I’ve just experienced some
very unreasonable things“
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Jack Burton, a truck driver, gets dragged into the mysterious underworld beneath Chinatown where he faces an ancient sorcerer named Lo Pan. The film’s story is so weird that it needs to be appreciated how just off the wall crazy it really is. Yes, it may be seen as an overly exotic portrayal, but in my opinion this is a positive portrayal of Asians and Asian Americans, and for an 80s film to have such a prominent Asian cast was really refreshing to see.
The movie is a weird mix of fantasy, comedy and martial arts action, and it doesn’t really work throughout in that weird mixing of the three, but the elements, at least some of them, are great. And the film is simply a lot of crazy, unabashed fun if you’re in the right mood for it.
Kurt Russell is Kurt Russell, meaning a redneck tough guy, but the difference is that he is taken aback by all these weird developments, and he is mostly just acting cool which was entertaining. Kim Cattrall is very charming, and it was so much fun seeing the young Samantha in such a blockbuster movie.
As for Dennis Dun, he’s excellent, believable and the role is actually respectable, especially for its time, but I wanted better development for him, though the two’s friendship is so good, and their banter is great throughout.
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Big Trouble in Little China actually looks great for the eighties. The special effects are respectable, and the use of practical effects really gave charm and traditional feel to the overall proceedings. I also really liked the score, the mystical elements really worked and the martial arts action can be silly, but it’s also downright cool at times. The storytelling is messy, but the fantastical elements and the ideas overall are fun, and the world building is so great and interesting that the runtime was unreasonably short for it.
Big Trouble in Little China is very messy, overly short for such great world building and it can be too goofy and crazy in its mixing of genres, but the fantastical and mystical elements overall really worked, and a lot of martial arts action is so much fun here. Yes, this film is not well put together and it can be too weird to get accustomed to, but its originality and a sense of fun are to be appreciated.
