Big Trouble In Little China (1986) ****1/2
Big Trouble In Little China (1986) is simply one of the greatest action/adventure/comedies of the '80s and it's John Carpenter's most fun film. It features Kurt Russell as Jack Burton—his last (new) iconic role for the director (he would return to play Snake Plissken in Escape From L.A. (review) for their final collaboration in 1996). BTILC is a genre-bending slice of cinema—effortlessly blending comedy, fantasy, action, and wuxia.
Russell plays Burton as a caricature of the rugged, macho males we've grown accustomed to in movies—an all American truck driver quipping laughable one-liners in a hilarious John Wayne impersonation, and sporting a furious mullet. In reality Burton is the most inept character, largely taking a backseat to the action handled by the almost exclusively Asian cast. Russell perfectly bumbles his way through the film in a reversal of audience expectations—Dennis Dunn ends up being the more-than-capable hero.
So just remember what ol' Jack Burton does when he's in the mood for an over-the-top spectacle of ridiculous plot devices and Chinese mysticism, chock-full of fantastic production and costume design, impressive cinematography and practical visual effects, magical martial arts, and a great musical score. He reaches into
Russell plays Burton as a caricature of the rugged, macho males we've grown accustomed to in movies—an all American truck driver quipping laughable one-liners in a hilarious John Wayne impersonation, and sporting a furious mullet. In reality Burton is the most inept character, largely taking a backseat to the action handled by the almost exclusively Asian cast. Russell perfectly bumbles his way through the film in a reversal of audience expectations—Dennis Dunn ends up being the more-than-capable hero.
While I've seen BTILC many times, it was particularly enjoyable to see it with an audience (my first time doing so). The Hawksian nature of the dialogue, where characters deliver rapid-fire speech that often overlaps each other, was much more apparent to me than on previous viewings.
So just remember what ol' Jack Burton does when he's in the mood for an over-the-top spectacle of ridiculous plot devices and Chinese mysticism, chock-full of fantastic production and costume design, impressive cinematography and practical visual effects, magical martial arts, and a great musical score. He reaches into
his six demon bag and pulls out a copy of the cult classic Big Trouble In Little China.
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