Today’s quick review: Big Trouble in Little China. When Jack Burton (Kurt Russell), a loudmouthed trucker, visits his friend Wang Chi (Dennis Dun) in San Francisco’s Chinatown, he gets dragged into a magical conflict beyond his understanding. Wang’s fiance Miao Yin (Suzee Pai) is kidnapped by the evil sorcerer David Lo Pan (James Hong) for use in a ceremony that will free him from an ancient curse. With the help of a willful lawyer (Kim Cattrall) and an old tour bus driver with a few tricks up his sleeve (Victor Wong), Jack and Wang must infiltrate Lo Pan’s Chinatown stronghold, confront a variety of magical foes, and rescue Miao Yin before the ceremony is complete.
Big Trouble in Little China is a tongue-in-cheek 80s fantasy adventure film directed by John Carpenter. Kurt Russell leads as Jack Burton, a trucker who refers to himself in the third person and has a hard time backing up his bravado. His fresh-faced buddy Wang, played by Dennis Dun, is the more competent of the two but is prone to many of the same mistakes as Jack. Together they fight their way through a hectic series of challenges based loosely on Chinese mysticism to rescue Wang’s fiance from Lo Pan.
Big Trouble in Little China makes for a peculiar watch. Despite its simple premise, the plot quickly becomes confusing as new elements are introduced and discarded in rapid succession. What starts as an apparent gang war turns into a mystical adventure, and the main party fluctuates wildly as allies join or are captured. The explanations are enough to piece together what is going on, but barely, and the viewer is left to guess at events as they happen. The martial arts action is plentiful but not that impressive. The special effects are passable if dated.
For all that, Big Trouble in Little China is a fairly fun watch. The quality of the film depends on how tongue-in-cheek you think it is being. Taken at face value, it has all the hallmarks of an 80s movie with none of the finesse: a macho protagonist, cheesy dialogue, and a plot that seems to be made up as it goes along. Taken as a parody, it winks at all these conventions, from Jack’s frequent blunders to the thin explanations for the story’s magical elements. But the nature of the genre, plus the fact that parts of the film can and should be taken seriously, makes it difficult to tell where the joke ends and the movie begins.
Watch Big Trouble in Little China if you are in the mood for a self-deprecating 80s film with a distinctive flavor. How well you like the movie will depend on how much you like its blend of 80s camp and mock 80s camp. Those who are struck the right way will get a lot out of this movie, while others will wonder what it was they just watched.
7.3 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 5.0 for the movie it pretends to be and a 7.0 for the movie it actually is.