- If I had to choose one adjective to describe Kurt Russell's characters, it would be competent. From the dangerous convict in Escape from New York to the tough-as-nails helicopter pilot in The Thing to the gruff colonel with a death wish in Stargate, Russell is usually the one man who can get the job done. That's why it's so surprising and novel to see him play a completely ineffectual bumbler in John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China. Sure, his walking American stereotype Jack Burton drives a truck, talks like John Wayne, and stows a knife in his boot, but he's not worth very much in a fight. When the going gets tough, Burton tends to cock things up.
- So, who are the real heroes here? Well, a young man named Wang Chi (Dennis Dun) displays some truly impressive martial arts skills while attempting to save his green-eyed fiance (Suzee Pai) from the dastardly villain Lo Pan (James Hong). Assisting him is the enigmatic Chinatown tour bus driver Egg Shen (Victor Wong), who wields a lethal combination of magic and explosives, and friend Eddie (Donald Li) who lands a few punches here and there. The aptly-named lawyer, Gracie Law (Kim Cattrall), and her reporter friend (Kate Burton) aren't exactly damsels in distress, either, even if one of them does manage to get captured by Lo Pan. Although Burton obviously thinks of himself as the hero of the piece, that's simply not the case.
- To describe the plot of this film in detail would be a mistake, both because it is convoluted and because the filmmakers don't seem too concerned with it, either. All you really need to know is that Lo Pan has enlisted the help of three elemental demons (Carter Wong, Peter Kwong, and James Pax) to kidnap green-eyed women, and that Burton and Wang have taken it upon themselves to stop him. The true function of Big Trouble in Little China is instead to pay homage to the maniac wire-fighting kung-fu movies of the 1970's while simultaneously deconstructing the Hollywood hero stereotype. This is a film for people who watch The Green Hornet and grumble that Kato should really be calling the shots. In fact, the film's subtext is certainly the most interesting thing about it, although the special effects are also tremendously impressive for their time. Overall, Big Trouble in Little China has enough goofy fun and keeps things moving quickly enough that you don't really have much time to notice its shortcomings. For an action film, that's not so bad, right?
- As is often the case, Carpenter also served as the music composer for this film.
