We're kicking off our special review month on Director John Carpenter with a film that I never managed to catch for quite a long time, longer than any film fan would admit. 'Big Trouble' is one of my new favorite films to watch on a rainy day, or any other really. It's one of those special films that many if not all people know and may be thinking of their own special film right now. 'The Goonies', 'Gremlins', or even 'Clerks'. Films that never get old and just continue to have charm and rewatchability year after year. For those who haven't seen it, the film stars Kurt Russell as trucker Jack Burton, a man way in over his head when he arrives in Chinatown to visit his old friend Wang (Dennis Dun) who is to be married to his childhood crush on her way from the Far East. Wang and Jack soon begin to get caught up in gang wars, ancient Chinese sorcerers and of course trying to save the girl(s).
20th Century Fox's marketing department were flat out stumped when it came to the film, resulting in a very poor theatrical run and box office gross however thankfully the magic of home video rentals and frequent television runs have brought the film much of the love it deserved, however even with all of its new found love in its 30 plus years, I think many aspects of the film are actually still not on people's minds when watching including myself. For one, it may be really strange to say that despite this huge poster art above the page and all of the trailers and marketing material and as awesome as Kurt Russell is, he is not the hero. Rather Dennis Dun's Wang is the true hero of this action flick, which brings us back to the marketing issues. Among other aspects, Fox had trouble understanding this which led to them plastering Kurt all over the poster and even today an Asian leading man is completely unheard of today in Hollywood. Carpenter was always a man who stood for everything that Hollywood and the business system in general was not and his many conflicts and failures with the major studios really got to him and rightfully so.
John Carpenter is at his best when he is given complete control over his work and while he was unfortunately not given that opportunity here, he still shows his strong multiple talents here with his usual combo of directing, editing, and even writing the music and theme song for the film. It's these many aspects of Carpenter that makes him so interesting among the other filmmakers of his day, and even now there are none like him. Is there anything to complain about 'Big Trouble in Little China'? of course there is. It's 80's nostalgia does its best to cover up its shortcomings, but facts are facts and the film does have issues with its final battle between the villains and heroes, the film overall feels rushed in many places, and many characters are given little or no development despite them being very likeable such as Egg Shen (Victor Wong) whom I would have loved to know more about or have the various mythologies behind the film explained.
The film also has some very cheap effects work one minute, then have some amazing work the next. While this is likely due to the studio interference, it's still there on the screen and it's not pretty. Is 'Big Trouble' the best Carpenter film? Not really, but it's a damn entertaining one and one I should have watched a long time ago. I've seen it now about four times this last month to make up for lost time, and it's just that easy of a watch. Check it out on Netflix if you can, or purchase the Blu-Ray on the cheap and you'll have some fun and you may find it as a new part of your favorites collection.
GRADE: B+
No comments:
Post a Comment